ALLIANCE FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE ANNOUNCES:

Eyewitness Investigation–Is the US Funding a War on Colombian Farmers?

August 1 through 11, 2010

Our Hosts:

• FENSUAGRO, Colombia’s largest labor federation of farmers and farm workers
• Traspaso los Muros, an organization of persons both inside and outside Colombian jails advocating for the rights of political prisoners.

Cost:

$1,400, not including international air fare. Some scholarships may be available. Costs include…

• Several in-country trips to collect testimonies in rural, indigenous and Afro Colombian communities;
• All food and lodging;
• Translation services and in-country guides;
• Educational material and other delegation related expenses.

Featuring:

• Visits to rural, indigenous and Afro Colombian communities (sleeping bags will be required for some overnight visits);
• Meetings with leaders and members of FENSUAGRO, as well as miners’ and oil workers’ unions;
• Testimonies and analysis of how foreign companies are threatening sustainable agriculture;
• Interviews with journalists and elected officials from the political opposition;
• Presentations from student activists;
• Visits with political prisoners and their families.

This will be a working delegation, producing a comprehensive report on conditions faced by Colombian farmers and how these are affected by US policies. We will collect testimonies and investigate how rural, indigenous and Afro Colombian lands are being cleared for the benefit of foreign corporate access to natural resources. FENSUAGRO is the union most targeted by political violence and other forms of repression. Our goal will be to build internationalist support for Colombian farmers and FENSUAGRO members by exposing dangers they face and advocating for a US policy that strives for peace and justice rather than war. This does not mean, though, that the delegation will be all work and no play! There will be ample opportunity to relax, enjoy Colombian culture and make new friends in our shared struggle to build a new and better world!

For more information: email- james@afgj.org

Phone- 520-243-0381

Download leaflet

Mr Brendan O’Connor MHR
Minister for Home Affairs
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

Mr. O´Connor,

Minister for Home Affairs,

We are writing to protest against the interrogation of Mr. Alejandro Rodriguez by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) on February 3^rd. Mr. Rodriguez is a member of our organisation, Peace and Justice for Colombia, and he is a well known advocate for workers´ rights and solidarity.

It is of our knowledge that during the interrogation Mr. Rodriguez was asked about individuals, the work of Peace & Justice for Colombia and about the Agricultural Workers Unions Federation of Colombia (FENSUAGRO). FENSUAGRO is a legitimate Colombian organisation that is formed by several affiliated unions, peasants and farmers´ organisations, with a total of 80,000 members nation-wide, with presence in 22 out of the 32 federated entities of the Colombian State. In a country where land distribution continues to be a major motive of inequality and injustice, FENSUAGRO is also the union that has been more brutally targeted by the Colombian state, its official forces and the paramilitaries. According to the International Trade Union Confederation, 49 union leaders were killed in 2008 alone, and 838 between 2000 and 2008; 95 per cent of the cases are reported as ’unsolved ’, many of these crimes have been committed against FENSUAGRO organizers and activists. We consider it to be a trust-worthy union.

It has been well documented that key members of the Colombian government have been historically linked to leading drug trafficking organisations and far right extremist groups. In 1991, the US Defense Intelligence Agency listed Uribe among ‘important Colombian narco-traffickers’ as well as a ‘close personal friend’ of Pablo Escobar Gaviria. Uribe’s Colombia is also responsible for arguably the largest internally displaced population in the world; 4 million Colombians are internally displaced rivalling only the Sudan.

We are also aware that the government of Alvaro Uribe has launched a campaign to censor and delegitimize solidarity initiatives internationally. We can only consider this interrogation as part of the mentioned campaign and it is completely disgraceful that the AFP is being used for the systematic persecution of human rights defenders, journalists, labour leaders and any other organisation or individuals who raises their voices in support of the Colombian people in their demands of democracy and social justice, and denounce the atrocities committed by Uribe´s government. Mr. Rodriguez has the support of professionals, trade unionists, academics and human rights organisations in Australia and internationally. For his work and commitment to the people of Colombia and Latin America, he too deserves the support of the Australian government.

