Peace and Justice for Colombia » Colombians for peace

Statement in support of Senator Piedad Córdoba/ Comunicado en apoyo a la senadora Piedad Córdoba

admin — Mon, 10 May 2010 12:00:29 +0000

PERSECUTION IN COLOMBIA OF WELL-MEANING PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS WHICH DEFEND HUMAN RIGHTS AND PEACE WITH SOCIAL JUSTICE

On April 13 of this year, the Attorney General’s Office of Colombia attacked Senator Piedad Córdoba with absurd and unfounded accusations while she was out of the country. She was in Europe for the European Tour for Peace in Colombia and the Humanitarian Agreement (EUROPAZ2010), seeking support to promote peace in her country and a non-military solution to the armed conflict. This happened just a few weeks after she served as a mediator, securing the freedom of soldiers being held by the belligerent forces of the FARC.

STATEMENT IN DEFENCE OF PIEDAD CÓRDOBA

In the face of unfair and false accusations of the Attorney General’s Office of Colombia, against this defender of peace, human rights, a humanitarian agreement and a non-military solution to the Colombian conflict:

We reject the accusations made by the Attorney General’s Office of Colombia against Senator PIEDAD CÓRDOBA RUIZ on April 13, 2010, which is accused of having defended and maintained ties to the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) organization beyond what we believe is reasonable and necessary for negotiations in order to secure the release of soldiers being held by FARC.

The aim of these accusations is to immobilize and neutralize the activities of peace organizations in Colombia, such as the one represented by Senator Piedad Córdoba. It is part of a plan designed by Colombia’s DAS (Department of Administrative Security), which includes all forms of intimidation, extortion and death threats against anyone who opposing the narco-paramilitary government of Alvaro Uribe Velez and its policy of war. Uribe’s attack on the Senator foreshadows the “chuzadas” or wiretapping scandal of DAS aimed to eliminate judges, journalists and politicians opposed to the criminal government.

The accusations are baseless and absurd. The Attorney General’s Office alleged ‘proof’ was obtained on March 1, 2008 from laptop computers which the Colombian government claims was recovered following the illegal bombing of a FARC encampment carried out on Ecuadorian territory. According to INTERPOL, Uribe’s ‘proof’ does not meet internationally recognized standards for handling electronic evidence, the computers and hard drives from which data is obtained, and the chain of custody of information contained within them. These computers were tampered by Colombian authorities.

Uribe’s ‘proof’ was used to persecute and suppress many opponents within the Colombian parliament, such as Jorge Robledo, Gloria Inés Ramírez and Jaime Caycedo of the centre-left party “Polo Democrático”.

Senator Piedad Córdoba has recently completed the first leg of her European Tour for Peace in Colombia and the Humanitarian Agreement (EUROPAZ2010), which has received enormous support internationally. The tour has been a success and has even exceeded expectations for obtaining support for the cause of peace in Colombia. These attacks launched by Uribe, however baseless and absurd, will not deter the senator from the struggle in Colombia or negatively impact her support from the hundreds of social organizations around the world devoted to peace and social justice. On the contrary, Uribe’s attacks will help to increase her support and strengthen solidarity with the people of Colombia.

In defence of peace, a humanitarian agreement and a non-military solution to the armed conflict in Colombia, we firmly support the policies and aims of this senator and her organization, “Colombianas y Colombianos por la Paz” (Colombians for Peace).

In the interests of peace and social justice for the Colombian people, we denounce and strenuously request that the accusations unjustly made through the Attorney General’s Office of Colombia be withdrawn immediately.

With Piedad Córdoba, with the organization “Colombianas y Colombianos por la Paz”, with the peoples organizations of Colombia, and our friends internationally who fight for peace, a humanitarian agreement, and a just and non-military solution to the armed conflict in Colombia, we declare and maintain our support for change in Colombia. We endorse this statement by listing our names below.

http//www.apoyoapiedadcordoba.net

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COMUNICADO EN DEFENSA DE PIEDAD CÓRDOBA.

Ante las injustas y falsas acusaciones de la Procuraduría General de la Nación de Colombia, contra la defensora de la paz, los Derechos Humanos, el Acuerdo Humanitario, y una salida no militar al conflicto colombiano.

Los/as abajo firmantes, rechazamos las acusaciones formuladas por la Procuraduría General de Colombia contra la senadora PIEDAD CÓRDOBA RUIZ el día 13 de abril de 2010, según las cuales la senadora habría incurrido en apología y tendría vínculos con la organización de las FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia), más allá de lo razonable y lo necesario en las gestiones realizadas en la mediación con este grupo armado para la liberación de varios militares retenidos.

Estas acusaciones, que tienen la finalidad de inmovilizar o entorpecer la acción de las organizaciones de activistas por la paz en Colombia, como la que representa la senadora Piedad Córdoba, se enmarcan en un plan previamente diseñado por el DAS (Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad) de Colombia, que incluye todo tipo de presión, extorsión y amenazas a todo lo que representa la oposición al Gobierno y su política guerrerista. En este sentido, no existe duda alguna de la relación entre esta acusación contra Piedad Córdoba y el escándalo de las llamadas “chuzadas” del DAS a magistrados, periodistas y políticos de la oposición colombiana.

