National Tertiary Education Union- NSW
17th December 2010
The Hon Stephen Smith
Minister for Defence
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Dear Minister,
As you will be aware, the Colombian regime is currently holding hundreds of political prisoners. Those deprived of their liberty include human rights defenders, trade unionists, student and community leaders and academics.
I trust that you will agree that this practice of jailing innocent people because of their opposition to Government policies is completely unacceptable. Therefore, we hope the Australian Government will speak out forcefully about this situation and demand that the Colombian Government free those that continue to be jailed for expressing their political opinions.
British academics and parliamentarians have recently called for the release of the following Colombian political prisoners: trade unionists, Rosalba Gaviria and Liliany Obando; human rights defenders, David Ravelo Crespo, Jose Samuel Rojas and Carmelo Agamez and university professor, Dr Miguel Angel Beltran. In Australia, we also believe that these political prisoners must be released as they have been in jail for well over a year without having been convicted of any crime whatsoever.
The Colombian regime cannot expect to have normal relations with democratic countries such as Australia as long as they continue to imprison their critics. We look forward to hearing from you with regard to any progress that you have made in encouraging the Colombian authorities to free their political prisoners.
Yours faithfully,
Genevieve Kelly
State Secretary
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Peace and Justice for Colombia wishes to thank all those organisations and individuals that received union leader Parmenio Poveda Salazar from Colombia’s agricultural union, Fensuagro.
The visit of Parmenio has been very valuable in raising the serious situation faced by unionists, indigenous, human rights defenders and the people in general in Colombia today. He informed all those he met that the assassination and oppression of trade unionists and human rights activists continues today, in contrast to the views of the mass media and the apologists for the regime that kills more trade unionists than any other country.
Parmenio was able to meet with many unions, politicians and other organisations in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane in what was a very successful visit.
Once again we wish to thank everyone for make this possible and we call to show your solidarity with the Colombian people in their struggle for peace with social justice.
Peace and Justice from Colombia
Related articles:
Union solidarity with besieged Colombian workers
Union solidarity with besieged Colombian workers
http://www.mua.org.au/news/union-solidarity-with-colombian-workers-under-seig/
Colombian unionist calls for solidarity
http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/45987
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Subpoenas, Searches, and FBI visits carried out in cities across the country.
We denounce the Federal Bureau of Investigation harassment of anti-war and solidarity activists in several states across the country. The FBI began turning over six houses in Chicago and Minneapolis this morning, Friday, September 24, 2010, at 8:00 am central time. The FBI handed subpoenas to testify before a federal grand jury to about a dozen activists in Illinois, Minnesota, and Michigan. They also attempted to intimidate activists in California and North Carolina.
“The government hopes to use a grand jury to frame up activists. The goal of these raids is to harass and try to intimidate the movement against U.S. wars and occupations, and those who oppose U.S. support for repressive regimes,” said Colombia solidarity activist Tom Burke, one of those handed a subpoena by the FBI. “They are designed to suppress dissent and free speech, to divide the peace movement, and to pave the way for more U.S. military intervention in the Middle East and Latin America.”
This suppression of democratic rights is aimed towards those who dedicate much of their time and energy to supporting the struggles of the Palestinian and Colombian peoples against U.S. funded occupation and war. The activists are involved with well-known anti-war groups including many of the leaders of the huge protest against the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, MN in September 2008. The FBI agents emphasized that the grand jury was going to investigate the activists for possible terrorism charges. This is a U.S. government attempt to silence those who support resistance to oppression in the Middle East and Latin America.
The activists involved have done nothing wrong and are refusing to be pulled into conversations with the FBI about their political views or organizing against war and occupation. The activists are involved with many groups, including: the Palestine Solidarity Group, Students for a Democratic Society, the Twin-Cities Anti-War Committee, the Colombia Action Network, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera (a Colombian Political Prisoner).
Steff Yorek, a long-time antiwar activist and one of the activists whose homes was searched, called the raids “An outrageous fishing expedition.”
We urge all progressive activists to show solidarity with those individuals targeted by the U.S. Government. Activists have the right not to speak with the FBI and are encouraged to politely refuse, just say “No”.
Please contact info@colombiasolidarity.org or info@fightbacknews.org to provide support to the targeted activists.
