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

Stop criminalisation of International Solidarity!

Stop State Terror in Colombia!

Saturday, March 6^th, 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

An international electoral observer mission in Colombia has today expressed concern about the fairness of upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections in March and May of this year. They believe the electoral process has been marred by bribes, assassinations and persecution.

The director of the NGO “Americas Program of the International Relations Centre (IRC)” Laura Carlsen, has said that during her visit members of the mission have heard from the people that they interviewed that the candidates from the governing parties have used government subsidies to force people to vote for them.

In poor neighbourhoods where many people live from government subsidies, governing party candidates have been recorded telling people that the subsidies will end if they are not elected.

The threats to poor neighbourhoods are not the only electoral crime that has tarnished these elections, according to Carlsen the mission head;

“The threat from armed groups makes up the biggest threat to a clean and fair process”.

Another international observer mission led by the US based NGO Global Exchange that visited the departments of Cordoba, Antioquia, Santander and Valle del Cauca. In the document that they presented today they expressed concern about the possibility of the assassination of people involved in the electoral process, and the persecution of community leaders. They highlighted that fear was present in every sphere of Colombian Society.

Gimena Sanchez from the US based NGO Wola, used a case from Buenaventura (Valle del Cauca), where according to her testimony people are being disappeared so as that they do not register in the statistics of electoral violence.

the mission stated that;  “Independent journalists expressed concern to the observer mission about death threats that they have received when they denounce electoral fraud and violence”. The observer mission also stated that most of the media has applied self censorship or given a disproportionate coverage to certain campaigns over others.

Part of Uribe’s international campaign to criminalise solidarity, is a violent cultural campaign of deceit, led by the corporate media. Censorship and right-wing propaganda from the Colombian government is aired in main news outlets and targeting also new media such as the internet, You Tube and weblogs. Uribe’s latest event has been via the the Colombian Foreign Ministry to intensify their propaganda war against FARC Marxist guerrillas and what the Uribe government terms the FARC’s “parallel diplomacy.” Colombian Foreign Ministry Jaime Bermúdez, called home 29 Colombian ambassadors (plus 12 other that were connected via video conference) to draft an agenda of combating this “diplomacy” and prevent the screening of a recently released Argentinean production titles “La insurgencia del siglo XXI” (The insurgency of the 21st Century). The documentary that depicts the rebel group as an organization made up of peasants, indigenous, afro-Colombian men and women, their work with the land and hold revolutionary points of view about Colombian society. The screening of the film has been banned, and the Ambassadors and their collaborators have the task of prevent the film of being distributed.  Despites Uribe´s efforts, a number of countries including Argentina, Cuba, Uruguay, Ecuador, Spain, Italy, France, Denmark, Turkey, and possibly others have already seen the film. In Argentina and Cuba the documentary premiered in nationa  Film festivals.

According to the Colombian Foreign Ministry, to screen or watch this video is considered “a statement in defence of crime”. What is dangerous from such declarations are the actions taken by some countries in response to these initiatives. This happens at a time when Uribe has accepted seven US military bases that include the use of air and navy forces, contractors and security forces which threaten not only the Colombian people, but the entire region.

The delegitimization and defamation campaign is also a major component of Uribe´s propaganda war, sometimes with judicial consequences. Colombian intellectuals have been jailed. On August 2008, film-maker and human rights defender Liliany Obando (who toured Australia in two occasions) was detained, being the first victim of Uribe´s so-called “FARC-politica” in response to ongoing political scandals in Colombia linking Uribe with paramilitary death squads, drug trafficking, and other damning activities. Liliany is yet to be tried in court and she remains in a high security prison to date. On May 2009, Professor Miguel Ángel Beltrán was illegally extradited from México to Colombia, accused of being a “FARC-Intellectual” for his criticism of the Colombian government. Beltrán  was jailed with no trial and has now been reported as disappeared. These cases add to the over 7,500 political prisoners languishing in Colombian prisons.