Por otra parte, se trata de unas acusaciones infundadas y absurdas, toda vez que la Procuraduría obtiene las pruebas en informaciones contenidas en las supuestas computadoras que el Gobierno colombiano dice que recuperó, tras el bombardeo ilegal que ejecutó contra Ecuador el pasado 1 de marzo de 2008, bajo la excusa de desmantelar un campamento temporal de las FARC. El acceso a los datos de dichas computadoras, no se ajustó a los principios reconocidos internacionalmente para el tratamiento de pruebas electrónicas por parte de los organismos encargados de la aplicación de la ley, según informes oficiales de la propia INTERPOL. Es decir, en el tratamiento de las computadoras y los discos duros, se rompió la cadena de custodia de la información contenida.

Este mismo recurso fue empleado por el Gobierno de Uribe para perseguir y reprimir a muchos opositores de su gobierno, como Jorge Robledo, Gloria Inés Ramírez y el concejal Jaime Caycedo (los tres del partido Polo Democrático).

La senadora Piedad Córdoba acaba de finalizar la primera parte de la Gira Europea por la Paz en Colombia y el Acuerdo Humanitario, EUROPAZ2010, que tiene un enorme respaldo social internacional, viendo ampliamente cumplidas sus expectativas en la búsqueda y obtención de apoyos para la causa de la Paz para Colombia. En este sentido, cualquier acusación contra Piedad Córdoba, por dura y absurda que parezca, no conseguirá que la senadora desista en la causa justa de la lucha por paz, ni reducirá un ápice el apoyo que ella tiene entre las centenares de organizaciones sociales, sino más bien al contrario, contribuirá a ir en aumento.

Apoyamos decididamente la lucha de esta senadora y su organización, Colombianas y Colombianos por la Paz, en la defensa de la Paz, el Acuerdo Humanitario y la salida no militar del conflicto armado que vive Colombia.

En aras de la paz y de la justicia para el pueblo colombiano, rechazamos y solicitamos enérgicamente que se retiren, de manera inmediata, las acusaciones injustamente formuladas por la Procuraduría de Colombia en contra de la Senadora Piedad Córdoba.

Con Piedad Córdoba, con la organización Colombianas y Colombianos por la Paz, y con las organizaciones y personas de Colombia y del mundo que luchan por la paz, el acuerdo humanitario y una salida no militar y con justicia al conflicto armado de Colombia, mantenemos el apoyo y nos adherimos al presente comunicado.

http//www.apoyoapiedadcordoba.net

Persecución a las organizaciones defensoras de los derechos humanos y la paz con justicia social

admin — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 00:21:41 +0000

(mensaje en español y francés)

http//www.apoyoapiedadcordoba.net

Enviar adhesiones a: firma@apoyoapiedadcordoba.com o europa@f-hijosdelmaiz.org.

La Procuradoría General de la Nación de Colombia, arremetió el pasado día 13 de abril contra la senadora Piedad Córdoba, con unas acusaciones absurdas y sin fundamentos, mientras ésta se encontraba fuera de su país, en Europa realizando la Gira Europea por la Paz en Colombia y al Acuerdo Humanitario (EUROPAZ2010), en busca de apoyos para promover la paz en su país y una salida no militar al conflicto armado; todo ello muy pocas semanas después de haber liderado como mediadora la liberación de nuevos uniformados en poder de las FARC.

El gobierno de Uribe, por medio de su fiscalía, echa mano nuevamente de la inagotable computadora de Raúl Reyes, para extraer supuestas pruebas de vínculos de la senadora Córdoba con las FARC, que nada tienen que ver con la gestión humanitaria que ha estado realizando para la liberación de los retenidos. Mismo sistema que empleó en una caza de brujas contra todo movimiento, organización o particular que simplemente se opusiera a su camino guerrerista.

La defensa de los Derechos Humanos en Colombia, la búsqueda de una Paz justa, y la oposición al gobierno de Uribe, se convierten así, con la complicidad del órgano de inteligencia administrativo, el DAS, en un ejercicio de alto riesgo para quienes con tanto valor, las ponen en práctica, y hace de ello su quehacer y sentir diario.

Animamos a organizaciones y amigos/as de Colombia, a firmar o adherirse al presente comunicado, que tiene como pretensión obtener un número mínimo de 500 firmas, para ser entregado a las instituciones colombianas, así como a la prensa internacional.

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COMUNICADO EN DEFENSA DE PIEDAD CÓRDOBA.