Contact: Tom Burke, 773-844-3612 or Steff Yorek, 612-865-8234
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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. Continue reading »
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By DANIEL KOVALIK
CounterPunch, April 26, 2010
In his book, Colombia: the Genocidal Democracy, Father Javier Girardo, a Jesuit priest and long-time human rights activist in Colombia, estimated that, between 1988 and 1995, more than 60,000 Colombians lost their lives to the internal conflict in Colombia – most of them at the hands of the state, either in the form of the official Colombian military or the paramilitary forces supported by the state. Continue reading »
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A MASSACRE FORETOLD IN THE MINING MUNICIPALITY OF SUÁREZ, CAUCA, COLOMBIA
Santiago de Cali, 8th April 2010
Eight miners were murdered by armed men travelling in two vehicles and a motor bike. The killings occurred in a place known as “Alto de Ovejas”, a rural zone in the municipality of Suárez, department of Cauca, southern Colombia. The place where the massacre occurred is the upper part of the Ovejas river. It can be reached by a one and a half hour journey on foot.
We, the undersigned organizations, have warned of the serious situation caused by the social and armed conflict which the municipalities in the Northwest of Cauca are experiencing, especially in the Municipalities of Suarez, Morales and Buenos Aires. We urgently demand an explanation from the National Government as to why, despite numerous demands for protection for communities in the zone and despite the large numbers of military and police contingents deployed in the areas, the perpetrators of this massacre were completely free to enter the territory, commit the crime and leave again with impunity.
A fact finding mission, composed of the Process of Black Communities, the Association of Indigenous Cabildos from the North of Cauca and the Association for Research and Social Action, NOMADESC, is in the zone in order to make more information available. Unfortunately, no international organization was able to accompany this commission. Because of this, we call upon you to briefly write to the Colombian state, demanding that it takes immediate preventative action and pays attention to the entire population in northwest Cauca. At the same time, we call on the United Nations system to carry out a fact finding visit to the zone as fast as possible. For our part, we will make the information widely available as soon as the work of the fact finding mission has completed its work in the territory. Continue reading »
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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. Continue reading »
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In response to the Colombian President Alvaro Uribe’s call to his ambassadors to ban the screening of Insurgency of the 21st Century, Australian activist groups have started promoting the documentary.
The premiere screening took place on March 6, outside the Colombian embassy in Canberra, Australia. This coincided with a national day of protest against state terror in Colombia. Continue reading »
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 Stop criminalisation of International Solidarity!
Stop State Terror in Colombia!
Saturday, March 6th, 7:30pm
Garema Place, ACT Canberra
A documentary on the current struggles of the Colombian people will be screened, introduced by Colombia solidarity activists. Followed by the controversial documentary that Uribe does not want you to see.
At the time Colombian President Alvaro Uribe agrees to accept seven new US military bases and the US government reactivate its Fourth fleet, Colombian peasants, workers, indigenous, women and children continue to be displaced or even executed.
Internationally, all of those who denounce the criminal regime of Uribe, demand social justice or show any kind of solidarity with the Colombian people and workers, are immediately accused of supporting terrorism. In the US, Australia and other countries, activists, journalists and human rights advocates had been harassed or interrogated by the police. The Colombian government, supported by their Ambassadors and supporters around the world, is leading a campaign to suppress websites, ban films from being publicly screened and persecute political activists.
The Colombian people deserve the support of people around the world. International solidarity is not a criminal activity and all efforts to silence voices of dissent attempt against the basic civil liberties.
This night we will come together to:
- Demand justice for the victims of state terror in Colombia
- Denounce all initiatives to criminalise international solidarity
- Defend our civil rights and liberties to express our solidarity
Supported by: Revolutionary Socialist Party (Canberra), Communist Party of Australia (Victoria) and Socialist Alliance
Find the event on Facebook
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 In recent months, there had been an unprecedented escalatation of harassment and persecution of solidarity activists internationally who have shown support to the political struggles of the Colombian and other Latin American peoples. This international campaign began soon after the murder of former FARC-EP leader, Raúl Reyes and the illegal seizure of information from a “magic laptop” that did not get destroyed after heavy bombing. Law specialists have discussed the legitimacy of such source of information, as no protocols were followed while obtaining the data. Moreover there are severe doubts of its authenticity including INTERPOL reports showing improper handling of the laptop by Colombian authorities. In any case, that information —based on alias names, doubtful dates and the media interpretation of the supposed data— has been used as a base for interrogating academics, journalists, human rights advocates, unionists and solidarity activists, in an attempt to simplistically interpret social consciousness, political activism or solidarity with “terrorist activity.” Continue reading »
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