Joint Statement on Threats Against Human Rights Defender (US House committee Education & Labor)

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Human Rights Watch

Joint Statement on Threats Against Human Rights Defender
March 5, 2009

Eight labor and human rights organizations call on the Colombian government to respect the work of trade unionists and human rights defenders in Colombia and to retract statements that put these workers at risk.

We seek this action in light of the recent death threat to a lawyer at a prominent human rights organization and the government's repeated statements stigmatizing human rights defenders and union members.

On March 2, 2009, Lina Paola Malagon, an attorney at the prominent human rights organization, the Colombian Commission of Jurists (CCJ), received by fax a very detailed death threat. The threat, which was signed by the Black Eagles - Capital Bloc, explained that she had been declared a "military objective" because of her association with and work for CCJ, and her work on behalf of trade unionists.

Ms. Malagon has served for years as legal counsel to several trade unions and recently prepared a comprehensive report about the failure of the government to ensure that those responsible for killings of union leaders and members are brought to justice. This report formed the basis of testimony that was delivered at a February 12 hearing of the US House Committee on Education and Labor on workers' rights and violence in Colombia. The chairman of that committee, Rep. George Miller, specifically cited Ms. Malagon's report in his opening remarks.

Human rights defenders and trade unionists are frequently the targets of threats and violence in Colombia. Paramilitary death squads, in particular, have deliberately persecuted union members, who they stigmatize as being linked to left-wing guerrillas. Since 1986, more than 2,600 trade unionists have been killed; in a majority of cases where the perpetrator has been identified, the killer was a paramilitary.

Read more: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/03/05/joint-statement-threats-against-human-rights-defender

[Judi Lynn]

1. Colombia: Authorities Must Guarantee Safety of Demonstrators (Amnesty International)

March 4, 2009
12:39 PM

Colombia: Authorities Must Guarantee Safety of Demonstrators

WASHINGTON - March 4 - President Álvaro Uribe must make a strong public statement in support of the important and legitimate work of human rights defenders. Failing to do so risks giving a green light to those who wish to attack them, said Amnesty International today.

Amnesty International’s call came in the run up to demonstrations scheduled to take place in Bogotá and other Colombian cities on 6 March in protest at human rights violations committed by the security forces. The demonstrations are being organized by the human rights coalition National Movement of Victims of State Crimes (Movimiento Nacional de Víctimas de Crímenes de Estado, MOVICE).

A number of Colombian trade unionists and human rights defenders were killed or threatened just before or soon after last year’s 6 of March mass demonstrations, also organized by MOVICE. Numerous Colombian human rights organizations also received email threats at the time, reportedly from paramilitary groups.

“The threats and killings that tragically marred last year’s marches must not be repeated. The legitimate right of everyone to peaceful protest must be guaranteed by the Colombian authorities,” said Marcelo Pollack, interim Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Americas Programme.

Amnesty International calls on the Colombian authorities to guarantee the security of the organizers and the participants in this year’s 6 March demonstrations. Amnesty International also calls on the Colombian authorities to impartially and effectively investigate last year’s killings and threats, as well as all human rights abuses committed against human rights defenders, trade unionists and other activists, and to bring all those responsible to justice.

This year's demonstrations focus on the on-going problem of extrajudicial executions by the security forces. Over recent years, Colombian human rights organizations have sought to bring this problem to national and international attention and to demand action by the authorities. As a result of their work in exposing extrajudicial executions and the impunity that surrounds these cases, defenders have received death threats and have been publicly criticized by government officials, who suggest their work is part of a guerrilla strategy to discredit the security forces.

More:
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/03/04-4