La senadora Piedad Córdoba acaba de finalizar la primera parte de la Gira Europea por la Paz en Colombia y el Acuerdo Humanitario, EUROPAZ2010, que tiene un enorme respaldo social internacional, viendo ampliamente cumplidas sus expectativas en la búsqueda y obtención de apoyos para la causa de la Paz para Colombia. En este sentido, cualquier acusación contra Piedad Córdoba, por dura y absurda que parezca, no conseguirá que la senadora desista en la causa justa de la lucha por paz, ni reducirá un ápice el apoyo que ella tiene entre los centenares de organizaciones sociales de todos los pueblos de Europa, sino más bien al contrario, contribuirá a ir en aumento.

Dado en Madrid, Ginebra, París, Bruselas y Bogotá, el día 16 de abril de 2010.

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COMMUNIQUÉ DE SOUTIEN Á PIEDAD CORDOBA

Suite aux injustes et fausses accusations du Procureur Général de la Nation de Colombie envers la médiatrice pour la paix, les Droits de l’Homme, l’Accord Humanitaire et une issue non militaire au conflit colombien.

Nous soussignés rejetons les accusations formulées par le Procureur Général de Colombie contre la sénatrice PIEDAD CÓRDOBA RUIZ le 13 avril 2010, selon lesquelles la sénatrice aurait fait l’apologie des FARC (Forces Armées Révolutionnaires de Colombie) et aurait des liens avec celles-ci au-delà de ce qui est raisonnable et nécessaire dans le cadre des gestions effectuées dans la médiation avec ce groupe armé pour la libération de plusieurs militaires détenus.

Ces accusations, qui ont pour but d’immobiliser ou d’obstruer l’action des organisations activistes pour la paix en Colombie -comme celle que représente la sénatrice Piedad Córdoba-, s’inscrivent dans un plan préalablement conçu par le DAS (Département Administratif de Sécurité) de Colombie, qui inclut tout type de pression, extorsion et menace à tout ce qui représente l’opposition au Gouvernement et à sa politique guerrière. En ce sens, il n’existe aucun doute sur la relation entre cette accusation contre Piedad Córdoba et le scandale des dénommées « chuzadas » (écoutes téléphoniques illégales), par le DAS, de magistrats, journalistes et politiciens de l’opposition colombienne.

Il s’agit d’autre part d’accusations infondées et absurdes, à chaque fois que le Procureur obtient les preuves par des informations contenues dans les prétendus ordinateurs que le gouvernement colombien dit avoir récupérés après le bombardement illégal exécuté contre l’Équateur le 1er mars 2008, sous prétexte de démanteler un campement temporaire des FARC. L’accès aux données des dits ordinateurs n’a pas été conforme aux principes reconnus internationalement pour le traitement de preuves électroniques par les organismes chargés de l’application de la loi, selon des rapports officiels d’INTERPOL elle-même. C’est-à-dire qu’il y a eu rupture de la chaîne de surveillance des informations dans le traitement des ordinateurs et des disques durs.

Ce même recours a été utilisé par le Gouvernement d’Uribe pour poursuivre et réprimer beaucoup d’opposants à son gouvernement, comme Jorge Robledo, Gloire Ines Ramirez et le conseiller municipal Jaime Caycedo (tous les trois du parti Pôle Démocratique).

La sénatrice Piedad Córdoba vient de terminer la première partie de la Tournée Européenne pour la Paix et l’Accord Humanitaire en Colombie, EUROPAZ2010, qui a un énorme soutien social international et voit ses espoirs largement comblés quant à la recherche et l’obtention d’appuis pour la cause de la Paix en Colombie. En ce sens, toute accusation contre Piedad Córdoba, aussi dure et absurde paraisse-t-elle, n’arrivera pas à ce que la sénatrice renonce à la cause juste de la lutte pour la paix, ni ne réduira d’un iota l’appui dont elle bénéficie de centaines d’organisations sociales de tous les peuples d’Europe -mais plutôt au contraire ne contribuera qu’à l’augmenter.

Nous soutenons résolument la lutte de cette sénatrice et de son organisation, Colombiennes et Colombiens pour la Paix, dans la défense de la Paix, l’Accord Humanitaire et l’issue non militaire au conflit armé que vit la Colombie.

Au nom de la paix et de la justice pour le peuple colombien, nous rejetons et sollicitons énergiquement qu’on retire, de manière immédiate, les accusations injustement formulées par le Procureur de Colombie contre la Sénateur Piedad Córdoba.

Avec Piedad Córdoba, avec l’organisation Colombiennes et colombiens pour la Paix, et avec les organisations et les personnes de la Colombie et du monde qui combattent par la paix, l’accord humanitaire et une sortie non militaire et avec justice au conflit armé de la Colombie, nous maintenons l’appui et nous adhérons au présent communiqué.

