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FOR responds to outrageous claim in Colombian press

By

Liza Smith

on

Friday, December 21, 2007, 3:47pm

Last week in the printed version of Colombia’s second largest national newspaper El Espectador, an article was printed in the “People of the Year” section that applauded Colombia's Defense Minister for his counter-terrorism accomplishments, and went on to accuse the many organizations that do human rights work in Colombia of being manipulated by the FARC!

Read on to learn more about this dangerous and misleading statement, and read FOR's response which was signed by over twenty organizations.

The article applauded Defense Minister Santos' efforts to fight the military war against the FARC (Colombia’s largest anti-government guerrilla group), but said that he, as well as the government in general, had failed in the political and judicial war. “The reality, understood by only a few observers, is that the FARC knows how to manipulate, to their own favor, judicial resources, thanks to a well articulated and designed strategy that is supported through a variety of resources” and the author includes in his list of “resources” number 4:

“leftist organizations, specialized in the judicial war against the military, like Justice and Peace, the Lawyers Collective Jose Alvear Restrepo, the European Sisterhood Network with Colombia, the Committee in Solidarity with Political Prisoners, Minga, Peace Brigades International and many others inside and outside of the country.

Later in the article it says the military has been similarly framed in cases like San José de Apartadó (among others). This article puts at grave risk the legitimate work of these national human rights organizations, the safety of the peace community San José de Apartadó and, by including PBI, the ability of this and other international organizations to offer protection to our counterparts. The Colombia Program of Fellowship of Reconciliation spear-headed an effort to write a letter to the editor, which will be published in this weekend’s printed version of El Espectador, with 22 organizations from the United States and Europe who signed on.

San Francisco, California

20 de diciembre de 2007

Señor Jorge Cardona
Editor
El Espectador
Bogotá, Colombia

Estimado editor:

Con mucha preocupación registramos la publicación en el Espectador del artículo “Santos: La guerra que está ganando— y la otra” (Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza, sábado 15 de diciembre) en el que señala a las organizaciones de derechos humanos, nacionales e internacionales, Justicia y Paz, el Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo, la Red Europea de Hermandad con Colombia, el Comité de Solidaridad con los Presos Políticos, Minga, Peace Brigadas Internacional de ser instrumentos de la guerra de las FARC. Dicho falso señalamiento, pone en peligro el ejercicio de la actividad legítima de defensa de los derechos humanos, en un clima en el que quienes se dedican a esta labor son objeto de repetidos ataques por todos los actores armados.

La comunidad internacional comparte nuestra preocupación. En carta del 1 de noviembre de 2007, 11 senadores estadounidenses solicitaron al presidente Uribe abstenerse de hacer señalamientos a los defensores de derechos humanos y a los sindicalistas, y en comunicación del 17 de julio de 2007, 36 congresistas reaccionaron enérgicamente frente al ataque sistemático las organizaciones de derechos humanos. Más recientemente, el pasado 7 de diciembre, 30 congresistas pidieron al presidente Uribe protección a los sindicalistas colombianos e investigación de los crímenes contra la actividad sindical. Por su parte la alta comisionada de Naciones Unidas para los derechos humanos, Louise Arbour, el pasado septiembre reconoció “los valientes esfuerzos de los defensores y organizaciones de derechos humanos, así como del Movimiento de Víctimas, quienes corriendo riesgos personales considerables, abogan por el mejoramiento de la situación de derechos humanos en Colombia y marcan una diferencia real en la vida diaria de muchos de sus conciudadanos”.

La construcción del Estado de Derecho implica la defensa de los derechos humanos y como parte de ese trabajo los defensores colombianos encuentran como foco de preocupación los asesinatos de civiles (ejecuciones extrajudiciales) cometidos por parte de la Fuerza Pública. Este año, organizaciones colombianas presentaron diversos casos a través de su documentación y denuncia en un informe en octubre (“Ejecuciones Extrajudiciales directamente atribuibles a la Fuerza Pública en Colombia”, julio 2006 a junio 2007). Dicha labor, no constituye una “guerra jurídica” contra el Estado, sino más bien, acciones que llevan a la edificación del Estado de Derecho.

Es deber del Estado Colombiano proteger a los defensores de derechos humanos, llevar las investigaciones y castigar a los perpetradores de crímenes de lesa humanidad, como ejecuciones extrajudiciales, la masacre de febrero de 2005 en San José de Apartadó y el asesinato de sindicalistas en Arauca a los que hace alusión el señor Apuleyo en su artículo, sin importar quiénes sean los responsables.

