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Archived Urgent Action
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KAIROS is gravely concerned about new threats directed against members of the Popular Women’s Organization (OFP), a key partner of both the human rights and global partnerships programs of KAIROS. We are also deeply disturbed about news from the OFP of a series of violent deaths which have occurred since the beginning of this year in Barrancabermeja, three of which were women. We urge you to respond to the urgent action below. |
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- Introduction
- Overview and Background of Current Threats
- Latest Incidents against Women
- Recommended Action
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Introduction |
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The Popular Women’s Organization (OFP) is a key partner of both the human rights and global partnerships programs of KAIROS. The OFP has been working to promote women’s human rights in Barrancabermeja and surrounding areas for more than thirty years. In the midst of an increasingly difficult situation and at great personal risk, the members of the OFP continue to work for a peaceful negotiated solution to Colombia’s armed conflict and to denounce ongoing human rights abuses.
The OFP appears in the KAIROS video, the Hidden Story – Confronting Colombia’s Dirty War, and is one of the partners profiled in the KAIROS education resource- Living Hope: Building Movements for Global Justice. It was one of five women’s groups that organized the National Women’s March for Peace in July 2002. The march, which was supported by KAIROS, brought together about 30,000 women from throughout Colombia to call for non violent resistance and to demand a political negotiated solution to the war.
The OFP has expressed strong opposition to the present government’s war measures and policies of militarization. Likewise, it has refused to cooperate with illegal army-backed paramilitary groups. As a result, the OFP has faced continual threats and harassment. In 2002, KAIROS issued three urgent actions for the OFP.
KAIROS is gravely concerned about new threats directed against
members of the OFP. We are also deeply disturbed about news from
the OFP of a series of violent deaths which have occurred since
the beginning of this year in Barrancabermeja, three of which were
women. We urge you to respond to the urgent action below.
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Overview and Background of Current Threats |
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On February 5, 2003, a meeting was held in the offices of the OFP in the municipality of Cantagallo to discuss paramilitary threats against the OFP. The meeting was interrupted abruptly by armed men believed to be members of an army-backed paramilitary group. In the presence of numerous witnesses including representatives of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the mayor's office, other non- governmental human rights organizations and the Roman Catholic church , the armed intruders threatened that they would return to burn down the offices of the OFP in Cantagallo and would kill any OFP leaders that remained there.
The OFP has reportedly informed the Colombian authorities about this incident. However, despite the fact that Cantagallo has both a police and army presence, the authorities have taken no decisive action to dismantle paramilitary groups operating in the area or to protect the OFP.
The former coordinator of the OFP group in Cantagallo resigned from her post in December 2002 due to the constant threats and pressure from paramilitary groups for her to do so. Her replacement was reportedly approached two days after taking up the post by a paramilitary commander, who claimed he knew she was the new coordinator of the OFP group in Cantagallo and that this would cause her problems.
The threats issued by the paramilitaries are the latest in a long
campaign of intimidation of human rights activists in the area.
Jackeline Rojas, who oversees the work of the OFP in the Cantagallo
area, was declared a "military target" in November 2002
by army-backed
paramilitaries who reportedly view the OFP as a threat to their
control over the area. Jackeline Rojas continues to oversee the
work of the OFP in the Cantagallo area.
The threats also come shortly after the OFP issued an urgent action to draw attention to a series of killings conducted by army-backed paramilitaries in the city of Barrancabermeja during the first weeks of this year. According to the information sent to KAIROS by the OFP:
"Contrary to what the civil and military authorities tell the country and the international community concerning peace in Barrancabermeja, this year has started with harsh actions against the civilian population by the paramilitary groups.
"There is no punishment for those carrying out the assassinations and attacks despite the fact that everyone in Barrancabermeja knows what is happening, including the names of those responsible. The incidents are talked about in hushed voices, while the authorities make themselves deaf.
"In the face of this grave situation, the Popular Women’s’ Organization denounces the increase, in the last few days, of selective assassinations used as a mechanism of asserting the social, political and military control of the paramilitaries, now with the practice of [leaving a poster on the body of the victim with the so-called reason for their murder].
"We reject the violent and criminal wave that is assailing our city, and in particular violence against women, victimized for being the mother, wife, daughter or lover of an actor in the war, or for defending human rights, or for being a social leader."
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Latest incidents against women |
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- María del Carmen Cristancho Sánchez, 40 years old, sales person was killed on the night of 21 January 2003 in the district of Pozo Siete. The assassins placed a sign on her saying "Killed for being an informant and collaborator of the 24th Front of the FARC."
- Diocelina Sánchez Restrepo, 42 years old, a lottery ticket seller, was forced into a vehicle on January 20, 2003 in the city of Barrancabermeja. She was later found dead in Las Granjas district.
- Gloria Muñoz López, 46 years old, was killed on January 20, 2003 at approximately 11 PM as she was arriving at her home in the Buena Vista district. According to information from the community, she was hit by a stray bullet from the gun of a paramilitary called Mario, who was playing with the weapon in a park opposite the house of the victim.
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Recommended Action |
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Send urgent messages in Spanish or in your own language to the Colombian authorities. Your message should:
- Express concern for the safety of the members of the OFP, in particular following the most recent threats made on February 5, 2003;
- Call on the Colombian authorities to investigate these threats fully and bring those responsible to justice;
- Urge the Colombian authorities to take effective measures to guarantee the safety of members of the OFP so they can carry out their legitimate work in defence of human rights without fear of reprisals;
- Express concern over the continued large-scale presence of army-backed paramilitary forces in Cantagallo municipality and the city of Barrancabermeja despite heavy military presence in the area;
- Call on the authorities to investigate the assassinations occurring
in Barrancabermeja and to bring those responsible to justice in
civilian courts.
Send Letters to:
- President Álvaro Uribe Vélez
President of Colombia
Palacio de Narino, Carrera 8 No.7-26 Santafé de Bogotá, Colombia
Fax: 00 57 1 342-0592
E-mail: auribe@presidencia.gov.ca
With copies to:
- KAIROS: E-mail/Courriel à Bill Fairbairn
- Jean Marc Duval, Canadian Ambassador to Colombia
Fax: 011-571-657-9915; E-mail: jean.duval@dfait-maeci.gc.ca - Fanny Kertzman Yankelevitch, Colombian Ambassador in Canada
Fax: 613-230-4416; E-mail: embajador@embajadacolombia.ca - Francisco Santos, Vicepresidente de la Republica de Colombia
Consejería Presidencial de Derechos Humanos
Fax: 00 57 1 337 1351, E-mail: mdn@cable.net.co
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