Fait à Madrid, Genève, Paris et Bogotá le 16 avril 2010

Traduction Armando García, armando8garcia@gmail.com

Firmado:

5. Collectif de soutien à l’ALBA de Grenoble. Francia.

6. ARLAC-SUISSE. Suiza.

7. Fundación Hijos del Maíz. España.

8. Asociación Internacional por la Paz en Colombia y el Mundo (AIPAZCOMUN), Suiza.

9. Colombianas y colombianos por la paz. Colombia.

10. Maison Populaire de Genève. Suiza.

11. ARLAC Bélgica

12. INTAL Bélgica

13. COMAC. Bélgica.

14. Polo Democratico Alternativo de Colombia-Geneve-Suisse

15. Asosiacion MALOKA-Nuechatel-Suisse

16. Asociacion Colombiana de Periodistas. Virtin Red Informativa Internacional. Colombia.

17. Association France Amérique Latine. Francia.

18. Soldepaz.Pachakuti. España.

19. Asosiacion MALOKA-Nuechatel-Suisse

20. Frente de acciones por Colombia. Alemania.

21. Breites Bündnis für Kolumbien. Deutschland.

22. Asociación Ecuador. Suiza.

23. Yolocamba Solidaridad. España.

24 Asociación de Solidaridad con Colombia “ASOC-KATÍO”. España.

25. Comunidades Cristianas del Estado Español. España.

26. Colectivo Acuerdo Humanitario – Inglaterra

27. Asociación Paz y Solidaridad Asturias. España.

28. ASOLATINO Berna. Suiza.

29. Candela Projectes Solidaris ONGD. España.

30. Asociación de Yachachiq SOLCODE. Perú.

31. Polo Democrático Alternativo Seccional Suiza.

32. Movimiento Madre Tierra. Honduras.

33. Centro de Prevención, Tratamiento y Rehabilitación de las Víctimas de Torturas y sus Familiares. (CPTRT). Honduras.

34. Asociación Iberoamericana pro Derechos Humanos (Castilla-La Mancha)

35. ATTAC España.

36. Presencia latinoamericana-Suiza

37. Kumbiamerica. Suiza.

38. POLOMOSCA. Colombia.

39. Colectivo de Colombianos Refugiados/as en Asturias “Luciano Romero Molina”. España. Plataforma Justicia por Colombia. España:

40. Paz con Dignidad

41. Mundubat

42. CEAR

43. Instituto de Estudios para América Latina y África (IEPALA).

44. Fundación Madrid Paz y Solidaridad

45. Comité Oscar Romero de Madrid

46. OSPAAAL Solidaridad

47. Grupo de Trabajo Suiza Colombia, Arbeitsgruppe Schweiz Kolumbien (ASK). Suiza

48. Plataforma estatal por la Paz y los DDHHH en Colombia. España.

49. Asociación Hispano-Cubana Paz y Amistad. España

50. Comité Viena PDA. Austria.

51. Coordinadora Nacional de Oficiales en Retiro (CNOR). Nicaragua.

52. CGAS (Communauté Genevoise d’Action Syndical). Suiza.

53. Paul-Emile Dupret, Jurista, Grupo GUE/NGL del Parlamento Europeo.

54. Carlo Sommaruga. Abogado. Diputado del Parlamento Suizo. Suiza

55. Enrique Santiago Romero. Abogado

56. Jaime Ballesteros. Ex-Diputado. España.

57. Ramón Santamaría Secretario General del PCE en Francia. Francia.

58. Jairo Nepomuceno Espinosa Gutierrez. España.

59. Eliecer Jimenez Julio-Journaliste-Geneve-Suisse.

60. Catherine Marchais. Nanterre, Francia.

61. Alvaro Luna Porras, Comité Territorial PDA París-Región Parisina. Francia.

62. Carolina Cano. España.

63. Ricardo Cárdenas. España.

64. Aldemar Llano Álvarez. Austria.

65. José de Jesús Zapata Rivera.

66. Juan Almendares. Honduras.

67. Esteban Mercado. Francia, Colombia.

68. Abimael Castro, periodista. Colombia.

69. Pedro Tostado. Sociólogo. Madrid.

70. Gloria Pérez Escobar, Bruselas. Bélgica.

71. Monica del Pilar Uribe Marin – Periodista, freelance internacional. España.

72. José Jesús Zapata Rivera. Francia.

Piedad Cordoba Leads Hostage Liberation in Colombia

admin — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 09:49:43 +0000

By Eva Golinger

Correo del Orinoco International

The Colombian Senator, herself and her daughter once hostages of right-wing paramilitary forces, has been leading peace efforts in the country for years. Despite sabotage by the Colombian government, Cordoba and her group, Colombians For Peace, were able to free two more hostages this week. The world kept up with the emotional developments via Twitter

UPDATE: BY THE TIME OF THIS POSTING, PABLO EMILIO MONCAYO HAS BEEN RELEASED TO FREEDOM AFTER 12 YEARS OF CAPTIVITY!

“They closed the helicopter doors, it’s still really loud, Colombia, give peace a chance!”, read one of Piedad Cordoba’s tweets early Sunday (@piedadcordoba) , as she boarded the helicopter that just hours later, brought Josue Calvo home. The Colombian Senator has been leading peace efforts for several years in her country, which has been plagued with a 60-year old civil war between right and left forces.

