Colombia
09.07.02
Urgent Interventions
Colombia: death threats against Mrs. Gloria Gaitan and her family
Case COL 090702
Death Threats / Harassment
The International Secretariat of the OMCT requests your urgent intervention in the following case in Colombia.
Brief description of the situation:
The International Secretariat of the OMCT has received information about the new death threats made to Mrs. Gloria Gaitán, daughter of the assassinated political leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, as well as to other members of her family.
According to the reports, on June 26th 2002, Ms. Gaitán received an anonymous card (in this case, one used to express condolences) from a group which identified itself as "Red de Defensa Ciudadana". In it, they demand Mrs. Gaitán to renounce her post as director of the Colombian Institute of Participation, “Jorge Eliécer Gaitán”, (Colparticipar) before July 26th, or otherwise, they threat with killing her family and bomb the museum, where her father has been buried.
Dr. Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, former leader of the Colombian liberal political party, and who was at that time the presidential candidate with the best chances of winning, was assassinated on April 9th, 1948 in Bogotá. The grief caused by his assassination provoked fights between the people and the armed forces, and led to the destruction of the capital, the vandalising of shops, burning of vehicles and death thousands of people. This event is known as "El Bogotazo".
According to the reports, the date of the assassination of Jorge Eliecer Gaitán is considered by historians as the starting point of the period that is known in Colombia as “La Violencia”. Violence is still widely used in Colombia, and has caused the death of thousands of innocent people.
The information states that this is not the first time that Mrs. Gaitán receives death threats. Already in December 2000 she had to exit country, as a result of threats made against her life. They were related, apparently, to the investigations on her father’s death, that she conducted together the lawyers association “José Alvear Restrepo”. They pressed for the re-opening of the files and the declassification of secret documents of the CIA and the U.S. State Department that contained information on the genocide of the “Gaitanista” movement and the assassination of Jorge Eliécer Gaitán.
The OMCT shares the preoccupation for the security and the physical and psychological integrity of Mrs. Gloria Gaitán y of the other members of her family, and condemns such acts of violence against the civilian population, the apparent impunity of the authors, the lack of effective measures to protect the victims.
Requested action:
Please write to the Colombian authorities urging them to:
i. Take immediately the necessary measures to guarantee the security and physical and psychological integrity of Mrs. Gloria Gaitán and of the other members of her family;
ii. carry out an immediate and thorough investigation on the events described above, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the civil and/or administrative sanctions as stated by the law;
iii. implement, immediately, the recommendations given by the regional and international human rights organisations, including the office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations, and the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights;
iv. guarantee the respect for the human rights and the fundamental liberties throughput the country, in conformity with the national law and the international norms on human rights.
Addresses:
· S.E. Andrés Pastrana Arango, Presidente de la República, Cra. 8 n°.7-26, Palacio de Nariño, Santafé de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 566 20 71 e-mail : apastra@presidencia.gov.co
· Consejería Presidencial de Derechos Humanos, Calle 7 n°. 6-54 Piso 3, Santafé de Bogotá, D. C. Fax: (+57 1) 337 13 51
· Doctor Gustavo Bell Lemus, Ministro de la Defensa, Avenida El Dorado con Cra. 52 CAN, Santafé de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 222 18 74 ; e-mail : siden@mindefensa.gov.co ; infprotocol@mindefensa.gov.co ; mdn@cable.net.co
· Doctor Armando Estrada Villa, Ministro del Interior, Cra. 8 n°. 8-09 Santa Fe de Bogotá, Santafé de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 286 80 25 ; e-mail: mininterior@myrealbox.com ; minisint@col1.telecom.com.co
· Doctor Edgardo José Maya Villazón, Procurador General de la Nación, Carrera 5 n°. 15-80,Santa Fe de Bogotá.Fax: (+57 1) 342 97 23;(+57 1) 281 75 31 ; e-mail : reygon@procuraduria.gov.co ; anticorrupcion@presidencia.gov.co
· Doctor Luis Camilo Osorio, Fiscal General de la Nación, Diagonal 22 B n°. 52-01, Santafé de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 570 20 00 ; contacto@fiscalia.gov.co ; denuncie@fiscalia.gov.co
· Doctor Eduardo Cifuentes, Defensor del Pueblo, Calle 55 n°. 10-32 Santa Fe de Bogotá. Fax: (+ 57 1) 640 04 91 e-mail : secretaria_privada@hotmail.com
· General Fernando Tapias Stahelin, Comandante de las Fuerzas Militares, Avenida el Dorado con Cra. 52, Santafé de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 222 29 35 ; e-mail : siden@mindefensa.gov.co ; pilaque@cgm.mil.co
Please also write to the Colombian diplomatic representations in your respective countries
Geneva, July 9th 2002
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken in this case, quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Death Threats / Harassment
The International Secretariat of the OMCT requests your urgent intervention in the following case in Colombia.
