96. Dr. Jesus Valle Jaramillo, a renowned human rights lawyer, was shot dead in February 1998 by unidentified gunmen in his office in Medellin after denouncing links between members of the Colombian military and paramilitary organizations. He was the president of the Antioquia Permanent Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, and the fourth president of that organization to be killed. He was also a university professor and a Conservative Party local councillor.
97. Jairo Bedoya Hoyos, treasurer of the Indigenous Organization of Antioquia (OIA) and former members of the Patriotic Union (UP) political party and of Parliament in 1992-1993, disappeared on 2 March 2000 in the department of Antioquia. Those responsible are reportedly
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members of paramilitary groups allied with security forces. The victim had participated in a campaign calling for the respect of the cultural rights and for the safety of Embera indigenous people.
98. Marleny Rincon and Ana Julia Arias de Rodriguez, members of the National Association of Peasants and Indigenous Women of Colombia (ANMUCIC), and Marta Cecilia Hernandez, leader of ANMUCIC Zulia, department of North Santander, were killed, allegedly by paramilitary forces, on 21 July 2000, 19 August 2000 and 26 January 2001, respectively. Marleny Rincon, president of the association in the department of Meta, as well as Julia Arias de Rodriguez, treasurer of ANMUCIC and a member of the UP political party, have been accused of being guerrilla members. Marta Cecilia Hernandez's murder is allegedly due to her refusal to withdraw her candidature for the municipal elections.
99. Orlando Moncada, spokesman and member of the board of the Peasants Association of Valle del Rio Cimitarra, department of Santander, was killed on 1 September 2000 while standing near a road block set up by the AUC on the road between Puerto de Barrancabermeja and El Tigre.
100. Fernando Cruz Peda, a human rights lawyer and member of the Association of Democratic Jurists of Colombia, continues disappeared in Cali. On 10 December 2000, three unidentified persons in plain clothes took him away to the Attorney-General's Office on the pretext of checking his professional card. Although numerous complaints have been lodged with various national authorities, the case has reportedly not been investigated so far.
101. Pepe Zabala and Angela Andrade, members of the Multi-Ethnic People's Movement of the Narino Pacific Coast campaigning for the rights of the various ethnic minority groups in the department of Narino, were killed on 6 August 2001 in the Aguaclara district of the municipality of Tumaco. According to the information received, paramilitaries began threatening to kill members of this NGO in September 2000. The Movement had appealed to the Ministry of the Interior for protection because of the death threats. The Ministry had provided mobile telephones for members to inform the authorities if they were attacked.
102. Yolanda Ceron, a nun and director of the human rights team of the Catholic church organization Pastoral Social in Tumaco, Narizo department, was reportedly shot several times on 19 September 2001 by unidentified gunmen as she walked across a park in Tumaco. She was taken to the local hospital, where she died moments later. Ms. Ceron had worked for many years with Pastoral Social to denounce human rights violations in Narizo department and in support of the victims and their families. She had recently reported that unidentified men had followed her
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and that the offices of Pastoral Social were under permanent surveillance. Some time before, she had also been called to the Attorney-General's Office in Tumaco to ratify the denunciations she had made some months before of several cases of human rights violations.
Internally displaced persons
103. On 3 September 2000, Cesar Molina, director of the Corporation para la Education y Autogestion Ciudadana (CEAC), a human rights NGO in Barranquilla, department of Atlantico was reportedly intercepted by two armed men who threatened to kill him if he did not discontinue his work with internally displaced persons and students in the University of Atlantica. The two men also mentioned Luis Felipe Flores, director of another human rights NGO, Fundacion para el Estudio de las Ciencias Sociales (FUNPECIS). The facts of the case suggest that the perpetrators are members of an organized group of contract killers who may have paramilitary links. As a result of the threat, both individuals have been forced to abandon their human rights work in Barranquilla and have been displaced in other cities in Colombia.
104. Armando Achito, an Embera indigenous leader from the municipality of Jurado, department of Choco, was killed on 25 December 2000 by armed men, allegedly members of paramilitary groups, in his own house in Jurado. Mr. Armando Achito had taken part in several procedures claiming land, food and health for those communities. After the massacre of three indigenous persons by alleged paramilitaries, he had been displaced to Jurado on 8 August 1999. Apparently the local authorities had suggested that he move to Bahia Solano, so that he could be provided with the necessary protection. However, this removal did not, reportedly, prevent him being killed.
105. Pedro Varon, teacher and Fiscal of the executive board of the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores workers (CUT), department of Tolima, has reportedly been subjected to acts of pursuit and threats against his life, allegedly committed by paramilitaries, which, according to the information received, forced him in April 2001 to flee the region, to give up his union work and to leave his family.
