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Posted by Justice for Colombia | Date 1 October 2008 |
HIGH PRIORITY URGENT ACTION – Lives in Grave Danger
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A series of incidents involving leaders of the Colombian agricultural workers' trade union FENSUAGRO, as well as their children, indicate that assassination attempts against them are imminent. The two individuals believed to be at most risk – Aidee Moreno and Eberto Diaz – have both visited the UK to speak at union conferences and other events. Justice for Colombia urges all supporters to take action.
Summary
Harassment of leading members of FENSUAGRO and their families have increased dramatically in recent weeks. These include suspicious men following them, strangers coming up to union officials in the street and insulting them, harassment of the children of union President Eberto Diaz, including one of his sons being threatened by a man with a gun who asked about his father. E-mail death threats have also arrived at the FENSUAGRO offices stating that several individuals will shortly be killed. The union has requested protection from the Colombian authorities but this has been denied. Detailed information is below, but please take the following action as soon as possible:
What you can do
Dear Ambassador,
I am writing to express my extreme concern for the safety of senior members of the Colombian agricultural workers' trade union FENSUAGRO and their families. Already this year seven members of FENSUAGRO have been assassinated, and recent events appear to indicate that further assassinations are imminent.
I refer to the following incidents:
September 10th: Two strange men follow Aidee Moreno, national secretary for human rights at FENSUAGRO, as she leaves the headquarters of the union.
September 12th: A man with a gun grabs 14-year-old Eberto Enrique Diaz, the son of FENSUAGRO President Eberto Diaz Montes, as he is walking home from school. The man attempted to force the boy to open the door of the family home and says various threatening things to him about his father and mother.
September 16th: At approximately 6pm a man approaches the secretary who works for FENSUAGRO as she is walking through central Bogota. In a threatening way the man accuses her of being a guerrilla.
September 18th: Unidentified men in a black jeep wait outside of the school that two of the children of union President Eberto Diaz Montes attend. As they walk home with their mother, the jeep pulls up next to them and those inside throw water over them and call them "sons of bitches guerrillas".
September 18th: Two paramilitary death threats arrive by e-mail at the FENSUAGRO headquarters warning that leaders of the union will shortly be killed.
September 24th: At 12.18 as Aidee Moreno arrives at the FENSUAGRO headquarters she notices two men starring intently at her. As she passes, one man says to the other "That is her".
September 26th: Several suspicious men are seen loitering outside the union's headquarters in central Bogota. They seem particularly interested in Aidee Moreno.
As you will know, assassinations of union leaders in Colombia are regularly preceded by activities such as those outlined above. I understand that FENSUAGRO has already contacted the Colombian Ministry of Interior requesting protection for those at risk but that this protection has been denied.
I insist that your Government reconsiders its position and that action is immediately taken to safeguard the lives of those union leaders and activists that are in danger. Your Government will appear complicit in any further attacks should the authorities continue to ignore requests for protection.
I am deeply worried that killings of trade unionists in Colombia this year have already surpassed the total number killed last year – an increase that contradicts the claims made by your Government that the situation is improving. Please make it clear to your colleagues in Bogota that the international community will not remain silent whilst the Colombian trade union movement is exterminated.
I look forward to your reply.
Yours sincerely,
Dear Member of Parliament,
I am writing to request that you make urgent representations to the Colombian Ambassador in London regarding the safety of members of the Colombian agricultural workers' trade union FENSUAGRO.
Several incidents in recent weeks – including harassment by suspicious men and death threats – indicate that an attack against senior members of the union is imminent. Seven members of the union have already been assassinated in Colombia so far this year and it is urgent that the international community speaks out if we are to put an end to the killings.
Furthermore, I am deeply concerned by reports that the Colombian authorities have denied a request made by the union to provide their leaders with protection. Without any protection these brave men and women are left at the mercy of anti-trade union death squads that operate in collusion with the Colombian security forces.
I hope that your intervention may encourage the Colombian authorities to take action to protect the lives of FENSUAGRO's leaders, activists and members and their families.
Thank you in advance for your assistance in this matter.
Yours sincerely,
Background
So far this year seven members of the Colombian agricultural workers trade union FENSUAGRO have been assassinated:
Israel Gonzalez, a regional leader of the union, killed January 24th in the town of San Antonio, Tolima department.
Manuel Antonio Jimenez, a union activist, killed March 15th in the town of Puerto Asis, Putumayo department.
Jose Fernando Quiroz, a union activist, killed March 15th in the town of Puerto Asis, Putumayo department.
Tomas Alberto Chiquillo Pascuales, a regional leader of the union, killed May 10th in the town of San Angel, Magdalena department.
Luis Orlando Gelves, a union activist, killed May 11th in the town of Nuevo Oriente, Arauca department.
Luis Mayusa Prada, a union activist, killed on August 8th in the town of Saravena, Arauca department.
Manuel Erminson Gamboa Melendez, a regional leader of the union, killed on August 13th in the town of Puerto Asis, Putumayo department.
