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Urgent Action
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KAIROS is seriously concerned for the safety of the members of our partner, the Organización Femenina Popular (OFP), Popular Women's Organization, following the murder of one of its members in the city of Barrancabermeja, Santander department. For background on the OFP, please click here for the previous urgent action from 11 February 2003. |
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Background Information |
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On 16 October at 7:30 pm, Esperanza Amaris Miranda, a member of the OFP, was abducted from her house in the Versalles district of Barrancabermeja and forced into a taxi by three members of the army-backed paramilitary group Bloque Central Bolívar, Central Bolivar Bloc, of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia which operates in the area. Her 21-year-old daughter tried to stop the abduction and fought with the kidnappers. Five minutes later, Esperanza Amaris Miranda was killed in front of the Camilo Torres Restrepo School and her body thrown into the middle of the street.
Barrancabermeja is under siege from army-backed paramilitaries who control entire areas of the city, despite the presence of large numbers of security forces. According to the regional ombudsman's office so far in 2003, 94 people have been killed, 56 have "disappeared" and at least 600 have been displaced in the city of Barracabermeja. Human rights defenders, their families and other members of civilian society have frequently been harassed, tortured and killed by paramilitaries and the security and armed forces. They are accused of being guerrilla sympathizers.
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Recommended Action |
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Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez (E-mail: auribe@presidencia.gov.ca, fax: 011-57-1-342-0592), denouncing the forced abduction and murder of Esperanza Amaris Miranda. Using the KAIROS letter below as a sample, write your own letter, urgently calling on the Colombian government to:
- conduct an immediate, impartial and full investigation into the killing of Esperanza Amaris Miranda, and demand that those responsible be brought to justice.
- take appropriate measures to guarantee the safety of members of the Organización Femenina Popular (OFP).
- adhere to its UN obligations to guarantee the safety of human rights defenders.
- take effective action against paramilitary groups in the Barrancabermeja area.
- conduct a full and impartial investigation into links between the security forces and paramilitary groups operating in the department of Santander.
Send Copies to:
- Bill Graham, Minister of Foreign Affairs, E-mail: GrahaB@parl.gc.ca, fax: 613-996-3443
- Jean Marc Duval, Canadian Ambassador in Colombia, jean-marc.duval@dfait-maeci.gc.ca, fax: 011-571-657-9915
- Colombian Embassy in Canada, embajador@embajadorcolombia.ca, fax: 613-230-4416
- Organización Femenina Popular (OFP), fax: 011-57-76-21-4501, (E-mail here)
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Sample Letter |
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October 23, 2003
Señor Presidente Álvaro Uribe Vélez
Presidente de la República
Palacio de Nariño, Carrera 8 No.7-26
Santafé de Bogotá, Colombia
Fax: + 57 1 342 0592 / 337 58 90
E-mail: auribe@presidencia.gov.co
Dear Mr President Uribe,
I am writing to you on behalf of KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, a coalition of 11 churches and church-based organizations in Canada with longstanding relationships with partners in Colombia.
We are alarmed and outraged to learn about the forced abduction and murder of Esperanza Amaris Miranda on October 16, 2003. Esperanza was a staff of the Organización Femenina Popular (OFP), one of our partner organizations. She had been the victim of death threats by army-backed paramilitary prior to her death. The attorney general’s office was reportedly informed of the threats.
The chairperson of our Human Rights Committee along with two KAIROS staff recently returned from a monitoring trip to Colombia, October 1-13, 2003. They traveled to Barrancabermeja and met with members of the OFP as well as the Bishop and the regional ombudsman’s office. In Barrancabermeja, they witnessed the increased control and presence of army-backed paramilitary, and the terror imposed on the population. They heard first hand about the alarming increase in forced disappearances, selective assassinations and death threats by paramilitary, particularly over the last few weeks.
According to the regional ombudsman's office, 94 people have already been killed in 2003, 56 have "disappeared", and at least 600 have been displaced in the city of Barracabermeja. Human rights defenders, their families and other members of civil society have frequently been harassed, tortured and killed by paramilitaries and the security and armed forces. They are accused of being guerrilla sympathizers.
Now, we are seriously concerned for the safety of the members of
the (OFP). Yolanda Becerra, President of the OFP, and other members
continue to receive paramilitary death threats. In September, army-backed
paramilitaries declared the OFP to be a “military target”
(“objetivo militar”) and reportedly threatened to kill
Yolanda Becerra. On September 5, 2003, KAIROS wrote a letter to
the Colombian authorities, copied to the Canadian government, expressing
grave concern about this situation and calling on the Colombian
government to take the necessary steps to guarantee the safety of
members of the OFP and other human rights activists.
In light of the recent assassination of Esperanza Amaris Miranda,
KAIROS calls on the Colombian government to:
- provide guarantees for the safety of members of the OFP, including Yolanda Becerra, so that the organization can carry out its legitimate human rights work;
- conduct an immediate, impartial and full investigation into the killing of Esperanza Amaris Miranda, and bring to justice those responsible for her death;
- adhere to its obligations regarding human rights defenders, as laid out in the United Nations Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and in repeated resolutions by the Organization of American States, to take the necessary steps to guarantee the safety of human rights defenders.
KAIROS continues to be deeply concerned about the large-scale presence of army-backed paramilitary forces in the city of Barrancabermeja and surrounding areas as well as the heavy military presence in the area. We reiterate our call for a full and impartial investigation into links between the security forces and paramilitary groups operating in the department of Santander, urging that the results be made public and that those responsible for supporting and participating in these groups be brought to justice.
We urge the Colombian government to respond quickly and decisively to the deteriorating situation of human rights in Colombia. We anxiously await your response.
Yours sincerely,
Mary Corkery
Executive Director
Cc. Francisco Santos, Vice-president of Colombia
Bill Graham, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Jean Marc Duval, Canadian Ambassador in Colombia
Colombian Embassy in Canada
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