106. Evert Encizo, a teacher and director of the "La Reliquia" school and leader of the displaced people in the settlement of the same name in the town of Villavicencio, was killed
on 19 August 2001 by two strongly armed men who entered his house and shot him. In this incident, two other people, Mrs. Marleny Coronado Gomez, deputy president of the "Junta de Action Comunal" of this settlement, and a child, were reportedly injured.
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107. According to the information received, Marino Cordoba, President of the Association of Displaced Afro-Colombians, (ASFRODES), received threatening phone calls, allegedly from paramilitaries, at the headquarters of the organization in March 2001. ASFRODES deals mainly with the defence of the rights of Afro-Colombians and displaced people. Previously, Mr. Cordoba had reportedly been the victim of attempts on his life in 2000 and had received several death threats since he moved in January 1997 from the department of Choco to Bogota.
Trade unionists
108. In the period January-October 2001, 112 trade unionists were assassinated,
and 65 disappeared/were abducted, a significant increase in repressive action against trade unionists considered as military targets. Moreover, 23 trade unionists were the victims of aggression during the same period. Members of paramilitary groups have been accused of being responsible for most of these violent deaths.
109. Geraldo Gonzalez, Secretary for Agrarian and Indigenous Affairs of the Central Unitaria de Trabaj adores (CUT), also president of the small farmers' trade union in Cundinamarca, was reportedly constantly subjected to threats against his life during 1999 and 2000. For instance, his name was included in a document given to the CUT, which announced a plan of extermination of trade union leaders. His family has also been seriously affected.
110. On 19 September 2000, two unknown armed strangers reportedly fired several shots at Ricardo Herrera, Secretary-General of the trade union SINTRAEMCALI and Omar de Jesus Noguera, a trade union employee, on their arrival at Mr. Herrera's home in the Junin neighbourhood of Cali, Valle de Cauca. Mr. Noguera, who was wounded during the attack, died on 23 September 2000. He had spoken out against corruption and participated as a trade union member in mobilization activities against the privatization of EMCALI. The chairman of SINTRAEMCALI, Mr. Alexander Lopez Amaya, was forced to leave the country in September 2000 after receiving repeated death threats and after being chased by hired assassins.
111. Wilson Borja, president of the National Federation of State Workers (FENALTRASE) and a peace activist, was reportedly the victim of an armed attack on 15 December 2000. It was reported that he had previously lodged a complaint with the Regional Attorney of Bogota concerning the death threats he had been receiving by telephone and in letters. Mr. Borja is also member of the Civil Society Negotiation Commission, whose aim is to help create a free zone in the Bolivar and Antioquia regions in order to begin peace talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN).
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112. Orlando Ospina Loaiza and Carlos Alberto Florez, vice-president and secretary-general of the Trade Union of Public Service Workers and Employees (SINTRAEMSDES) in Pereira reportedly received a condolence card, on 12 February 2001 sent by the AUC.
113. Jaime Alberto Duque Castro, president of the trade union of workers of Cementos El Cairo (SUTIMAC), was allegedly detained on 24 March 2001 by AUC paramilitaries. He was released without injuries on 5 April 2001.
114. Gustavo Soler Mora, president of the workers of the multinational Drummond company and president of the national Mining and Energy Trade Union (SINTRAMINERGETICA), was found dead on 7 October 2001 in Rincon Hondo, in the municipality of Chiriguana. The day before, he was reportedly forced by armed men to get off the bus in which he was travelling from Valledupar to Chiriguana to get into a minibus.
Communications received
115. In a letter dated 16 March 2001 the Government of Colombia replied to the communication of 13 February 2001 relating to alleged acts committed by a self-defence group against the Women's Popular Organization (OFP) in Barrancabermeja. The Government asserted that a preliminary inquiry was made on the day of the events, but an official order for an investigation had still not been given. The Social Solidarity Network set up by the Office of the President of the Republic had organized a system of care for displaced persons, in which the specific case of that organization was included. The Government added that investigations had also begun into the threats against Mrs. Flor Maria Canas and other members of the organization, but they were still at the stage of gathering evidence.
116. In a letter dated 20 March 2001, the Government provided information on official communication No. 1247/DAS.D of 6 March 2001, by which the Director of the Administrative Department for National Security reported that the necessary steps had been taken to neutralize and prevent any action by outlawed groups against the civilian population.
117. In letters dated 10 April and 28 May 2001, the Government of Colombia replied to the Special Representative's communication of 6 February 2001. The Government stated that a preliminary inquiry into Mrs. Olga Liliana Velez's complaint alleging death threats against herself, her husband, Oscar Rodas Villegas, and her family had begun. As a result, several pieces of evidence had been examined and an investigation had been initiated to determine who had committed the offences in question. However, it had not yet been possible to reach any conclusion. The Government reported on 28 May 2001 that the Public Prosecutor's Office,
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Criminal Courts Division 99 had ordered an investigation into the alleged death threats against Oscar Rodas Villegas and Olga Liliana Velez and that they were still examining the evidence and establishing the identity of the culprits.