Outside Colombia, several human rights advocates and solidarity activists had also been interrogated or harassed. In Spain on July 2008, pacifist activist María Remedios García Albert was temporarily jailed for alleged links to the rebel organization. At the time, Gen. Oscar Naranjo, chief of the Colombian Police declared that “that capture was the first in a series of detentions that will be carried out in Europe, of people linked to the FARC”; following that first detention, houses of Colombian activists in Switzerland were raided. To date, the Colombian Government have failed in providing evidence of such connections. During 2008 and 2009, solidarity activists in Chile, México and Peru were harassed with their pictures constantly appearing in the national media without any incriminatory evidence. On January this year, American writer and Colombia solidarity activist James Jordan was escorted out of a plane while returning home from Haiti. US Homeland Security officials interrogated him about solidarity work with Colombia. On February this year, an Australian activist was also  interrogated by the Australian Federal Police on request of the Colombian National Police. This is not the first time that an Australian activist has been interrogated for solidarity work with Colombia as it has been the main focus for the interrogators.

This Uribe campaign, carried out on a global scale, is unprecedented for the current “post-military junta period” in Latin America as it resembles  ‘Operation Condor’ throughout the 1970s and 1980s which involved the clandestine work of US sponsored state-terror carried out by military and secret services of several Southern Cone regimes. In the 1970s and 1980s the pretext of the Cold War was used to carry out repressive and horrific crimes against humanity that involved the deportation, incarceration, torture, “disappearance,” and murder of both common people and revolutionaries for their alleged support of  “terrorism.” Today, in the context of an asymmetrical global US ”War on Terror” where there is “no clear” enemy, it has become very easy for some police and intelligence agencies to declare anyone a “criminal” or a “terrorist.” Without evidence and with only suspicion, this intelligence work has been carried out by local security and police forces and violates the basic civil liberties of freedom of speech and freedom of organisation. Put simply, it threatens the rights of people to demand much needed social justice.

March 6 marks the day to protest against State Terror in Colombia, called by the Movement of Victims of State Crimes (Colombia). On the first week of March, there would be a number of different activities campaigning against extrajudicial executions of young people (who are killed, dressed up and presented as guerrilla fighters, in an attempt of showing with “numbers” the success of Uribe′s counter-insurgent efforts) , and against the criminalisation of international solidarity and critical thinking.

© Peace & Justice for Colombia (copy left)

This article can be posted in other sites, but please quote the reference

PEACE AND JUSTICE STATEMENT

4 February 2010

Take Action: Oppose to the attempts to criminalise International Solidarity

Peace and Justice for Colombia (PJFC) is deeply concerned about the recent questioning and interrogations of activists in Australia that for years have been working in solidarity with Colombia.

On 3 February 2010, a member of our organisation, Mr. Alejandro Rodriguez, was interviewed by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in an attempt to obtain information on individuals, the Agricultural Workers Union of Colombia (FENSUAGRO) and about the activities of our organisation.

Peace and Justice for Colombia is a solidarity organisation that promotes the respect of human rights of all Colombians, and in doing so we have been denouncing the violations of labour and human rights in that country under the regimen of Alvaro Uribe.

It is very shameful that the AFP is aiding Uribe’s regime that has been engaged in the systematic persecution of human rights defenders, journalists, labour leaders and the opposition. Still worse, there is evidence that Uribe’s regime has been involved in drug trade and paramilitarism.

Peace and Justice for Colombia believes that the actions of the AFP in this particular matter, violates the rights of Mr Rodriguez who for years have been involved in solidarity work with Colombia and with Latin America, but also that the AFP action supports the Uribe regime’s campaign against international solidarity expressed by Australian trade unionists, individuals and political organizations.

PJFC requests that you and your organisation write to the Australian authorities to:

• Protest for the AFP cooperation with the Uribe administration
• Condemn any attempts of Uribe to criminalise international solidarity with Colombia.
• Demand that the Australian Government suspends its involvement with the Uribe regime until such time human and trade union rights are protected in Colombia.