• Peace & Justice for Colombia is an Australia-based solidarity organization that aims to build solidarity amongst Australians with the Colombian people and workers, and all the work we do is public and open.
• Peace & Justice for Colombia strongly condemns any attempt by the AFP, ASIO or any other intelligence agencies in Australia to persecute, detain or harass Mr. Rodriguez or any other solidarity activists. We consider this is a serious abuse of power under the Australian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2005.
• We protest against the AFP cooperation with the Uribe administration.
• We condemn any attempts of Uribe to criminalise international solidarity with Colombia.
• We demand that the Australian Government suspends its involvement with the Uribe regime while human and labour rights are not respected in that country.

Yours sincerely,

Peace and Justice for Colombia

We have learned that Colombian political prisoner, Liliany Obando, will have another hearing today THIS MONDAY, DEC. 21ST. Please support her application for Home Detention. This is a basic right frequently given to those accused and convicted of a broad range of crimes, including those jailed for paramilitary and parapolitical activities.

The right to home detention is especially made available to single mothers, like Liliany, who are sole providers for their families.

We are urging people to act now and contact the presiding Judge, Dr. Oscar Gustavo Jaimes Villamizar.  If at all possible, we suggest people send his office a fax. However, if you are unable to make an international call, please send your message as an email.

SAMPLE EMAIL/FAX:

English version (copy and paste and sign or develop your own)
Dr. Oscar Gustavo Jaimes Villamizar,
Juez # 9
Via fax & Email,
Your attention:
info@ramajudicial.gov.co
FAX +57-1-323 0102

The Honorable Dr. Oscar Gustavo Jaimes Villamizar:

I am writing in support of the petition for home detention by Colombian political prisoner, Liliany Patricia Obando Villota.  Ms Obando is a head of household, single mother of two children.  The right to home detention is frequently extended to prisoners in similar circumstances, even to those accused or convicted of paramilitary or parapolitical crimes.  We call on you to do the right thing and grant Ms Obando’s petition for the well-being of her family, especially her children.

I solemnly believe that Liliany Obando this to be her right and that she does not represent any danger to her community. She is an academic and critical thinker whose constitutional rights must be guaranteed.

Yours truly,
Signed by__________________________________________

Spanish version (copie, pegue y firme abajo o envie su propia version)

PAZ Y JUSTICIA PARA COLOMBIA, PJFC-AUSTRALIA

Actualizacion 8   20 de Diciembre2009

SE SOLICITA ACCIÓN INMEDIATA EN APOYO A LA SOLICITUD DE CASA POR CÁRCEL DE LILIANY OBANDO: AUDIENCIA PUBLICA LUNES 21 DE DICIEMBRE 2009 en BOGOTA, COL

Somos del conocimiento que la prisionera política colombiana, Liliany Obando tendrá una audiencia publica este Lunes 21 de Diciembre para dilucidar su caso y la solicitud de detención domiciliaria.

Este es un derecho constitucional dado frecuentemente a aquellos acusados y convictos de una seria amplia de delitos incluyendo aquellos sentenciados por para militarismo y parapolítica. Este derecho a la detención domiciliaria es especialmente concedido a las madres solteras cabeza de familia quienes como Liliany son las únicas sostenedoras de sus familias.

Nosotros le pedimos a nuestros amigos y colaboradores a que actúen ahora y contacten al juez de la Fiscalía a cargo del caso: Dr. Oscar Gustavo Jaimes Villamizar.  Si fuera posible le pedimos a las personas que le envíen al juez un fax a su oficina. Sin embargo si no les es posible hacer llamadas internacionales o utilizar una maquina de fax entonces les pedimos que envíen un mensaje electrónico.

MUESTRA DE EMAIL/FAX:
(Copie, pegue y firme la muestra o haga su propia versión de carta)

20 de Diciembre de 2009.

Dr. Oscar Gustavo Jaimes Villamizar,
Juez # 9
Por fax y correo electrónico,
Su despacho:
info@ramajudicial.gov.co
FAX +57-1-323 0102

Distinguido Doctor Oscar Gustavo Jaimes Villamizar;

Le escribimos en apoyo a la solicitud de detención domiciliaria presentada por la prisionera política colombiana, señora Liliany Patricia Obando Villota.  La señora Obando es una madre cabeza de familia con dos niños.  El derecho a la detención domiciliaria es extendido con frecuencia a prisioneros en circunstancias semejantes, aun a los acusados o condenados por parapolítica y por actividad paramilitar.  Le instamos a hacer lo correcto y justo y conceda la petición hecha por Liliany Obando por el bien de su familia, especialmente sus niños.
Creo solemnemente que Liliany Obando tiene este derecho y que ella no representa ningún peligro para su comunidad. Ella es una académica y una pensadora critica cuyos derechos constitucionales deben ser garantizados.