118. In letters dated 10 April, 22 May and 5 October 2001 the Government of Colombia replied to the Special Representative's communication of 9 March 2001 regarding the Women's Popular Organization (OFP). Yolanda Becerra's statement about the threats against Flor Maria Canas indicated that she had not received any more such threats. In its letter dated 22 May 2001, the Government stated that Mrs. Yolanda Becerra, chairperson of the OFP, had rejected the protection offered to her as being against the principles of her organization. In its letter of 5 October 2001, the Government reported that the Attorney-General's Office had taken several steps, such as devising a protection and prevention strategy, and appointing two human rights consultants, as soon as it learnt of the violence against OFP members and of the pressures on them, and was beginning a preliminary investigation of members of the Public Prosecutor's Office headquartered in Barrancabermeja for having released the person who had allegedly threatened a legal representative of OFP in the name of the AUC. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, for its part, was investigating the same events and
on 26 May 2000 had ordered precautionary measures for several OFP members at their head office in Barrancabermeja. The Government said that several investigations were being conducted by the Public Prosecutor's Office. On 2 August 2001, the Sub-Commission on Protection and Security held a meeting to decide what had to be done to ensure that the meeting on the International Mobilization of Women, from 14 to 17 August 2001, could proceed normally. Yolanda Becerra, the legal representative of OFP, said that, according to an intelligence report apparently received by the Fifth National Army Brigade, paramilitary groups once again intended to assassinate her, because they considered it an affront that, far from leaving the Magdalena Medio area, she had opened a new OFP office in Bogota. The Attorney-General's Office was supporting OFP in connection with the International Mobilization of Women meeting by maintaining constant communication with members of the security forces during the event in order to counter attempts by suspected AUC members to hinder the proceedings.
119. In a letter dated 14 June 2001, the Government of Colombia replied to the Special Representative's communication of 2 April 2001, providing information about alleged death threats against Mr. Alirio Uribe Munoz, president of the Jose Alvear Restrepo Lawyers' Association and vice-president of the International Human Rights Federation, and said that investigations were being carried out to clarify the facts and to identify the guilty parties.
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120. In a letter dated 27 June 2001, the Government replied to the communication
of 22 February 2001 and provided information on the alleged death threats against Omar Vera Luna, Andres Aldana and Angel Miguel Solano. It transmitted a report by the Santander National Police in which it was mentioned that Father Francisco de Roux together with other bishops and a lady had appeared at the police station stating that members of the Self-Defence Group had gone to the home of Mr. Omar Vera Luna to force him under threat to sign a commitment. He and his family were then forced to accompany them forthwith to the demonstrations against the pull-back zone at the place known as Y in Barrancabermeja. It was for that reason, that it had been decided to remove Mr. Vera Luna from the crowd of protesters and take him back home. However, the threats from the Self-Defence Group had continued and constant vigilance was required on the part of the Navy. Moreover, Mr. Angel Miguel Solano reported to the authorities that he had been forced by the community to attend the demonstrations, though not under threat. The Government would communicate the results of the relevant investigations.
121. In a letter dated 27 June 2001, the Government replied to the communication
of 11 June 2001, providing information about the alleged disappearance of the leader and spokesman of the Embera Katio community, Mr. Kimi Dominico. The Government asserted that on 5 June the Second Specialized Prosecutor's Office in Monteria had opened an investigation into the alleged aggravated kidnapping for ransom and other crimes against the above-mentioned person, who had reportedly been kidnapped by three individuals on two motorcycles. In addition, an order had been given to raid and search the "el Cairo" estate. It was executed on 5 June 2001, but without result. The Government would report on the results of the investigations.
122. In a letter dated 28 June 2001, the Government replied to the communication
of 15 June 2001 and reported that the Public Prosecutor's Office had initiated preliminary investigations into the alleged death threats against Mrs. Astrid Manrique Carvajal and her family. It also pointed out that the alleged victim had submitted a complaint to the Rapid Reaction Unit (URI) about "acts that she felt were attacks on her personal integrity". The same complaint had been submitted to the Military Court of Criminal Investigation. An investigation was also being carried out concerning damage to the property of others.
123. In a letter dated 2 July 2001, the Government of Colombia replied to the communication of 15 June 2001. In regard to the alleged death threats against Mrs. Islena Ruiz, a member of the Meta Civic Committee for Human Rights, and the murder of the brothers Humberto and Gonzalo Zarate Triana and of Dr. Josue Giraldo Cardona, it asserted that the General Directorate of Human Rights in the Ministry of the Interior and the Administrative Department for National