Colombia
09.04.01
Urgent Interventions
Colombia: thirty persons kidnapped in Llorente, Tumaco; fears of torture
Case COL 090401
The International Secretariat of the OMCT requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Colombia.
Brief description of the situation:
The International Secretariat of the OMCT has been informed by several reliable sources, among them the Committee of Solidarity with the Political Prisoners Foundation (FCSPP), of the forced disappearance of thirty persons, in the Corregimiento of Llorente, Municipality of Tumaco, Department of Nariño.
According to the information received, on March 24 2001 at about noon, a group of paramilitaries, apparently members of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), arrived at the Municipality of Llorente, near Tumaco, and forced the inhabitants, mostly indigenous peasant farmers, to assemble in the main square. Using severe violence, they beat inhabitants into naming 30 peasants from among them as “collaborators”; these 30 were then rounded up and taken away. Furthermore, some hours before the incursion the paramilitaries are known to have acquired several chain saws, provoking fears that the 30 missing persons may have been tortured and killed.
The reports point out that despite the fact that the police was informed about this violent act immediately after its occurrence and despite its heavy presence in Tumaco, (more than 600 agents), security forces failed to carry out its duties of protection straight away, only arriving in Llorente 6 days after the events.
The International Secretariat of the OMCT condemns again this kind of persecution of the civilian population and shares with the above-mentioned human rights organizations serious fears for the physical and psychological integrity of the missing persons. OMCT again voices its concern that the perpetrators of these human rights violations act in apparent impunity and that the governmental authorities have failed yet again to implement effective protective and preventative measures.
Requested Action:
Please write to the Colombian Authorities urging them to:
i. take all measures necessary to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the above-mentioned communities and to bring an end to such violent events;
ii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the above-mentioned events, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to justice and apply the civil, penal or administrative sanctions stipulated by law;
iii. fully execute the recommendations made by international and regional human rights organisations, including those of the High Commission for Human Rights, the United Nations Human Rights Commission, the Inter.American Human Rights Commission as well as national and governmental human rights organisations;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental liberties in all the country in accordance with national law and international human rights norms.
Addresses
· S.E. Álvaro Uribe Vélez, Presidente de la República, Cra. 8 n .7-26, Palacio de Nariño, Santafé de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 566 20 71
· Consejería Presidencial de Derechos Humanos, Calle 7 n . 6-54 Piso 3, Santafé de Bogotá, D. C. Fax: (+57 1) 337 13 51
· 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
· Mission Permanente de la Colombie auprès de l’Office de las Nations Unies et des institutions spécialisées a Genève. Chemin du Champ d’Anier 17-19, 1209 Genève. Tel : (+41) 22 798 4554, 798 4555. E-mail: mission.colombia@ties.itu.int
Please also write to the embassies of Colombia in your respective country.
Geneva, April 9, 2001
The International Secretariat of the OMCT requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Colombia.
Brief description of the situation:
The International Secretariat of the OMCT has been informed by several reliable sources, among them the Committee of Solidarity with the Political Prisoners Foundation (FCSPP), of the forced disappearance of thirty persons, in the Corregimiento of Llorente, Municipality of Tumaco, Department of Nariño.
According to the information received, on March 24 2001 at about noon, a group of paramilitaries, apparently members of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), arrived at the Municipality of Llorente, near Tumaco, and forced the inhabitants, mostly indigenous peasant farmers, to assemble in the main square. Using severe violence, they beat inhabitants into naming 30 peasants from among them as “collaborators”; these 30 were then rounded up and taken away. Furthermore, some hours before the incursion the paramilitaries are known to have acquired several chain saws, provoking fears that the 30 missing persons may have been tortured and killed.
The reports point out that despite the fact that the police was informed about this violent act immediately after its occurrence and despite its heavy presence in Tumaco, (more than 600 agents), security forces failed to carry out its duties of protection straight away, only arriving in Llorente 6 days after the events.
The International Secretariat of the OMCT condemns again this kind of persecution of the civilian population and shares with the above-mentioned human rights organizations serious fears for the physical and psychological integrity of the missing persons. OMCT again voices its concern that the perpetrators of these human rights violations act in apparent impunity and that the governmental authorities have failed yet again to implement effective protective and preventative measures.
Requested Action:
Please write to the Colombian Authorities urging them to:
i. take all measures necessary to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the above-mentioned communities and to bring an end to such violent events;
ii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the above-mentioned events, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to justice and apply the civil, penal or administrative sanctions stipulated by law;
iii. fully execute the recommendations made by international and regional human rights organisations, including those of the High Commission for Human Rights, the United Nations Human Rights Commission, the Inter.American Human Rights Commission as well as national and governmental human rights organisations;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental liberties in all the country in accordance with national law and international human rights norms.
Addresses
· S.E. Álvaro Uribe Vélez, Presidente de la República, Cra. 8 n .7-26, Palacio de Nariño, Santafé de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 566 20 71
· Consejería Presidencial de Derechos Humanos, Calle 7 n . 6-54 Piso 3, Santafé de Bogotá, D. C. Fax: (+57 1) 337 13 51
· 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
· Mission Permanente de la Colombie auprès de l’Office de las Nations Unies et des institutions spécialisées a Genève. Chemin du Champ d’Anier 17-19, 1209 Genève. Tel : (+41) 22 798 4554, 798 4555. E-mail: mission.colombia@ties.itu.int
Please also write to the embassies of Colombia in your respective country.
Geneva, April 9, 2001