Atentamente,

Firma: ________________________

PARA ENVIAR UN EMAIL,

Ponga en el espacio de Asunto:  “Atención Dr. Oscar Gustavo Jaimes Villamizar, Juez # 9” y Mandelo a la siguiente dirección: info@ramajudicial.gov.co
Envié copia de su mensaje a nuestras siguientes direcciones:
pjfcolombia@gmail.com & sol.net.pp@gmail.com

PARA ENVIAR UN FAX O PARA LLAMAR DIRECTAMENTE:

DR. OSCAR GUSTAVO JAIMES VILLAMIZAR:
TEL +57-1-288 7909, FAX +57-1-323 0102

TO SEND AN EMAIL,
Put in the subject line:
“Atención Dr. Oscar Gustavo Jaimes Villamizar, Juez # 9” and send to: info@ramajudicial.gov.co
Please send a copy to:
pjfcolombia@gmail.com & sol.net.pp@gmail.com

TO SEND A FAX OR TO CALL DIRECTLY:

DR. OSCAR GUSTAVO JAIMES VILLAMIZAR:
TEL +57-1-288 7909, FAX +57-1-323 0102

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

There are more than 7,200 political prisoners in Colombia.  PJFC works in solidarity with all these prisoners, but has a particular concern regarding the case of Liliany Obando. She served as a consultant for FENSUAGRO, the largest union of farmers and farm workers in Colombia.

She was arrested the very week she was to release a report on the murders of FENSUAGRO members by the military and paramilitaries.

Liliany’s case is a flagship case, because she was the first person detained and tried on bogus charges as part of the FARC-política. The FARC-política is an attempt to repress, intimidate and marginalize the political opposition, labor and student movements by falsely linking them to Colombia’s armed rebellion. The basis for this process are emails allegedly discovered in computers recovered after a bombing attack by the Colombian Air Force against a guerrilla peace negotiation camp on March 1, 2008. However, the Colombian Police Officer in charge of the initial investigation has said the computers contained no emails but only documents in Word. The international police agency, INTERPOL, has said that the computer’s files showed evidence of tampering by the Colombian authorities.

Liliany’s case is important for two reasons:

1. If she wins the case, the whole FARC-política process is discredited; but if  she loses,  then a precedent is set for a virtual witch-hunt against the Colombian opposition based on this process.
2. The Colombian government is trying hard to shut down FENSUAGRO by spuriously portraying it as a front for the guerrillas.  A conviction of Liliany will result in a renewed effort against FENSUAGRO, which is already the most persecuted union in Colombia.

In solidarity,
Peace and Justice for Colombia, PJFC.
Websites: www.colombiasolidarity.net  &  www.freeliliany.net
Emails: pjfcolombia@gmail.com & freelilianynow@gmail.com

Thursday 6th of August, 6:00pm

@ Melbourne University Student Union, Members′ lounge (Ground Floor, enter via Tin Alley, Parkville).

Entry by donation

Minga means “collective” or “community work”. In this session we will hear about the different social movements in Colombia, from the indigenous struggle for self determination, the Afro-Colombian opposition to forced displacement and against free-trade agreements, the people´s movement for peace with social justice.

With the participation of a Colombian Academic & member of Peace & Justice for Colombia

Plus footage & video.

◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊

After the presentation, the Free Liliany Obando Campaign (Melbourne) invites you to share a “Coffee for Freedom”, to hear some updates about Liliany´s case and to send our solidarity to Liliany, her family and other political prisoners suffering injustice.

On August 7th, 2008, the Union leader, academic & film-maker Liliany Obando, was arrested by Colombian government forces. She was detained on charges of “rebellion” against the state, a catch-all charge that is regularly used to imprison those who speak out against the government & is used to delegitimise the work of social activists. Her trial started at the beginning of July and the charges remain unsubstantiated.