Post or fax your messages and letters to:

Hon Brendan O’Connor MP
Minister for Home Affairs
PO Box 6022, Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2601
Tel:  (02) 6277 7290 or
Fax: (02) 6273 7098

Tony Negus APM
Commissioner of the AFP
PO Box 401
Canberra City ACT 2601
Tel: (02) 6223 3000

Copy your letters to:

Peace & Justice for Colombia,
Email: pjfcolombia@gmail.com

Yours in solidarity,

Peace & Justice for Colombia, PJFC-Australia
www.colombiasolidarity.net
www.freeliliany.net

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

This past summer, President Obama announced that he had signed an agreement with Colombia to grant the U.S. military access to 7 military bases in Colombia. As the UK’s Guardian newspaper announced at the time, “[t]he proposed 10-year lease will give the US access to at least seven Colombian bases – three air force, two naval and two army – stretching from the Pacific to the Caribbean.” And, these bases would accommodate up to 800 military and 600 civilian contractors of the United States. As the Guardian explained, this announcement caused outrage in neighboring Latin American nations and “damaged Barack Obama’s attempt to mend relations with the region.”

This announcement also angered human and labor rights advocates in both the U.S. and Colombia as the U.S. was now solidifying a cozier military alliance with by far the worst labor and human rights abuser in the Western Hemisphere. The human rights nightmare in Colombia, fueled by billions of dollars of U.S. military assistance, includes the forced internal displacement of nearly 4 million civilians – the second largest internally displaced population in the world (Sudan holding the number one position); the extraordinary killing of over 2700 union members since 1986 (by far the greatest number in the world), with 35 being killed in 2009 alone; and the extrajudicial killing of around 2,000 civilians by the Colombian military since President Uribe took office in 2002.

As for the extra-judicial killings by the Colombian military, these were carried out as part of the “false positive” scandal – a controversy involving the military murdering civilians and then dressing them up to look like guerillas in order to increase their body count numbers, thereby guaranteeing further U.S. aid. That scandal deepened earlier this month when 31 Colombian soldiers awaiting trial for their role in the killings were released from prison because of the Colombian government’s failure to indict them in a timely fashion.

While the U.S. has claimed for years that it is fighting a drug war in Colombia, though having to sheepishly admit year after year that its ostensible efforts have not yielded any decrease whatsoever in the amount of coca grown in Colombia or cocaine exported to the U.S., the real reason for the war has always been the control of Colombia’s rich oil resources. Indeed, at a Congressional hearing in 2000, entitled “Drugs and Social Policy in Colombia” – a hearing to debate the relative merits of Clinton’s new Plan Colombia, pursuant to which the U.S. has sent billions of dollars of military assistance to Colombia – one of the key witnesses invited to testify in support of this policy was none other than Lawrence Meriage, the Vice-President of Occidental Petroleum. Not surprisingly, Mr. Meriage had nothing to say about drugs or social policy in Colombia, but a lot to say about the need for military assistance to protect his oil pipelines.

Now, according to a January 19, 2010 Bloomberg article, “The Export-Import Bank of the United States [a U.S. government agency] announced Jan. 19 its approval of a $1 billion preliminary commitment to help finance the sale of goods and services from various U.S. exporters to Ecopetrol S.A., Colombia’s national oil company.” It should be noted that Ecopetrol is a business partner with L.A.-based Occidental Petroleum.

Citing an industry expert, the Bloomberg article goes on to explain that “Ecopetrol is being aggressive in exploration and production,” and that, with the help of the financing from the Export-Import Bank, “Ecopetrol will almost double to 1 million barrels daily by 2015 as the company drills more wells in Colombia and neighboring South American nations.”

As a November 12, 2009 press release from the human rights group Amazon Watch explained, Ecopetrol is currently engaged in oil exploration on the sacred land of the U’wa indigenous peoples and against their wishes. A spokesperson for the U’Wa explained that, as is invariably the case, with Ecopetrol’s exploration and drilling comes the Colombian military, as well as paramilitaries, to protect Ecopetrol’s operations.

