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URGENT ACTION
Break in at KAIROS’ Colombian partner JUSTAPAZ - Sensitive
human rights documentation stolen; staff and network at risk
Contents
KAIROS is extremely concerned about the security and safety of
our Colombian church partner, Justapaz, following an apparently
politically motivated robbery in the early morning of Thursday,
June 14, 2007. Two computers were stolen; these contain information
on highly sensitive human rights cases including the database from
a significant project documenting the threats, attacks, and killings
of Christian leaders at the hands of both paramilitary and rebel
armed groups.
Background
Justapaz (Just Peace) is the Justice and Peace organization of
the Colombian Mennonite Church. This attack comes just weeks after
the international Days of Prayer and Action on Colombia, May 20-21,
2007, a campaign of the Colombia, US and Canadian churches to engage
faith communities in days of prayer and action on Colombia’s
humanitarian crisis. See http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/countries/colombia/actionResouce.pdf
The break in also comes just weeks before Prime Minister Harper’s
July 15-21 visit to Latin America, which will include a visit to
Colombia. The Canadian government’s priorities for this
trip are trade and investment. In fact, the Canadian government
intends to pursue a free trade agreement with Colombia despite the
ongoing human rights crisis and a current political scandal in which
an ever-increasing number of Colombian government officials have
been arrested for links with the paramilitary. Furthermore, there
has been widespread grassroots opposition to a similar trade agreement
between Colombia and the US over the past two years. Massive protest
against free trade have drawn a harsh military response from President
Uribe, leaving an unknown number of people dead, injured and missing.
This should be a grave concern to Canadians. Canada should heed
the concerns of Colombian civil society and halt trade negotiations
with Colombia. Instead, the Prime Minister’s visit should
be an opportunity for Canadian churches and civil society groups
to raise concerns about the human rights situation in Colombia and
the security and safety of Colombian church and civil society counterparts.
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Requested action
Letters to the editor of your local newspaper
Please consider writing a letter to the editor of your local paper
in the lead up to Prime Minister Harper’s trip to Latin America
(July 15-21), expressing concern about the human rights situation
in Colombia and threats to our partners. Letters to the editor should
be 250 words of less. (See http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/facultystaff/opeds_letters.html
for some tips on writing letters to the editor.)
Letters to the Canadian government
Please use sample letters below to send to Canadian Minister of
Foreign Affairs, to your MP, and to the Canadian Embassy in Colombia.
KAIROS’
letter to the Canadian Ambassador to Colombia can be found on our
website –link to KAIROS letter
Call on the Colombian authorities to:
- Take all appropriate steps to identify and prosecute the persons
who committed this act and those that sponsored its planning and
execution.
- Take a clear stance against this crime, and to take all necessary
steps to be in full compliance with the applicable provisions
of the Colombian Constitution and of the international conventions
which Colombia has signed.
- Implement appropriate measures for the full protection of freedom
of association including freedom of worship and for the absolute
respect of church sites and places of worship.
Call on the Canadian government to:
- Communicate with the Colombian government the aforementioned
concerns and actions,
- Make human rights requirements central in determining assistance
and/or agreements with the Colombian government.
Send letters to:
Mr. Matthew Levin
Ambassador to Colombia
Carrera 7 #115-33 A.A.53531
Bogotá, Colombia
Fax: (57)-1-657-9912
Matthew.Levin
Peter MacKay,
Minister of Foreign Affairs
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6 8
(613) 992-6022
MacKay.P
Ms. Christine Climenhage,
Desk Officer: Colombia, Ecuador, Caribbean, Central America and
Andean
Region Division
Lester B. Pearson Building
125 Sussex Dr.
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0G2
613-944-0760
Christine.climenhage
Stewart Wheeler,
Counsellor (Political) Canadian Embassy, General Relations,
Fax: (57-1) 657-9910
E-mail:
bgota
- Please also send copies of your letters to:
- Jenny Neme, Director, Justapaz,
jennyneme
Rachel Warden, Latin American program coordinator,
rwarden
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Sample Letter To The Canadian
Government
June 2007
Dear ________,
I am writing today to express my deep concern for the security
and safety of the Justapaz staff, their regional partners, including
local churches, due to an apparently politically motivated robbery
in the early morning of Thursday, June 14, 2007. Justapaz is the
Christian Center for Justice, Peace and Nonviolent Action and is
a program of the Colombian Mennonite Church.
Just before 3:00 AM unknown assailants broke into the Justapaz
office, disabled the alarm system and proceeded to steal two computers
with extremely sensitive human rights information. The assailants
were apparently focused on these computers with sensitive information
on human rights cases and local churches working for peace as they
left other items of value behind including eight other computers,
a fax machine and the organization’s safe. All evidence suggests
that this was a politically motivated crime. The Justapaz staff,
their partners and local churches could be at increased risk due
to this attack.
This attack comes in the wake of a series of similar attacks against
national and international human rights organizations and suggests
an alarming pattern. Less than two weeks ago the Fellowship of Reconciliation’s
Bogotá office was similarly attacked, and a computer with
sensitive information regarding their work with the San Jose de
Apartado Peace Community stolen. In the past year similar actions
were carried out against the Asamblea Permanente de la Sociedad
Civil por la Paz and the Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement
(CODHES).