Drink hot organic coffee. All donations will go to the “Freedom Fund” in support of Colombian political prisoners.

Further details call: Sergio 0432 956 198 or Lulu 0421 957 341

Find the event on Facebook

www.colombiasolidarity.net

Dear comrades,

Aidee Moreno Ibagué recently learned that the Colombian government is investigating her for the crime of rebellion. But Moreno Ibagué has not taken up arms against the state. She does not plant bombs in Colombia’s cities. Nor does she carry an AK-47 assault rifle in the jungles of rural Colombia where leftist guerrillas have been fighting to overthrow the government for more than four decades. She is a lawyer who lives in the capital Bogotá. More specifically, she is a human rights lawyer for the country’s largest peasant union federation Fensuagro (The National Federation of Agricultural Farming Unions). She is also an outspoken critic of the government’s security and economic policies and the dirty war it is waging against those who struggle for social justice. According to Moreno Ibagué, it is her work and her political views that have made her a target of the state. “I will not be silent when there are so many atrocities,” she declares emphatically. “They have not been able to assassinate me, so now they want to put me in prison.”

Moreno Ibagué comes from a family of social activists and it is a family that has suffered more than its share of suffering as a result of its political work. “Unfortunately, the violence has hit us hard,” she explains. “They murdered my husband in 1994. We had a five-year-old son and I was four months pregnant at the time. And then in 2000 they murdered my brother. That same year my 16-year-old niece was disappeared. After the death of my husband I returned to my union work and I now have four children; I worry about the children.”

It is no secret that the Colombian state has targeted the country’s civil society organizations and individuals working non-violently for social justice, repeatedly labelling them “subversives,” “guerrillas” or “terrorists.” On numerous occasions in recent years, President Alvaro Uribe has publicly accused human rights defenders of being spokespersons for the guerrillas. But while the country’s political leaders and its security forces have been at the forefront of such attacks, there has been little evidence showing the degree to which the country’s public prosecutors in the office of the Fiscalia harbor similar sentiments. On many occasions, the Fiscalia has conducted investigations into the actions of political leaders and members of the state’s security forces. But recent documents obtained from the Fiscalia authorizing the issuance of warrants allowing the National Police to spy on Moreno Ibagué and other members of civil society groups raises troubling questions with regard to civil liberties and due process.

The Colombian army’s recent seizures of laptop computers and documents belonging to guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has resulted not only in the arrest and imprisonment of Colombians actively involved with civil society groups; it has also led to the state spying on many others. On various occasions the government’s interpretations of seized information has been suspect, as evidenced by its portrayal of information garnered from the laptop of the late FARC Commander Raúl Reyes. Furthermore, rarely is any of the alleged evidence presented to the public; only the government’s interpretation of it.

Therefore, given such a lack of transparency, when arrest and wiretapping requests are approved by the Fiscalia the public is left to assume that the police have presented reliable evidence in order to obtain the necessary warrants. But recently obtained Fiscalia documents that authorize the opening of investigations and the issuance of warrants based on information obtained during military operations against the FARC suggests that the state prosecutors’ anti-terrorism office is little more than a rubber-stamping operation when it comes to approving requests by the National Police.

On November 28, 2005, the Colombian army’s Counter-Guerrilla Battalion No. 9 allegedly seized documents, including notebooks, following combat operations against fighters belonging to the FARC’s Antionio Nariño Front near San Agustín in the department of Huila. The documents were handed over to the Investigations and Intelligence Unit (SIJIN) of the National Police. Three and a half years later, based on alleged evidence obtained from the notebooks, the SIJIN sent a report to the Fiscalia requesting permission to open an official investigation and for warrants to intercept the phone calls and emails of numerous people affiliated with civil society organizations working in southern Bogotá.

In its request to the Fiscalia, dated November 13, 2008, the SIJIN claim that the army had “seized various documents with information about the FARC-ONT, and direct orders issued by the secretariat of this guerrilla group related to the movement of the masses.” The SIJIN report asserts that FARC notebooks contain information describing how the guerrilla group is organizing urban cells of the Clandestine Colombian Communist Party (PCCC) in the nation’s capital Bogotá. According to the SIJIN report, the captured notebooks show that the objectives of the PCCC is to organize cells on behalf of the FARC in an attempt to infiltrate various social sectors in the city including communal action committees, schools, universities, sports organizations, environmental programs, community kitchens and “NGOs and other organizations of a social character.”