Colombia erupted in national violence after Jorge Gaitan’s assassination in 1948, which many believe was attributed to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Gaitan was a charismatic leader, a leftist and a revolutionary, who was set to win the presidential elections before his assassination, during a time when Washington was overly eager to stop the spread of communism in the region. Ten years of non-stop violence followed in Colombia, later transforming into a civil war that has never ceased.

Though the armed leftist groups are classified as “terrorist” by Washington and the current Colombian government, the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN), are still the remnants of the organizations that struggled against the imposition of the right-wing elite that has ruled the country since Gaitan’s death. Paramilitary groups – linked to the current Uribe government – were formed to combat the FARC and the ELN, and subsequently became involved in Colombia’s mass drug trade.

As the years and decades passed, kidnappings became a major tactic used by both sides to impose a state of fear and terror over civilian populations, and extort the other side for money and political and territorial gains.

Piedad Cordoba, Colombian Senator since 1994 and a controversial afro-Colombian and feminist figure, was kidnapped in 1999 by paramilitary forces led by Carlos Castano. She was held for several weeks and later forced into exile in Canada for over a year. Upon returning to Colombia, in 2002, she ran for Senate again and was elected with a landslide victory. Her daughter was subsequently kidnapped and held for several years by paramilitary forces, and two assassination attempts were made against Cordoba, after her return.

Nevertheless, Cordoba has been fighting ever since for peace in Colombia, and currently heads the organization Colombians For Peace. In August 2007, President Alvaro Uribe agreed to appoint Cordoba as a mediator in the humanitarian exchange between the FARC and the government, which continues to hold approximately 500 members of the leftist guerrilla group.

Piedad Cordoba requested the help of President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela to mediate in the hostage release in late 2007. But in November 2007, President Uribe unilaterally suspended Chavez’s role in the mediation efforts and threatened to end the entire negotiation process. Appeals were made by family members of the hostages, along with Cordoba herself, to allow Chavez to continue. In early 2008, President Chavez and Senator Cordoba achieved the first liberations of two hostages held by the FARC for over six years, Clara Rojas and Consuelo Gonzalez.

Since then, Cordoba has continued her efforts for peace and hostage release in Colombia.

UNILATERAL PEACE EFFORT

On Sunday, the FARC unilaterally freed Josue Daniel Calvo, the first of two Colombian military officers that the group had promised to release as a gesture of peace. The liberation of the military officer took place in a jungle region of southeastern Colombia. A humanitarian mission led by Piedad Cordoba picked Calvo up in a helicopter and flew him to Villavicencio, where his father and sister were anxiously awaiting his arrival. The government of Brazil provided the helicopters for his rescue.

Calvo, dressed in a light blue shirt and sweatpants, walked on his own from the helicopter, despite a knee injury obtained during his year of captivity. More than 100 people belonging to Colombians For Peace, dressed in white shirts and holding white carnations, were waiting for Calvo, to welcome him home. “Humanitarian agreement, now”, they yelled, the majority of whom were family members of hostages or ex FARC prisoners.

Despite an agreement with the Colombian government to cease military operations in the region in order to allow for the hostage liberation, Cordoba denounced that the guerrilla group had detected army flyovers over the area designated as a no-fly zone. The Uribe government has sabotaged past efforts to free hostages held by the FARC by flooding the area with Colombian military presence, and hence preventing the liberations.

WE WILL NOT REGRESS

“We are very pleased. There is no possibility that the hostage liberations will be paralized despite everything the Colombian government is doing to sabotage them. Pablo Emilio Moncayo should be released this Tuesday”, affirmed Cordoba on Sunday afternoon. By the time of this printing, Moncayo will hopefully have been released.

Moncayo has been held by the FARC for more than 12 years. His father, Gustavo Moncayo, has led an effort for peace in Colombia during the past few years and, as part of his actions, marched from Bogota to Caracas two years ago. He has appealed to governments and social movements around the world to aid in peacemaking in Colombia. The release of his son Pablo, will be a huge achievement for this activist who has suffered the loss of his child during 12 years.

MINUTE BY MINUTE ON TWITTER

Cordoba used Twitter to inform followers around the world of the status of Calvo’s liberation. “For two years, this has been a lot of work for Colombians For Peace. Tomorrow at 7am we depart to achieve our result. We hope for peace”, she wrote on Saturday, after informing readers of her meetings with church and government representatives. “I have arrived to Villavicencio and am meeting with the High Commissioner for Peace and the Church to coordinate the operations”, also posting photographs of meetings and key events.

“In just minutes we will be landing with good news for peace in Colombia. Peace is possible. Josue Calvo is free!”, she wrote on Sunday afternoon from the helicopter where she flew together with the newly freed hostage. During the humanitarian mission, a “little girl with big black eyes” gave her a bird. “It’s quiet and scared”, tweeted Cordoba, later adding, “I will free the bird in Buenaventura when the humanitarian mission ends”.