Therefore, I respectfully ask you to contact the appropriate Colombian
government officials, including the President, Vice-President and
the Ministry of Defense, asking them to:
- Take any and all steps necessary to identify and prosecute
all of those responsible for planning and carrying out these crimes.
- Take a clear and public position denouncing these crimes and
guaranteeing the safety and security of the staff of Justapaz,
their regional partners and local churches
- Fully apply the constitutional guarantees for human rights defenders
as well as the international treaties of which Colombia is a signatory.
- Implement appropriate measures for the full protection of freedom
of association including freedom of worship and for the absolute
respect of church sites and places of worship.
Sincerely,
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Sample Letters To The
Editor
* use your own words, refer to news articles and add a personal
touch
Re: PM Harper’s Upcoming visit to Latin America ( or reference
a particular news article which refers to this visit)
Sample letter #1
I am interested that Prime Minister Harper’s trip to Latin
America this summer (July 15-21) will include a trip to Colombia.
This could and should be an opportunity to highlight the human rights
crisis in Colombia and the safety and security of Colombian civilians.
The United Nations has called Colombia the worst humanitarian crisis
in the Americas. In the last 20 years the Colombian conflict has
taken the lives of 70,000 people, the majority of them civilians.
3,000 lives are still lost each year. The number of internally displaced
people in Colombia, 3.6 million, is surpassed only by Sudan.
Furthermore, Colombian civil society partners continue to face
threats and intimidation from illegally armed groups. For example
on June 14, the offices of Colombian church partner, the Christian
Centre for Justice, Peace and Non Violent action, Justapaz, were
broken into. In what appears to be a politically motivated crime,
two of their computers were stolen, one of which contained the database
from a significant project documenting the threats attacks and killings
of Christian leaders at the hands of both paramilitary and rebel
armed groups. In his visit to Colombia, the following question needs
to be a priority for PM Harper: What assurances can the Canadian
government offer for the protection of civil society partners in
Colombia?
Name
Address
Contact numbers
Sample letter #2 to the editor:
Prime Minister Harper’s trip to Latin America this summer
(July 15-21) will include a trip to Colombia, a country the UN has
called the worst humanitarian crisis in the Americas. In the last
20 years civil conflict has taken the lives of 70,000 people, the
majority of them civilians. 3,000 lives are still lost each year.
3.6 million people are internally displaced, a number surpassed
only by Sudan. 70% of the trade unionists killed in the world each
year are Colombian.
Clearly, human rights should be top of the agenda for the Prime
Minister’s trip. Instead, we understand that Mr. Harper’s
main agenda is a free trade agreement with Colombia. The Canadian
government is on record as saying it wants to focus on trade with
countries that share Canadian values-- not with human rights violators.
I have a message for Mr Harper: In Colombia, Canada needs to stop
talking trade and start talking human rights.
Name
Address
Contact numbers
PLEASE SEND COPIES OF YOUR LETTERS TO RACHEL WARDEN AT
rwarden
OR FAX: 416-463-5569
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Further background to
the break-in
The Christian Center for Justice, Peace and Nonviolent Action,
Justapaz, which is a program of the Mennonite Church of Colombia,
reports that before dawn on the 14th of June, 2007, its office was
broken into and two computers were stolen. These computers contained
sensitive information on people and churches that are active in
work for peace and human dignity, and on people from churches that
are victims and witnesses to human rights violations.
The perpetrators of this criminal act apparently entered through
the roof in the rear of the building before 3 am and tore out the
wiring of the alarm system, although the alarm went off. They passed
by 9 other computers, telephones, a safe, etc., and removed two
specific computers located at the other end of the office. They
also broke into the desk of the coordinator for a program for protection
of persons at risk. Eye-witnesses in the neighborhood reported that
soon after the time of the break-in, police officers stopped two
men carrying a computer, at the intersection of Calle 33-A and Avenida
Caracas, near the office, but as of yet there is no information
as to whether they are still being held or whether the police retrieved
the computer. Police officers came to the office in response to
the security alarm; however, the Crime Scene Investigation Unit
of the Attorney General’s Office (Cuerpo Tecnico de Investigacion
de la Fiscalia General de la Nacion) did not arrive until 5-1/2
hours after they were alerted. After the CSI officer examined the
scene, he indicated there were no fingerprints and suggested that
the responsible party had used gloves or wiped off the fingerprints,
and therefore there was no point in a specialist gathering that
information.
This attack occurred 12 days after the Fellowship of Reconciliation’s
office, which provides international accompaniment to the Comunidad
de Paz of San José de Apartado, was broken into and a computer
stolen. Similarly, in January of this year (2007), the office of
the Permanent Assembly of Civil Society for Peace was broken into
and one computer was taken, which contained sensitive information
on participants and organizations, photographs, and documentation
of their activities. This attack against Justapaz repeats a pattern
of human rights violations which give evidence that the perpetrators
have precise knowledge of the office and use sophisticated procedures
to gain access to specific information, which in turn puts people,
organizations, and churches at risk. It is significant that this
is the first time that a church is subjected to this type of attack
in relation to its work for peace, human rights and the safety of
victims and potential witnesses to human rights violations.
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