SIJIN investigators claim that one notebook describes the mission of the urban cell named PCCC-USME, which is allegedly active in Usme in southern Bogotá. According to the SIJIN report, cell members listed in the notebook were named Javier, Victoria and Evangelista, and their mission is to participate in the Asamblea Sur (Somos Urbano Rural), which translates as South Assembly (We’re Urban Rural). Asamblea Sur is an organization that works to improve the lives of poor people—many of them forcibly displaced from rural parts of the country—in areas of southern Bogotá such as Usme. The organization seeks to gain legal recognition of newly-established community settlements and access to public services, as well as to defend the environmental and social rights of residents.

The SIJIN claim that subsequent investigations revealed the existence of an NGO named Corpocristal (Crystal Planet Environmental Corporation), which works with youths on environmental issues. According to the SIJIN, the FARC notebooks contain a phone number for “Javier” of the “PCCC-USME” cell and that this number corresponded to Edison Javier Reyes Roa, an activist in Usme who works for Corpocristal and is a participant in the Asamblea Sur. From this information, the SIJIN report draws the conclusion that the FARC has created social organizations and is using NGOs to gain access to the population of southern Bogotá by addressing environmental and other social problems faced by these communities.

While it is not unreasonable to assume that the FARC are trying to establish links to civil society groups—after all, most insurgencies do—most of the evidence against Reyes Roa is circumstantial. For instance, it is not unusual for a community activist in Usme such as Reyes Roa to work for an environmental NGO and to participate in the Asamblea Sur, whose mission is to address environmental and social problems in the community. Evidence that could be considered more compelling is the alleged existence of Reyes Roa’s phone number in the FARC notebook. But this phone number represents the only “evidence” suggesting that Reyes Roa is a member of the PCCC and is linked to the rebel group. Even if one were to accept this single hand-written piece of information as sufficient evidence to launch an official investigation into his activities, it still only implies that one individual PCCC member is active in Corpocristal and the Asamblea Sur and does not provide any proof that these NGOs as entities—or any more of their members for that matter—are linked to the FARC as the SIJIN claims.

The SIJIN report expanded on its assertions by also accusing people who have worked on social issues with Reyes Roa—and even people who have worked with people who have worked with Reyes Roa—of also being FARC operatives despite there being no evidence whatsoever in the FARC notebooks—or elsewhere—to support such claims. In fact, many of these people are viewed by the SIJIN as guilty by association. For instance, the SIJIN report includes an organizational chart of the alleged clandestine network headed by Reyes Roa. It lists a total of eight people for whom the SIJIN were seeking permission from the Fiscalia to officially investigate for the crime of rebellion, which is defined as “the use of weapons with the intent to oust the national government or to suppress or to modify the constitutional or legal regime.”.

One branch of the organizational chart claims that Reyes Roa is linked to Dora Yaneth Peña Cano, who is linked to Oscar Baron Garzon, who in turn is linked to Aidee Moreno Ibagué. Each link becomes increasingly vague and by the time the organizational chart reaches Moreno Ibagué, there is absolutely no evidence presented in the SIJIN report that shows a relationship between her and any of the others named. According to the report, Reyes Roa regularly communicated with Dora Yaneth Peña Cano, who also worked with the Asamblea Sur. The most damning evidence that investigators could provide to the Fiscalia implicating Peña Cano was circumstantial, claiming that she and Reyes Roa communicated regularly, exchanged information related to the Asamblea Sur and that the Asamblea Sur was mentioned in the FARC notebooks as an organization the PCCC was to infiltrate. None of the activities that the report ascribed to Reyes Roa and Peña Cano were unusual given that both were active participants in the Asamblea Sur.