Brief description of the situation:
The International Secretariat of the OMCT has received information about the new death threats made to Mrs. Gloria Gaitán, daughter of the assassinated political leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, as well as to other members of her family.
According to the reports, on June 26th 2002, Ms. Gaitán received an anonymous card (in this case, one used to express condolences) from a group which identified itself as "Red de Defensa Ciudadana". In it, they demand Mrs. Gaitán to renounce her post as director of the Colombian Institute of Participation, “Jorge Eliécer Gaitán”, (Colparticipar) before July 26th, or otherwise, they threat with killing her family and bomb the museum, where her father has been buried.
Dr. Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, former leader of the Colombian liberal political party, and who was at that time the presidential candidate with the best chances of winning, was assassinated on April 9th, 1948 in Bogotá. The grief caused by his assassination provoked fights between the people and the armed forces, and led to the destruction of the capital, the vandalising of shops, burning of vehicles and death thousands of people. This event is known as "El Bogotazo".
According to the reports, the date of the assassination of Jorge Eliecer Gaitán is considered by historians as the starting point of the period that is known in Colombia as “La Violencia”. Violence is still widely used in Colombia, and has caused the death of thousands of innocent people.
The information states that this is not the first time that Mrs. Gaitán receives death threats. Already in December 2000 she had to exit country, as a result of threats made against her life. They were related, apparently, to the investigations on her father’s death, that she conducted together the lawyers association “José Alvear Restrepo”. They pressed for the re-opening of the files and the declassification of secret documents of the CIA and the U.S. State Department that contained information on the genocide of the “Gaitanista” movement and the assassination of Jorge Eliécer Gaitán.
The OMCT shares the preoccupation for the security and the physical and psychological integrity of Mrs. Gloria Gaitán y of the other members of her family, and condemns such acts of violence against the civilian population, the apparent impunity of the authors, the lack of effective measures to protect the victims.
Requested action:
Please write to the Colombian authorities urging them to:
i. Take immediately the necessary measures to guarantee the security and physical and psychological integrity of Mrs. Gloria Gaitán and of the other members of her family;
ii. carry out an immediate and thorough investigation on the events described above, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the civil and/or administrative sanctions as stated by the law;
iii. implement, immediately, the recommendations given by the regional and international human rights organisations, including the office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations, and the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights;
iv. guarantee the respect for the human rights and the fundamental liberties throughput the country, in conformity with the national law and the international norms on human rights.
Addresses:
· S.E. Andrés Pastrana Arango, Presidente de la República, Cra. 8 n°.7-26, Palacio de Nariño, Santafé de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 566 20 71 e-mail : apastra@presidencia.gov.co
· Consejería Presidencial de Derechos Humanos, Calle 7 n°. 6-54 Piso 3, Santafé de Bogotá, D. C. Fax: (+57 1) 337 13 51
· Doctor Gustavo Bell Lemus, Ministro de la Defensa, Avenida El Dorado con Cra. 52 CAN, Santafé de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 222 18 74 ; e-mail : siden@mindefensa.gov.co ; infprotocol@mindefensa.gov.co ; mdn@cable.net.co
· Doctor Armando Estrada Villa, Ministro del Interior, Cra. 8 n°. 8-09 Santa Fe de Bogotá, Santafé de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 286 80 25 ; e-mail: mininterior@myrealbox.com ; minisint@col1.telecom.com.co
· Doctor Edgardo José Maya Villazón, Procurador General de la Nación, Carrera 5 n°. 15-80,Santa Fe de Bogotá.Fax: (+57 1) 342 97 23;(+57 1) 281 75 31 ; e-mail : reygon@procuraduria.gov.co ; anticorrupcion@presidencia.gov.co
· Doctor Luis Camilo Osorio, Fiscal General de la Nación, Diagonal 22 B n°. 52-01, Santafé de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 570 20 00 ; contacto@fiscalia.gov.co ; denuncie@fiscalia.gov.co
· Doctor Eduardo Cifuentes, Defensor del Pueblo, Calle 55 n°. 10-32 Santa Fe de Bogotá. Fax: (+ 57 1) 640 04 91 e-mail : secretaria_privada@hotmail.com
· General Fernando Tapias Stahelin, Comandante de las Fuerzas Militares, Avenida el Dorado con Cra. 52, Santafé de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 222 29 35 ; e-mail : siden@mindefensa.gov.co ; pilaque@cgm.mil.co
Please also write to the Colombian diplomatic representations in your respective countries
Geneva, July 9th 2002
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken in this case, quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.