The bird was released late Sunday, after Calvo was safe with his family and Cordoba was gearing up for Tuesday’s operation to rescue Pablo Moncaya after more than a decade of imprisonment.

Open letter from Professor Miguel Angel Beltrán Villegas to the Colombian Association of University Students

admin — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:48:57 +0000

I curse poetry conceived as a cultural luxury by the neutral ones who wash their hands, pretend not to know, and escape from reality. I curse the poetry from those that do not take side until getting dirty. —Gabriel Celaya

Dear students, workers and colleagues of the public and state universities of the country,

From my new prison cell in the high security wing of “La Picota” prison I wish to send a warm greeting, accompanied with renewed hopes of success in the struggles that appear on the horizon in 2010. A year that official tradition dedicates to the celebration of the bicentennial of independence.

It has been more than eight months that I have been in prison under trial for the supposed crimes of ” rebellion” and “concert to break the law with terrorists aims”, in which I have been subject to the flagrant violation of my procedural guarantees; admitting illicit and illegal evidence like the computer of the deceased leader of the FARC, “Raul Reyes”; and incorporating victims of that guerrilla organization as special interveners who have received no concrete, real and specific damage from me.

Not being content with these abuses, on the 23rd of December I was removed under extreme security measures, from the facilities of the national jail “La Modelo”. During two days, my family, lawyers and friends did not know my whereabouts, to the point that they needed to raise the alarm about this situation to some national and international mass media and NGOs. My transfer took place the same day I obtained, after numerous institutional obstacles, the authorization for the visit of my son, whom I had not seen for two years and ” coincided” with the denunciations of corruption that days earlier I had made against a civil servant of the national Prison “La Modelo”.

On the 17th of February the “trial hearing” will go ahead .This is the step prior to sentencing, in a process that has had clearly political aims, and in which critical thinking and the freedom of teaching, principles that distinguished the student movement of Cordoba (Argentina) nearly a century ago, are also on trial.

These events occur in a chain of systematic attacks on the public university community, demonstrated not only in the increasing cuts of financial resources that place knowledge and the education services under the implacable logic of the market,and also violate the fundamental principles – like the freedom of thought and its institutional autonomy.

All of this has been demonstrated by the arbitrary detentions of students, the incursion of the police in the university campus, the murder and disappearance of students, the threats to teachers and professors, the request on the part of the General Office of the public prosecutor of the Nation of the students names pertaining to public universities of Bogota and the proliferation of rebellion accusations levelled at university community members in hasty trials.and with restriction of access to the material of Luis Eduardo Sarmiento.

This situation takes us back to the dark years of the military dictatorships in South America, and becomes even more worrisome with recent government proposals to use a thousand students of Medellín as police informants , thus exploiting for its war interests the economic needs of this important social sector, trying to turn Colombia into a country of informers, and intensifying, the armed and social conflict that President Alvaro Uribe Vélez tries to hide.

The incorporation of students in these military intelligence activities not only denotes an absence of an education project for strategic sectors in the social and cultural development of the nation, but also entails high risks of transforming the university campus into a war zone.

It should be noted that the informant network is one of the fundamental pillars of the ill-named government policy of ” democratic security” that has served to sustain “false positives” (extra judicial killings),the persecution of numerous intellectuals, students, social, popular, and indigenous leaders who at the moment flood the jails of the country. Today we can speak of more than 7,000 political prisoners detained under cruel and overcrowded conditions that the Colombian government tries to ignore with the sophism of having a frontal attack against terrorism.

Against these facts, the university cannot evade its responsibility by using a supposed “neutrality.” On the contrary it must assume the social commitment to lead, from the academic sector, the generation of proposals that help to give solution to the social problems.

It is through open and pluralistic debate of ideas-not of the silence and the adulation of individual thought- that the university can guarantee the fulfilment of its social function and be elevated to a true instrument for social transformation, in the context of an ever changing world.

This becomes even more necessary in a country like ours where – a colleague of the University of Antioquia reminded us, “the people are gagged, plugged and blindfolded, so as not to speak anything, not hear anything and not see anything”, because – in a society riven by internal conflict it turns out to be convenient to keep silence so not to be misunderstood, and moreover it is comfortable to speak the language of those in power, so they will not turn us into the object of their reprisals.

My academic life has closely been linked to the fight for democratic ideals, first as a student, as later as a teacher and now as political prisoner of an establishment that criminalizes committed educational work.

I am thankful to all the students, workers and colleagues of the public university and some private universities who, with their words and actions – in an open or quiet way – have offered valuable solidarity to me. Also I am thankful to the Association of University Professors (ASPU), to the Association of Professors of the University of Antioquia (ASPRUDEA), to the organizations and student work groups, as well as to their alternative media for their untiring commitment for my freedom. This is the commitment to freedom of thought and opinion and the respect for scientific and intellectual work.

Be assured that the campaign that you have developed has not been in vain, and although these bars and armed guards try to scare me and to debilitate my democratic convictions, I guarantee that I will maintain unbroken my critical voice, my commitment to the defence of the public university and the search for political solutions to the armed and social conflict in Colombia.