The only example provided in the SIJIN report of the type of information exchanged between the two was that Peña Cano told Reyes Roa she had experienced difficulties with another member, Oscar Baron Garzon, although no further details were provided. This latter—and only—suggestion of a relationship between Peña Cano and Baron Garzon is presented in the report as evidence that the latter is the next link in the clandestine chain. The report describes Baron Garzon as a social activist in the Ciudad Bolívar neighborhood of southern Bogotá and claims that his brother runs community kitchens that allegedly involve members of the PCCC.

The final link in this branch of the organizational chart—Aidee Moreno Ibagué—is completely disconnected from the previous ones and nowhere in the report does the SIJIN make any attempt to explain the connection between her and the others on the chart. The only reference in the report to Moreno Ibagué states that she “works as a lawyer for the NGO Fensuagro, which has economic links to the British NGO Justice for Colombia.” The SIJIN report also claims that Fensuagro—which is a union federation and not an NGO as the National Police claim—is mentioned in the FARC notebooks. The fact that Moreno Ibagué works for Colombia’s largest rural union federation—with more than 80,000 members—and that Fensuagro appears in the FARC notebooks is apparently sufficient “evidence” for the SIJIN to investigate her. The report also inexplicably implies that Fensuagro’s links to the British NGO Justice for Colombia further implicate Moreno Ibagué—even going so far as to include photos of the logos of both Fensuagro and Justice for Colombia as though that corroborates the implication.

Moreno Ibagué denies knowing any of the others listed on the organizational chart and believes that she is being persecuted because of the work she does. “The Colombian state has accused me of the crime of rebellion for the sole purpose of continuing its efforts to discredit Fensuagro, in which I am the national secretary for human rights,” claims Ibagué. “It has sought to block our work on the national and international level; it is simply state terrorism. They are seeking to discredit our organization in this manner because we know that we have a narco-paramilitary, neoliberal, extreme-right government in our country that seeks to put an end to all political, social and democratic expression.”

While it is not surprising that the National Police would cast such a wide net in its attempts to identify operatives of the FARC’s clandestine political network, the Fiscalia is expected—and required by law—to demand sufficiently compelling evidence before authorizing an official investigation and allowing for the interception of emails and phone calls of suspects. However, despite the clear lack of evidence presented in the report, prosecutor Jorge Iván Piedrahita Montoya of the Fiscalia’s anti-terrorism office approved the requests of the SIJIN the same day he received them.

Piedrahita Montoya deemed that the flimsy evidence provided by the SIJIN—apparently all that the police could muster after more than three years of investigative work—met the “minimum proof” required to show the existence of links between Reyes Roa, Peña Cano and three others on the organizational chart. Consequently, he authorized the opening of an official investigation into the five for the crime of rebellion.

In a separate ruling in the same case made on December 19, prosecutor Luis Isnardo Barrero deemed the SIJIN had successfully established that the FARC was implementing a strategy to clandestinely infiltrate social organizations and communities by focusing on social problems affecting the population. He also deemed that investigators had sufficiently verified the identities of those involved in these clandestine operations and authorized the opening of an investigation into Moreno Ibagué and others on the organizational chart for the crime of rebellion—despite the absence of evidence linking Moreno Ibagué to any of the other suspects.

Barrero authorized the SIJIN to intercept Moreno Ibagué’s cellular phone and her Fensuagro email account. The prosecutor also authorized the police to engage in surveillance of email addresses belonging to a wide array of people that she communicates with as part of her work such as members of Justice for Colombia, including that organization’s director Liam Craig-Best. According to Craig-Best, “Justice for Colombia coordinates support provided by British unions to Colombian unions including Fensuagro. Aidee Moreno Ibagué’s work is entirely legitimate and it’s shocking that the Colombian government would intercept not only her emails but also those of people she works with such as foreign reporters, human rights workers, as well as Justice for Colombia’s emails.”

In total, the warrants issued in the cases related to the FARC notebooks authorized the SIJIN to intercept more than 150 email accounts belonging to unionists, human rights defenders, academics, journalists and the offices of NGOs without any evidence that they had participated in the commission of a crime. In addition to Fensuagro and Justice for Colombia, the SIJIN also intercepted the emails of The Movement for Victims of State Crimes, the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the U.S.-based Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) among others. According to a FOR statement, “The fear that such interception engenders may also promote self-censorship by human rights defenders and therefore impact their right to freedom of expression. Finally, it may be a harbinger of worse to come for the affected individuals, such as unfounded criminal prosecutions based on the data collected.” FOR also noted that the United States is partly responsible since the State Department awarded a $5 million contract to California-based Oakley Networks in 2006 to provide “internet surveillance software” to the SIJIN.

