Date Issued: April 18, 2007

UPDATE: As we requested, the Colombian government granted Principe Gabriel Gonzalez protective measures in early June 2007.

Thanks to your action earlier this year, Colombian human rights defender Gabriel Gonzalez was recently released from prison after a judge in Bucaramanga, Santander department, acquitted him of all charges.

The judge found that the rebellion charges against Mr. Gonzalez were baseless and relied on witness evidence and government reports that lacked impartiality and credibility. The judgment confirms that the charges against Mr. Gonzalez should never have been initiated.

However, these proceedings have stigmatized Mr. Gonzalez as being a rebel guerrilla and he is now at high risk of reprisal attacks from paramilitary forces. In the past, human rights defenders have been found innocent of rebellion charges, only to be attacked or killed upon their release.

Take action now to demand that the Colombian Interior Ministry urgently provide Mr. Gonzalez with adequate protection to prevent attacks against him.

Background

Mr. Gonzalez is Regional Coordinator of the independent human rights organization, the Political Prisoners Solidarity Committee (Fundacion Comité de Solidaridad con los Presos Políticos (FCSPP)), and was imprisoned for over one year. From January 4, 2006 to April 4, 2007 he was detained in Bucaramanga falsely accused of rebellion and of being in charge of an urban militia force.

The case against Mr. Gonzalez was extremely weak. Both of the witnesses in the case were allegedly former guerilla members and asserted that Mr. Gonzalez was the commander of an urban militia force linked to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Yet one was unable to physically identify or even name Mr. Gonzalez before he was detained and the other previously admitted to providing statements under duress from authorities. Judge Jose Alberto Pabon Ordonez of the 8th Criminal Circuit found that there was no evidence that the militia force Mr. Gonzalez supposedly led even existed.

Moreover, the judge recognized the valuable role that Mr. Gonzalez fulfilled as a human rights defender by stating, “The accused at no time has denied his political ideology and his defense of human rights and in fact it is exactly that which led him to become a part of the Political Prisoners Solidarity Committee.” He also cited Colombia’s obligations to provide a fair trial under international human rights instruments, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It is unusual for a regional judge to cite international legal treaties and strongly suggests that he was aware that people in other countries, such as you, were interested in the case.

Prior to his detention, Mr. Gonzalez and the FCSPP endured a series of attacks and threats which appear calculated to deter them from performing their legitimate non-violent activities as human rights defenders. Both the FCSPP and Mr. Gonzalez have previously been awarded protective measures by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in recognition of their work as human rights defenders and the danger that they face.

Human Rights First has engaged in extensive advocacy with the Colombian and United States governments, as well as international organizations, calling for Mr Gonzalez’s release. We believe that Mr. Gonzalez’s case is part of a broader practice of instigating specious legal proceedings against FCSPP leaders and other non-violent human rights defenders to intimidate them, stigmatize them and thereby obstruct their legitimate activities.

HRF Statement after Mr Gonzalez’s release

Human Rights First’s call for Mr Gonzalez’s release

Sample Letter:

Spanish Version of this Letter (PDF-16KB)

Rafael Bustamente
Director, Committee of Risk Evaluation
Interior Ministry

Mr Bustamente:

I am writing to express my concern about the safety of human rights defender Mr. Principe Gabriel Gonzalez Arango. Mr. Gonzalez is Regional Coordinator of the independent human rights organization, the Political Prisoners Solidarity Committee (Fundacion Comité de Solidaridad con los Presos Políticos (FCSPP)) and was recently released from jail after over one year of pre-trial detention. From January 4, 2006 to April 4, 2007 he was detained in Bucaramanga, Santander department, falsely accused of rebellion and of being in charge of an urban militia force.

Mr. Gonzalez was released from prison on March 30, 2007, after a Judge in Bucaramanga acquitted him of all charges. Judge Jose Alberto Pabon Ordonez of the 8th Criminal Circuit found that the rebellion charges against Mr. Gonzalez were baseless and relied on witness evidence and government reports that lacked impartiality and credibility.

The judgment validates my concerns that the charges against Mr. Gonzalez should never have been initiated. I fear that these proceedings have stigmatized Mr. Gonzalez as being a rebel guerrilla and that he is now at high risk of reprisal attacks from paramilitary forces. As you know, in the past, human rights defenders have been found innocent of rebellion charges, only to be attacked or killed upon their release.

I call on you to provide adequate protection to prevent such attacks against Mr. Gonzalez. Protection measures should be granted immediately and Mr. Gonzalez should be consulted about which measures would be most appropriate to meet the specific needs of his situation.

I also call on the Attorney-General to stop instigating spurious legal proceedings against members of the FCSPP and other non-violent Colombian human rights defenders.

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

cc.

Carlos Franco,
Director of Presidential Program for Human Rights

Doctor Mario Hernán Iguarán Arana,
Attorney-General
Fax: +57.1.570.20.00; +57.1.414.90.00 Extensión 1113,

Ambassador Carolina Barca
Embassy of Colombia in Washington

Fax: (202) 232 8643