Date: Sat, 3 Nov 2001 Colombia: Families of the Disappeared (ASFADDES) threatened by Paramilitaries please circulate --------------------------------------------------------------------- Families of the Disappeared (ASFADDES) threatened by Paramilitaries Urgent Action! Gladys AVILA (f), Secretary General of the Association of Families of the Detained-Disappeared (ASFADDES) Gloria HERNEY (f), ASFADDES General Coordinator other human rights workers with ASFADDES Amnesty International is seriously concerned for the safety of Gladys Avila, Gloria Herney and other human rights defenders with the Asociacion de Familiares de Detenidos-Desaparecidos, (ASFADDES), Association of Families of the Detained-Disappeared. Following threatening telephone calls and months of constant surveillance by unknown individuals, ASFADDES workers had not gone into their Bogota office on 21 October. At 8pm, Gladys Avila, Secretary General of ASFADDES, received an anonymous call at her home, in which the caller said: "ah les dio miedo y no salieron las hijueputas", "so you were scared and you didn't go out you sons-of-bitches". Using a mobile telephone provided by the Minister of Interior as a security measure, Gladys Avila telephoned her colleague Gloria Herney to warn her about what had just happened. Shortly after the call, the mobile telephone stopped working. At 9pm, on the same day, Gloria Herney saw three men she did not know, waiting outside her building as she returned to her home. Feeling unsafe, she decided not to enter. In recent weeks anonymous telephone calls have been made to the ASFADDES office in which the callers ask whether Gloria Herney is at work, before hanging up. In addition, interference is heard on the office telephones, raising concerns that they are being tapped. Criminal investigations into the forced "disappearance" of ASFADDES workers Angel Quintero and Claudia Monsalve in October 2000 in Medellin, have established that members of the security forces were illegally tapping ASFADDES's telephones in Medellin prior to their "disappearance". Concerns are further heightened by the fact that these events, follow the circulation of a message on the Internet at the end of August, which declared that the Grupo de Limpieza Urbana, Urban Cleansing Group of the army-backed paramilitary group Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia, would be starting a "clean-up campaign" (campana de limpieza) to rid Colombia of people they believe to be urban guerrillas. The message was received by email by several non- governmental human rights organizations. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ASFADDES is a non-governmental organization made up of relatives of people who have "disappeared" during the ongoing conflict in Colombia. It aims to discover what has happened to the "disappeared" and bring those responsible to justice. ASFADDES members, other human rights defenders and witnesses of human rights violations, have endured death threats, killings and disappearances at the hands of the security forces and their paramilitary allies. In October 2000, Angel Quintero and Claudia Monsalve of the Medellin branch of ASFADDES "disappeared" (see UA 259/00, AMR 23/081/00, 9 October 2000). Their whereabouts remain unknown. The security forces and their paramilitary allies have a policy of accusing human rights organizations of supporting or collaborating with the guerillas, so they can present them as legitimate military targets. At least 25 human rights defenders have been killed or "disappeared" in the last three years. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals urgently in Spanish or English in your own style - expressing concern for the safety of human rights defenders Gladys Avila, Gloria Herney and others working with ASFADDES; - calling for full and impartial investigations into the threatening telephone calls, the possible telephone tapping of the ASFADDES offices and the constant surveillance faced by members of ASFADDES; - urging that all measures, deemed appropriate by those under threat themselves, are taken to guarantee their safety; - calling for a full and impartial investigation into the recent paramilitary threats circulated via the Internet to a number of non-governmental organizations, urging that the results are made public and those responsible brought to justice; - urging the government to adhere to its obligations to protect human rights defenders, as set out by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and by the Organization of American States; - asking the authorities to take immediate action to dismantle paramilitary groups, in line with stated government commitments and United Nations recommendations. APPEALS TO: Senor Presidente Andres Pastrana Presidente de la Republica Palacio de Narino Carrera 8 No. 7-26 Santafe de Bogota, Colombia Fax: + 57 1 286 7434/562 9300 Salutation: Excelentisimo Sr. Presidente/Dear President Pastrana Dr. Gustavo Bell Ministro de Defensa Nacional Avenida Eldorado CAN - Carrera 52 Santafe de Bogota, Colombia Fax: + 57 1 286 4126 / 281 1213 / 222 1874 Salutation: Dear Minister / Sr. Ministro Sr. Armando Estrada Villa Ministro del Interior Palacio Echeverry Carrera 8a, No.8-09, piso 2o. Santafe de Bogota, Colombia Fax: + 57 1 341 9583 / 334 3960/286 8405/281 5884 Salutation: Dear Sir / Sr. Ministro COPIES TO: Her Excellency Fanny Kertzman Yankelevitch Ambassador for Colombia 360 Albert Street, Suite 1002 Ottawa, Ontario K1R 7X7 Fax: (613) 230-4416 Email: embcolot@travel-net.com ASFADDES AA 011446 Santafe de Bogota, Colombia PLEASE TAKE QUICK ACTION ON THIS REQUEST FOR APPEALS. THANK YOU.