Fraternally

Miguel Ángel Beltrán Villegas

Associate Professor of Sociology, National University of Colombia

From the “High Security” pavilion of “la Picota” jail, February 1, 2010.

La voz del pueblo

Translated for Peace and Justice for Colombia

Piedad Cordoba’s campaign headquarters attacked

admin — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 05:05:48 +0000

In an electoral campaign that has up to now been dominated by advertising of candidates that have strong connections to paramilitaries and the drug trade, the campaign headquarters of the main opposition figure in Colombia has been raided by armed men. On the 5th of February the campaign office of Piedad Cordoba and Andrés Villamizar in Bogota was raided by armed men, the attackers ordered all the office staff into the bathrooms and stole all the telephones, lists of supporters and volunteers. In a country were supporters of opposition candidates are systematically executed or thrown in jail elections are really just a costly exercise in international publicity.

Postponement of Senator Piedad Cordoba Tour to Australia

admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 19:33:31 +0000

Nov ’09

6:30 pm

To Friends and Supporters of Peace and Justice for Colombia

We regret that it has become necessary to postpone the proposed tour and public meetings of Senator Piedad Cordoba Ruiz scheduled for November 2009.

The Senator has advised us that she must postpone the tour due to the imminent release of prisoners in the conflict in Colombia.

Because of the key role she plays in difficult negotiations with the Uribe Government, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) she is required to be in the country in the coming period.

Senator Cordoba has profusely apologised for any inconvenience and has indicated that we may be able to reschedule for January or February 2010. Peace and Justice for Colombia will advise all supporters as soon as new arrangements are made.

In solidarity,
Peace and Justice For Colombia

Colombia’s Cordoba Contending for Nobel Peace Prize

admin — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:54:01 +0000

Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) — Colombia Senator Piedad Cordoba and Afghanistan’s Sima Samar, two women promoting peace and human rights in conflict zones, are among the top contenders for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, the International Peace Research Institute in Oslo said.

There are a record 205 nominees for the 10 million-krona ($1.4 million) prize, which women rarely win, set to be announced by the Norwegian Nobel Committee on Oct. 9. U.S. scientists Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak were awarded the Nobel medicine prize today, the first of six prizes to be announced through Oct. 12.

Cordoba, 54, “is the most likely candidate,” said Kristian Berg Harpviken, head of the institute which each year lists potential winners. “She has been able to carve out an independent space for herself in a conflict that’s very protracted. Samar certainly has a very strong personality and played a major role in the Afghan context.”

The prize, along with other honors for literature, physics, medicine and chemistry, was created by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel in his will and first awarded in 1901. Finland’s Martti Ahtisaari won last year and past laureates include Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Theresa. Kenya’s Wangari Maathai was the most recent female winner in 2004.

Samar, 52, head of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, is the institute’s third pick after interfaith advocate and Jordanian royal family member Ghazi bin Muhammad, a professor of Philosophy of Islamic Faith at Jordan University. Samar and Cordoba are favored at bookmaker Paddy Power Plc at 4/1 and 6/1, respectively. Bin Muhammad is at 7/1.

FARC Guerilla

Cordoba, a senator for the opposition Liberal Party, leads Colombians for Peace, an initiative for a negotiated solution to the conflict between the government and the FARC guerilla, which was founded in 1964 as a peasant-based, Marxist group.

The institute correctly guessed former Vice President Al Gore as a winner in 2007, and earlier in the decade had the International Atomic Energy Agency and Mohamed ElBaradei, who won in 2005, and Ahtisaari, as potential candidates.

In the prize’s history, 12 winners have been women and 84 men. Organizations have also been honored, including the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1917, 1944 and 1963. Some years no prize was awarded.

While nominations are kept secret, some are revealed by the nominators, which include former laureates and selected academics and politicians. Of the 205 nominees this year, 33 are organizations and the rest individuals, according to Geir Lundestad, director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute.

Cordoba, who has negotiated the release of hostages, was nominated by Adolfo Perez Esquivel, a 1980 laureate and Argentine human rights activist, according to Oslo’s peace institute.

Chinese Winner

One of last year’s favorites, Chinese environment and AIDS activist Hu Jia is unlikely to win because two of the Nobel committee’s members this year were also members of the Norwegian parliament, according to Berg Harpviken. Awarding Hu may increase tensions with the world’s most populous nation, which on Oct. 1 celebrated the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China following the civil-war victory of Mao Zedong.

Candidates

Other possible candidates include Lidia Yusupova, a Russian lawyer and campaigner for Chechen war victims; the Cluster Munition Coalition, an alliance of groups against such weapons; Bulambo Lembelembe Josue, a Congolese pastor who won the Norwegian Rafto award last year, given for promoting intellectual, political and economic freedom; and the European Union.