Most of these assassinations were preceded by the victims receiving threats, being followed by unknown individuals or other forms of harassment. Recent events in the Colombian capital Bogota indicate that further assassinations, this time aimed at the national leadership of the union, are imminent.
Furthermore, the children of the President of the union have been targeted. This is deeply worrying given that in February this year FENSUAGRO and various other trade unions and human rights organisations received a death threat that included the following paragraph:
"We will finish you off through your families, your children and loved ones will give their lives because of your filthy acts, cowards who don't show their faces and for that reason your families will pay dearly for your errors."
The recent upsurge in threatening activity began on September 10th when two suspicious men followed Aidee Moreno as she left the union's headquarters in central Bogota. Ms Moreno is the national secretary for human rights at FENSUAGRO.
This was followed, two days later, by an incident involving 14-year-old Eberto Enrique Diaz, the son of FENSUAGRO President Eberto Diaz Montes, who was walking home from school in the Fontibon neighbourhood of Bogota where the family live. A block from his house a man grabbed him by the arm, threatened him with a gun and said "walk quickly, don't shout". Upon arriving at the family home the boy tried to walk past but the man said "this is your house, open the door". The boy responded that he was no longer living there, that he did not have keys and that he was now living with a friend elsewhere. The man said "I know you live here, open the door", and the boy responded that he did not have any keys. The man then asked the boy where his mother was and said several things about his father and his father's security and mentioned two other names, which the boy, because of the trauma he suffered, cannot remember. At this point a neighbour came out and spoke to the boy and the man left.
Four days later, on September 16th, a secretary working at FENSUAGRO was walking in the centre of Bogota (Carrera 9 y 10, Calle 17) at around 6pm when a man came up to her and said, "Such a great looking girl, what a shame that the bitch is a guerrilla". He then walked off.
This was followed by an incident on September 18th involving the two youngest children of union President Eberto Diaz. The two youngsters were collected at school by their mother who noticed a black jeep with some men sitting in it parked in front of the school. Shortly after they had left the school the jeep intercepted them and those inside threw water over them and yelled "guerrilla sons of bitches".
The same day an e-mail arrived at the FENSUAGRO headquarters from amigosdeuribeporcolombia@yahoo.com.co – the first part of which translates into English as 'Friends of Uribe for Colombia'. The subject of the message was "warning sons of bitches". Some hours later a second e-mail arrived from the same address a translation of which, including some explanatory notes in bold, follows:
From: amigosdeuribeporcolombia@yahoo.com.co
Subject: warning sons of bitches
To: fensuagropresidencia@yahoo.es [the e-mail address of the FENSUAGRO President], fcspp@etb.net.co [the e-mail address of the Committee for Solidarity with Political Prisoners, a well-known human rights NGO], aliriouribe@hotmail.com [the e-mail address of a well-known Colombian human rights lawyer], anthocbogota@gmail.com [the e-mail address of the Colombian trade union representing health workers, ANTHOC]
Date: Thursday, 18 September, 2008 3:22
All of those organisations that claim to be leaders are no more than a cover up of the far left to support the FARC guerrillas. We know that to finish the guerrillas we need to exterminate you guerrilla sympathisers.
Today our president is risking himself for this beautiful country in the US. Meanwhile you want to criticise him everywhere. Being the first president who has defeated the guerrillas militarily and who is restoring peace and tranquillity for millions of Colombians, we support him and we will always support him.
We have information about organisations that are guerrilla sympathisers, such as committees of political prisoners, lawyers collectives - Andas, Anthoc, Minga, Reiniciar, Fenacoa, cut, Fensuagro [these are human rights groups and trade unions] and many others that are already on our list and have been declared our military targets.
Here it is not important who executes the orders, what is important is to debilitate the guerrilla, exterminating its people – Guillermo Rivera, Israel Gonzales, Milton Mora, [all victims of recent assassinations] these guerrillas are on the new list which has already been put into action. Other lists that have been put into action include Angel Salas, Juan Mendoza, Miguel Bobadilla, Eberto Diaz, Luis Sandoval, Omar Hernandez, Viviana ortiz, Albeiro Betancourt, Gilberto Martinez, Alvaro Londono, and Yesid Camacho [those named are all human rights defenders or trade union leaders from a variety of sectors]. Those people who believe we have forgotten them are very much mistaken, since we have obtained information from reliable sources.
We are very close to you. Much closer than you imagine and when you least expect it, we will get you. Look after yourselves sons of bitches and count yourselves as dead.
A U C
Friends of Uribe for Colombia"
Following the death threats the union reports that, beginning September 21st, strange men have been seen hanging around and watching the FENSUAGRO headquarters. Just after midday on September 24th, as human rights secretary Aidee Moreno was arriving at the office, one of these unknown men was overheard telling another "That is her".
FENSUAGRO has just reported: "We have made several requests to the Ministry of the Interior and Justice for protection of the members of the National Executive Committee of our federation without having received any positive response."
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