In this series:

February 9: Threats against international and Colombian human rights workers, from Amnesty International

January 28: "Chronicle of a Massacre Foretold", by Scott Wilson, Washington Post

How to get involved with educational and advocacy work related to the "Free" trade Summit meeting in Quebec City

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Overview

On their way to a meeting in Quebec City about "free" trade, "democracy", "rule of law", . . . and all that, the Colombian government- and Army-linked paramilitary forces carry out massacres and other acts of repression . . .

Will the situation in Colombia -- endemic economic, political and social rights violations (i.e., poverty); forced displacements, repression and terror (violations of political and civil rights and humanitarian law) -- be discussed at the "Free Trade" Summit meeting in Quebec City?

Will officials and delegates in Quebec City say that what is happening in Colombia has nothing to do with the country's political and economic systems?

February 9, 2001 COLOMBIA

Army-backed paramilitaries have declared Peace Brigades International a "military target" after threatening both one of its members and a women's grassroots organization it accompanies in Barrancabermeja, Colombia.

In the early morning of 8 February, two armed men, who said they belonged to the paramilitary group United Self-Defense Groups of Colombia, came to a women's community center run by the Organización Femenina Popular (OFP), Popular Women's Organization, in the city of Barrancabermeja. They men went straight to an international observer from the non-governmental organization Peace Brigades International (PBI), who are accompanying OFP members in immediate danger, and ordered him to hand over his official papers and mobile phone. When he refused, the paramilitaries threatened him with a gun. He and Jackeline Rojas, an OFP activist, therefore handed over their papers and mobile phones. When leaving the center, the paramilitary gunmen threatened the international observer, declaring PBI a "military target"

Since 1994, PBI has maintained a team of international observers in Barrancabermeja. The organization protects human rights activists by physically accompanying those at risk. PBI accompanies the OFP, an internationally backed organization working with displaced communities in the Magdalena Medio region, which came under paramilitary threat in January.

Amnesty International is concerned that despite a heavy security force presence in Barrancabermeja, where a special forces unit was deployed in January, paramilitary forces have apparently been able to operate unhindered. One paramilitary, who was arrested for threatening workers at the OFP centre on 27 January, was released only two days later. Also, the paramilitaries are reported to have set up checkpoints and to have killed several people in recent weeks. Although the precise location of these checkpoints have been reported to the security forces, they have taken no action to confront the paramilitaries.

The security forces and their paramilitary allies have a policy of labeling human rights activists as guerrilla collaborators or supporters, so they can present them as legitimate targets in the counter-insurgency war. Human rights activists in Barrancabermeja and the Magdalena Medio region have suffered continuous threats and harassment for carrying out their legitimate work to promote and protect internationally recognized human rights. In the past they have been the subject of death threats, killings and disappearances at the hands of the security forces and their paramilitary allies. Many have been killed and others have been forced to leave the region in fear for their lives. The Colombian authorities have so far failed to take action against paramilitary groups operating in the region.

Recommended Action

Please call the US State Department, the US Embassy in Colombia, Canadian External Affairs, and the Canadian Embassy in Colombia, to express your concern for the safety of human rights defenders in Barranca, and for the safety of international human rights monitors like Peace Brigades International.

In the US, call the human rights staffers at the DC offices of your three Members of Congress. Ask them to call the State Department Colombia desk officer (Alex Lee 202.647.4173) and the human rights officer of the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá (Mari Dieterich 011.571.315.2130). Request that the U.S. Embassy make a public pronouncement of concern about this situation, urging the Colombian authorities to take concrete action against paramilitary groups in Barranca.

> January 28: "Chronicle of a Massacre Foretold", by Scott Wilson, Washington Post