While the Colombian National Police, with the help of U.S. taxpayer-funded surveillance equipment, carried out the spying activities, it was the Fiscalia that irresponsibly authorized the investigation of people for the crime of rebellion based on very little, and in some cases a complete lack of, evidence. The only actual evidence presented in the SIJIN report relevant to the eight accused was a single phone number belonging to Reyes Roa that was allegedly found in a FARC notebook. Beyond that, the evidence—or lack thereof—showed that the other seven people were guilty of nothing more than association. In the case of Moreno Ibagué, she was not even guilty of that. However, all of the accused—and the domestic and foreign organizations that they collaborate with who were also spied upon—do have two things in common: They are all engaged in the struggle for social justice and are critical of the Uribe government.

The Fiscalia’s rubber-stamping of the SIJIN’s warrant requests raises troubling questions about due process and the rule of law for the thousands of Colombians who are either currently under investigation or have already been imprisoned. It is estimated that there are more than 7,000 political prisoners in Colombia. Many of them are accused of the crime of rebellion and are languishing in prisons without ever being convicted. Among them is Liliany Obando, a human rights activist and international representative for Fensuagro who has been incarcerated for the past six months without trial. The Fiscalia authorized the SIJIN to investigate Obando based on alleged evidence—which has never been made public—garnered from the computer of FARC Commander Raúl Reyes. While Colombian authorities have claimed Obando’s case is based on information contained in emails that she exchanged with Reyes, a counter-terrorism investigator for the National Police has since denied that any emails were found on the FARC leader’s laptop, stating: “We haven’t seen any e-mails, I haven’t found them so far. They found a large number of e-mail addresses, but Reyes kept these in a Word document and other Microsoft documents.” Despite the fact that the counter-terrorism investigator’s revelation contradicts the core “evidence” in the government’s case, Obando continues to languish in prison.

In the cases related to the FARC notebooks, authorization to investigate the accused was given by two prosecutors: Jorge Iván Piedrahita Montoya and Luis Isnardo Barrero. Moreno Ibagué claims that Piedreahita Montoya has abused the rights of many other people in the past, often resulting in peasants being detained by the state’s security forces and falsely accused of crimes. In one controversial case that recently came to the public’s attention, Piedreahita Montoya authorized a widespread investigation of databases at five universities based on very little evidence in an attempt to track down subversives. In response to a public outcry over Piedreahita Montoya’s actions, Attorney General Mario Iguaran recently dismissed the prosecutor. However, questions remain about just how widespread the Fiscalia’s practice of rubber-stamping police investigation requests is and regarding the plight of those who have already been imprisoned as a result of such actions. As the FARC notebook cases make evident, it appears that in at least some instances the Fiscalia has acted as an accomplice in the state’s war against civil society organizations. As for Moreno Ibagué, she is worried because the accusations and the investigations authorized by the Fiscalia could lead to worse things. “I fear for my life,” she admits. “In this country, they can kill us on any street corner.”

Bogota D.C. Colombia, 27th August 2008

The National Unitarian Federation of Agrarian Unions, FENSUAGRO – CUT (Colombia), denounces the siege and continued harassment against Alirio Garcia, FENSUAGRO’s attorney.

FACTS

On 16 July 2008 at 10:30 AM when Mr. Arilio, FENSUAGRO’s attorney was leaving his home at Diela suburb, of Armenia City, Quíndio. He noticed that from a parked blue Rodeo Ute with tinted windows and plate number BIB-815 that a man and a woman were filming Arilio’s residence. They remain parked for a few minutes before leaving.