Desconocemos la fuente de las afirmaciones que el señor Apuleyo hace en su artículo sobre las organizaciones defensoras de derechos humanos y esperamos una rectificación que contrarreste la tergiversación de información sobre la legitimidad de las organizaciones mencionadas en su artículo ante la opinión pública. Finalmente, solicitamos al Ministro de Defensa distanciarse públicamente de los señalamientos e indicar inequívocamente el respeto y acatamiento de los derechos humanos.

Atentamente,

Acción Permanente por la Paz
Center for International Policy
Chicagoans for a Peaceful Colombia
Chicago Metropolitan Sanctuary Alliance
Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America
Colombia Human Rights Committee
Colombia Peace Project
Colombia Vive
Conference of Major Superiors of Men
Drug Policy Project, Institute for Policy Studies
8th Day Center for Justice
Fellowship of Reconciliation
Human Rights First
International Labor Rights Forum
Presbyterian Peace Fellowship
Quixote Center/Quest for Peace
Red Italiana de Solidaridad Colombia Vive
Refugees International
Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights
US Labor Education in the Americas Project (USLEAP)
United Steel Workers, AFL-CIO
Washington Office on Latin America

San Francisco, California

December 20th, 2007

Mr. Jorge Cardona
Editor
El Espectador
Bogotá, Colombia

Dear Editor,

It is with great concern that we read the article published in El Espectador “Santos: The War He Is Winning— and the other one” (Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza: Saturday, 15th of December) in which he accuses the national and international human rights organizations Justice and Peace, the Lawyers Collective Jose Alvear Restrepo, the European Sistership Network with Colombia, the Committee in Solidarity with Political Prisoners, Minga and Peace Brigades International of being the FARC’s instruments in the war. In a place where those who are dedicated to this work are targets of repeated attacks, this accusation puts these organizations and their legitimate work in defense of human rights, at risk.

The international community shares our concern. In a letter on the 1st of November, 2007 11 US Senators asked President Uribe to refrain from making accusations towards human rights defenders and trade unionists. In a communication made on the the 17th of July, 2007 36 Congressional members strongly reacted to the systematic attacks made against human rights organizations. More recently on the 7th of December, 2007 30 members of Congress asked President Uribe to protect Colombian trade unionists and to investigate crimes committed against union organizing. And in September, the High Commissioner of the United Nations, Louise Arbour recognized “the courageous efforts of human rights defenders and organizations, like the Victims Movement, who run considerable personal risks while advocating for an improvement in the human rights situation in Colombia and who make a real difference for many citizens in their daily lives.”

The rule of law implies the defense of human rights and Colombian human rights defenders have focused on a fundamental part of this work — the assassinations of civilians (extrajudicial executions) committed by the public forces. This year, Colombian organizations presented a number of well-documented cases and denunciations in an October report (“Extrajudicial Executions directly attributed to the Public Forces of Colombia”, July 2006 to July 2007). This work is not “judicial war” against the state, but rather helps to build the rule of law.

It is the duty of the Colombian state to protect human rights defenders, to investigate and to punish the perpetrators of crimes against humanity, such as extrajudicial executions, the massacre in February 2005 in San Jose de Apartado and the assassination of trade unionists in Arauca, which Apuleyo references in his article.

We are not aware of Mr. Apuleyo’s sources of information mentioned in the article about the human rights defense organizations, and we hope for a statement that retracts the misrepresented information. Finally, we ask that the Minister of Defense publicaly distance himself from the accusations and express his continued respect and observance of human rights.

Sincerely,

Center for International Policy
Chicagoans for a Peaceful Colombia
Chicago Metropolitan Sanctuary Alliance
Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America
Colombia Human Rights Committee
Colombia Peace Project
Colombia Vive
Conference of Major Superiors of Men
Drug Policy Project, Institute for Policy Studies
8th Day Center for Justice
Fellowship of Reconciliation
Human Rights First
International Labor Rights Forum
Presbyterian Peace Fellowship
Quixote Center/Quest for Peace
Red Italiana de Solidaridad Colombia Vive
Refugees International
Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights
US Labor Education in the Americas Project (USLEAP)
United Steel Workers, AFL-CIO
Washington Office on Latin America
Witness for Peace