As Ecopetrol’s own website indicates, it is also involved in oil exploration in Peru and Brazil. As for Peru, Survival International, a UK-based human rights group advocating for the rights of threatened indigenous tribes, warned last year that Ecopetrol’s exploration of the Peruvian Amazon jungle threatens hitherto uncontacted indigenous tribes whose very existence will be jeopardized by these operations. As Survival International explained, these uncontacted tribes are “exceedingly vulnerable to any contact with outsiders because of their lack of immunity to disease.” Prior contacts between companies and uncontacted tribes have resulted in the mortality of 50% of the tribe.

While the current U.S. Administration seems bent on deepening its fatal ties to Colombia in the interest of oil, there is still an opportunity to derail this policy. Pursuant to the statute which created and regulates the U.S. Export-Import Bank, the President of the U.S. (who, by a 1979 Executive Order, delegated such authority to the Secretary of State) may, after consultation with the House and Senate Committees on Banking, determine that an application for credit should be denied by the Bank if the extension of credit “clearly and importantly” impacts U.S. “policy in such areas as international terrorism, nuclear proliferation, environmental protection and human rights.” 12 U.S.C. Sec. 635(2)(b)(1)(B).

Clearly, the prelimimary decision to extend credit to Ecopetrol adversely impacts human rights and the environment and should be overturned as a result. A movement to halt this extension of credit on these grounds would be a worthy effort for the U.S. peace and solidarity groups. Similarly, there is still a chance to impede the U.S.’s decision to access 7 new military bases in Colombia. With the Administration reeling from the election results in Massachusetts last week, now is the time to try to shame it into reversing course on its predictably devastating policy in Colombia and the rest of Latin America.

Daniel Kovalik is a labor and human rights lawyer working in Pittsburgh, Pa.

STOP THE HARASSMENT OF POLITICAL PRISONERS & THEIR SUPPORTERS. SILENCE IS NOT AN ALTERNATIVE

Dear friends:

For your information, we have become aware of an incident involving our friend Kevin Neish, a Canadian human rights observer who is currently in Colombia visiting some political prisoners and observing the trial of Liliany Obando. Her public hearing scheduled for 18/19 & 27^th January was cancelled because the “Fiscalia” (Prosecution) failed to provide a copy of the prosecution evidence against Liliany to her defense team. The case was adjourned until 15/16^th February.

Kevin has been visiting the “El Buen Pastor Women’s prison patio 6” since September 2009 on at least six occasions without any incident. However on Saturday the 23rd of January he was asked to produce a document showing his fingerprint with the argument that his Canadian passport was not sufficient to allow a visit.

He complained that this was an abuse against the right of the prisoner to receive visitors as the rules were concocted preventing him from having access to Patio 6. Patio 6 is the prison’s yard where the political prisoners are held.

A plain clothed official spoke to him advising he could see a prisoner but in the interview room. The usual custom of prison visits is inside the yard on a normal visiting day. This mode of visitation allows the prisoners some sense of dignity and freedom, as they are able to share their lives and community with their visitors.  The new requirements implemented that day without warning now stand and are applicable to all future International visitors who must have this additional document showing the right thumb fingerprint. Kevin was allowed to visit again on Saturday 30^th January after he produced the newly required document.

We denounce that rules can be changed arbitrarily to obstruct and disrupt visitation rights, a basic human right of the prisoner.

This is just another act of harassment against political prisoners. These prisoners are often the most likely to receive international visits and when those visits are prevented without proper reason it must be seen as an abuse of power.

This harassment is yet another attempt in a long list to criminalise international solidarity. This list includes the recent questioning of activists in the United States, Canada and Australia, the ongoing ‘hate’ messages sent via email and the Free Liliany Website.

• We demand the end to the harassment of political prisoners and their supporters.
• We condemn the attempts to criminalise international solidarity.
• We call on all supporters and human rights organisations to remain vigilant and demand that the Uribe government end all repression and respect human rights of political prisoners in Colombia.

Free Liliany Obando and all political prisoners. Humanitarian Exchange Now!

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