WE DEMAND TO THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT:

1. To conduct an investigation to determine the activities of those unknown persons, who intimidate, terrorize and provoking fear to members of our leadership as well as to investigate the origin of the above mentioned vehicle.
2. That the persecution, threats and assassinations against FENSUAGRO leaders and officials cease.
3. “We stress that Human Rights protection is vested in the Colombian Constitution and in the international agreements and treatments signed by the Colombian State. Therefore it is a judicial obligation to prevent human rights violations and to undertake the necessary measures to investigate, identify, judge and sanction those responsible for their actions or omissions, or to take the necessary administrative and political corrective measures to prevent these crimes continuing to be perpetrated”

We urge the national and international community to:

1. Call on the Colombian government to protect the life, safeguard the physical and psychological integrity of our leaders and members as well as to guarantee the right to remain in the country to all our members and leaders to exercise their freedom to carry out trade union work and the right to organize.
2. Reject all acts of intimidation and harassment carried out by unknown individuals who continue spreading fear and terror among union, social and popular organizations.

NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

AIDEE MORENO IBAGUE

FENSUAGRO – CUT

COLOMBIA

The 17th of April is the day of resistance and courage of the peasantry and rural workers of the world. This day has been declared the international day of struggle of the peasantry and rural workers in commemoration of 19 heroic peasants of the Landless Rural Workers Movement of Brazil, killed in the Locality of El Dorado dos Carajas, in the state of Piara.

The National Unitarian Federation of Agrarian Unions,”FENSUAGRO”, faithful to its principles and defence of the peasantry and rural workers, has launched an initiative for the strengthening of Peasants’ Participation in the Construction of a Program of Peace, Socio-Economic and Environmental Development of the Colombian country-side.The program proposes the following:

1. To evaluate the level of participation of the peasantry around the agrarian mandate, as opposed to the agrarian policies of the government and the conflict in Colombia.
2. To contribute to the progressive and participative construction of an economic, social and environmental map of the peasantry in the zones of organizational influence of the Agrarian Mandate and their organizations.
3. To organize, call and conduct a national gathering of the peasantry and rural workers for the construction of a program of peace, economic and social development for the Colombian country side.

The point of reference for this proposal is the AGRARIAN MANDATE – a compendium of 14 points presented to the country in April 2003 by a broad range of organizations of Indigenous and afro-descendent peasants and non-governmental organizations a few months after the commencement of the presidency of Alvaro Uribe Vélez.

The Agrarian Mandate is a compendium of 14 points that combines in essence the most significant key aspects of the situation in the Colombian country side and the struggles of the peasants in the country.

Following the debate that forced the Minister of Agriculture withdraw his plans to give the lands of the experimental property of Carimagua to individuals involved in the African palm agro-industry (lands already earmarked for peasants displaced by the violence), following the extraordinary mobilization of the 6 of March 2008 in tribute to the victims of the violence and the freezing of the Free Trade Agreement in the House of Representatives in the US, seeing the peasants who together with the democratic forces of the country have taken an outstanding role in the struggle for the land, against impunity and in defence of national sovereignty and food security, we believe that the moment has arrived in which the strength of the peasant movement allied to the small and medium producers, the indigenous and afro-descendents should become visible and their participation recognized in the spheres where the decisions on the agricultural policies of the country are taken.

This proposal will be transparent and public and will also open the debate on the necessary role of the Colombian peasantry in the solution to the Colombian conflict, because the peasants are the first victims of the war.

The international day of struggle of the peasantry has been declared by the VIA CAMPESINA – an organization that groups landless peasants, small and medium producers and women peasants of 100 countries – which points out in their call of the 2008 that “world-wide, the food crisis is beginning to show its true image this year. In previous decades hunger was ‘hidden’ in rural areas or marginal zones. Now the number of people affected is increasing and many more people can no longer endure any more.”

Food riots are on the rise as are queues of hungry people in many places of the world. “In the Latin America region … the cultivable land no longer belongs to the rural population and the peasants must work the land of which they were once proprietors as cheap manual labour.”

Some flee to the cities trying to improve their lives, but unfortunately every night they go to sleep with empty stomachs because the government subsidies granted to the TNCs of agribusiness in the north are being directed to industrial agriculture, wiping out farms in the North and the South by means of the dumping. Through the green revolution, the TNCs of agribusiness destroy local wisdom and knowledge of agriculture and impose new technologies and agricultural inputs that the peasants and rural workers must buy, making the peasants to dependent upon them.

The National Unitarian Federation of Agrarian Unions, “FENSUAGRO”

Eberto Díaz– President