Prizes for literature, chemistry, medicine and physics, are picked by the Stockholm-based Nobel Foundation. The prize for physics will be announced on Oct. 6, the chemistry honor on Oct. 7 and the literature prize on Oct. 8. The Nobel for economics, instituted by the Swedish central bank in 1968, will be announced on Oct. 12.

Peace and Justice for Colombia in solidarity with Piedad Córdoba and Colombians for Peace

admin — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 01:40:34 +0000

Senator Piedad Córdoba and Colombians for Peace,

Warm greetings,

We are very happy with the six Colombians that have now returned to their families thanks to the humanitarian effort you all have done. We are also very worried about the declarations made by President Álvaro Uribe against Colombians for Peace, accusing you of being “the intellectual block of FARC”.

We are particularly worried about the death threats that have followed those declarations.This is not the first time the Colombian president makes this kind of declarations against social organizations, human rights groups, politicians and the civil society, accusing them of being guerrilla collaborators. We believe those reactions are very irresponsible, and make evident the lack of interest on behalf of the current government to fulfil the humanitarian exchange that would allow the people detained during this conflict to return to their homes and reunite with their families.

Our organization raises its voice against those severe declarations, and we unconditionally reiterate our solidarity and support, in the search for peace, justice and democracy for Colombia.

In solidarity,

Peace and Justice for Colombia,

Australia

Senadora Piedad Córdoba y Colombianos por la Paz

Reciban un fraternal saludo.

Cuánto nos emociona conocer del regreso de seis Colombianos a sus familias como resultado del trabajo humanitario de todos ustedes, con profunda preocupación nos enteramos también de los señalamientos del Presidente de la República Alvaro Uribe en contra del Movimiento Colombianos por la Paz llamándolos “bloque intelectual de las FARC”.

Preocupante aún mas son las amenazas de muerte que miembros de su organización han sido objeto tras tales declaraciones.

No es primera vez que el presidente de la República arremete en contra de organizaciones sociales, de derechos humanos, personalidades políticas, y sociedad civil en general señalándolos como colaboradores de la guerrilla. Creemos que tales reacciones además de irresponsables demuestran la falta de interés del actual gobierno en la búsqueda de un intercambio humanitario que permita el retorno a sus familias de todos los rehenes y detenidos a raíz del conflicto.

Nuestra organización levanta su voz en contra de estos graves señalamientos y desde ya les reiteramos nuestra solidaridad y apoyo en la búsqueda de la paz con justicia y democracia para Colombia.

En solidaridad,

Paz y Justicia para Colombia

URGENT: President Uribe says the group Colombians for Peace are FARC terrorist and is threatening them

admin — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 01:31:27 +0000

URGENT CALL FOR ACTION:

President Uribe has said that the group Colombians for Peace are FARC terrorist and is threatening with killing them.

Today in Villavicencio, the Colombian president Alvaro Uribe Vélez, violently adressed COLOMBIANS FOR PEACE, calling them the “intellectual block of FARC”; this group has now more than 180 thousand members, amongst them intellectuals, academics, students, leaders of social movements, politicians, artists, sportspeople, and outstanding members of the organized civil society.

Since Uribe called “terrorists” the organisation Colombians for Peace, which just recently achieved the liberation of six people that the FARC had detained, dozens of its members have received death threats.

Uribe says this organization is “very clever”, and is defending the guerrilla with a “tale of peace”. He also affirmed that the organization “doesn´t dare to show its face openly to defend the FARC, but they do so by talking about peace”.

The president called the Colombian people “not to allow the intellectual block of FARC to lie to them”, accusing the group of not attacking directly the democratic security, but to talk about a paramilitary government.

Uribe said they “will not allow the intellectual block of the FARC to confuse us with a peace rhetoric that will finally led to terrorism”.

He also mentioned that “the intellectual block of the FARC is talking about human rights, just to frighten our soldiers and police officers”.

Uribe insisted that we “cannot allow that them [Colombians for Peace], with their absurd tale of peace, with their permanent accusations against the military Forces, paralyse our democratic security policy”.

Finally, Uribe asked if we should let the country “to return to the disorientation that could lead to exalt terrorism, led by the intellectual block of the FARC”.

URGENT CALL FOR ACTION, WE HAVE TO PROTECT THE MEMBERS OF COLOMBIANS FOR PEACE.

URIBE WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY MISFORTUNE THAT OCCURS TO ANY MEMBER OF COLOMBIANS FOR PEACE.

Uribe is killing the only real possibility for peace in many years; he has been saying for 7 years he will finish with the FARC, and is now asking for 4 more years. When Uribe realised he cannot finish with the FARC, he now wants to kill the Colombians.

The referenced to the Uribe speech can be found (in Spanish): El Tiempo

In the comments there, the forum is calling to tell the names of members of Colombians for Peace, to put them in prison or even to kill them.

WE CANNOT ALLOW HOPE TO BE KILLED! WE HAVE TO STOP ANY COLOMBIAN FOR PEACE TO BE ASSASINATED!

Please send your support to: www.piedadcordoba.net