Stop Arbitrary Detention of Colombian Activists

Date Issued: January 31, 2008

Just over a month ago, Hector Torres, a well known Colombia human rights activist (pictured), was detained and falsely accused of supporting Colombian terrorists. As president of an important human rights commission, Torres spends his time denouncing the killing, arbitrary detention, and cruel treatment of some of the poorest people in Colombia.

Human Rights First recently visited Colombia and met with government officials to discuss the problem of false charges against human rights defenders.

However, in the last month, a wave of arbitrary detentions of activists has swept Colombia, putting the lives of community leaders and members of non-governmental organizations, like Torres, in danger.

Take action now to demand that the Attorney-General stop this practice by:

• Releasing those activists from detention who are subject to unfounded criminal charges;
• Ensuring that his office in Bogota reviews all criminal investigations against human rights defenders to weed out spurious cases;
• Issuing a resolution to all prosecutors reminding them of the standards that Colombian and international law set for impartial investigations and that bar politically motivated criminal proceedings.
  

Background

Human Rights First works closely with Colombian human rights defenders who are subject to false criminal charges such as Principe Gabriel Gonzalez Arango and Ivan Cepeda Castro.

See our full report here with recommendations to the Colombian government.

Sample Letter:

Doctor Mario German Iguaran Arana,
Attorney-General
Diagonal 22-B # 52-01,
Bogota

Dear Attorney General:

I am writing to express my concern about recent arbitrary detentions of human rights defenders. Such detentions stigmatize human rights activists as criminals or as terrorist sympathizers, and place them at considerable risk of reprisal attack by paramilitaries. Moreover these specious criminal investigations violate Colombian and international law which enshrine due process standards.

I understand that on December 26, 2007 Hector Hugo Torres was detained by the Judicial and Investigative Police (SIJIN) in Bosa, Bogota and accused of rebellion. Torres is recognized by the Colombian state as engaging in legitimate human rights advocacy and is provided with protective measures because of attacks against him. He is the President of the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Commission in Bajo Ariari, Meta department.

Two days after his detention, the Second Criminal Judge of Guarantees in Villavicencio ordered his immediate release and the cancellation of the arrest warrants against him. The judge found that Torres's defense and due process rights had been violated and that the prosecution had failed to observe basic rules of procedure. He stated, "The Attorney General has used 'professional witnesses' in different judicial processes to charge campesinos, community leaders and other social leaders . . . . [T]hey live in military installations and receive economic and legal benefits to provide false evidence against innocent people - these witnesses were used in the case against Hector Torres."

The spurious case against Torres is only one in a series of recent arbitrary detentions of community leaders. On January 20, 2008 two leaders from the Asociacion Campesina del Valle del Rio Cimitarra (ACVC), Miguel Gonzalez Huepa and Ramiro Ortega, were detained by a military battalion in Remedios, North East Antioquia. Six members of the ACVC are now imprisoned, including all of its top leadership.

On January 12, 2008 leaders of the Asociacion Campesina de Arauca (ACA), including Jose del Carmen Sanchez, were detained in Arauquita by members of the regional prosecutor's office, which alarmingly functions within the 18th Brigade of the Army. I understand that they are now being held in Arauca city, charged with rebellion.

On November 24, 2007, Aldemar Lozano, formerly President of the Council of Community Action in Puerto Esperanza was detained by SIJIN agents in Mosquera, Cundinamarca. A judge in Tenjo, Cundimarca subsequently ordered Lozano's release and declared that SIJIN had acted illegally and had no factual basis for the arrest.

Human Rights First recently published a report about the problem of prosecutors bringing false charges against human rights defenders. Human Rights First staff met with your Vice-Attorney General and other functionaries to call for the implementation of the report's recommendations.

I call on you to immediately:
* Release those activists from detention who are subject to unfounded criminal charges;
* Ensure that your office in Bogota reviews all criminal investigations against human rights defenders to weed out those cases which are spurious;
* Issue a resolution to all prosecutors reminding them of the standards that Colombian and international law set for impartial investigations and that bar politically motivated criminal proceedings.

Thank you for your attention in this urgent matter. I will continue to closely monitor this situation.

cc.

Dr Carlos Franco
Programa Presidencial de Derechos Humanos

Dr. Edgardo Jose Maya Villazon
Procurador General de la Nacion

Dr. Volmar Antonio Perez Ortiz
Defensor del Pueblo

Ambassador Carolina Barco
Embassy of Colombia in Washington