Update on Colombian surveillance

Surveillance of FOR Colombia Team Exposed;
Human Rights Groups Join FOR in Demanding Investigation

FOR and leading human rights organizations last week released letters to U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield and Colombian Attorney General Mario Iguarán condemning the electronic monitoring of humanitarian groups. Colombian media sources revealed this month that the Colombian government had secretly intercepted communications to and from more than 150 e-mail addresses used by human rights activists, journalists, academics, and labor organizers for the past two years. The letter was signed by leaders of FOR, Amnesty International, Latin America Working Group, Human Rights First, Washington Office on Latin America and ten other human rights organizations.

Intercepting e-mails of nonviolent activists working in combat zones is not only a detour from terrorism investigations. It also puts at risk our field team and the communities we work with, by suggesting that those working for peace and human rights are subversive, legitimate targets for right-wing violence. “agents have targeted legitimate activities such as community and student organizing, environmental activism, and art work,” the NGO letter said.

Two FOR e-mail addresses have been revealed as surveillance targets during that two-year period. We’ve also now learned that the Colombian military paid for computer hard drives ‘of interest to intelligence’ agencies. In June 2007, FOR’s Bogotá office was broken into, ransacked, and robbed of laptop computers. These stolen laptops contained sensitive files on our work with members of Colombian peace communities, and the incident may have been a direct result of this state-sanctioned surveillance.

To send your own letter to the State Department urging an end to this spying on human rights groups, click here.

The letter to Ambassador Brownfield from FOR and other NGOs also addressed the U.S.’s role in these illicit efforts. The letter stated, “The United States bears significant responsibility in this matter, given that the agencies involved in these actions – National Police, Defense Ministry and Attorney General’s office – are recipients of extensive U.S. assistance. In 2006 the State Department awarded a $5 million contract to provide SIJIN [Colombian police intelligence unit] with ‘internet surveillance software.’ As a result, U.S. taxpayers were apparently paying for Colombian agencies to spy on legitimate U.S. and Colombian humanitarian organizations.”

The U.S. government must press for a thorough and transparent investigation into these abuses, since our taxpayer dollars are funding that brutal war. To read the full NGO letters to U.S. and Colombian officials, follow these links (PDF): Brownfield intercept letter and Iguaran Intercept letter.