June 17, 2004

The Honorable Alvaro Uribe Velez
President of Colombia
Palacio de Narino
Carrera 8, No. 7-26
Bogotá, Colombia

Dear President Uribe:

We are representatives of religious, human rights, and civil society organizations writing to express our concern regarding recent statements in which you questioned the legitimacy of the work of international human rights organizations in the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó.

We energetically condemn the bombing of a discotheque on May 22, 2004 in Apartadó, which, as an attack against the civilian population, constitutes a grave breach of International Humanitarian Law. We support your government’s efforts to investigate and prosecute such crimes.

We would like to affirm our support for Peace Brigades International (PBI) and the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) and their valuable work promoting human rights in Colombia. The presence of these organizations has helped to protect the rights of civilians in various communities, including the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó. In San José de Apartadó, the civilian population has endured massacres, forced disappearances and other human rights violations. The vulnerability of this community prompted the Inter-American Court on Human Rights to issue Provisional Measures that compel the Colombian state to protect the community and "the persons who offer services to the community."

However, in your speech at a security meeting in Apartadó on May 27, 2004, you declared that international organizations are obstructing justice: "I want to remind the foreigners in San José de Apartadó that in Colombia there is not, nor can there be, impunity for either Colombians or for foreigners. If you come here, come here to help our communities, not to obstruct justice." You further stated: "I repeat my respectful submission to the DAS [Department of Administrative Security] and the Police, that if these people obstruct justice again they should be put in jail. And if it's necessary to deport them, they should be deported." It is our understanding that the international organizations with a presence in San José—Fellowship of Reconciliation, Navarra Nuevo Futuro and Peace Brigades International—strictly abide by Colombian laws.

Following these statements, in San José de Apartadó on June 2, several agents from DAS accompanied by a large group of soldiers entered the community and presented the volunteers from Peace Brigades International with a written order for a meeting. While the purpose of the meeting was purportedly to conduct an “administrative check,” the two PBI volunteers who attended the meeting at the DAS office were subjected to interrogation-like questioning. They were further told to sign a legal document called a “voluntary deposition” (“version libre”), which is often the first step in a criminal investigation.

PBI subsequently met with the Colombian Vice-President Francisco Santos to ask for a rectification of the May 27th statements as well as to express concern regarding the incidents with the DAS. The Director of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia, Michael Frühling, accompanied PBI in this meeting.

A similar incident occurred in August 21, 2003, when then-Commander of the Colombian Armed Forces, General Jorge Enrique Mora, convened a press conference in which international organizations, including PBI and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), were accused of being tacitly complicit with the activities of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in another community in Urabá. Following these statements, the Colombian Human Rights Ombudsman (Defensoría del Pueblo) found this that accusation “did not correspond to reality and, on the contrary, could put the community at risk.”

Such comments are in direct contravention of Recommendation 32 of the 60th Session of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights: "The Commission reiterates its particular concern regarding the climate of hostility that has been generated regarding the work of human rights defenders, and calls upon the Government of Colombia to take steps to enforce Ministry of Defence Directive 09 of July 2003, whereby public servants are instructed to respect human rights defenders and the work of their organizations. It calls on the Government of Colombia to ensure that no generalized public statements are made which might serve to endanger the rights of people involved in the defence of human rights..."

Given these concerns, we respectfully ask you to make a public declaration in support of international organizations working in the region of Urabá. We would greatly appreciate it if you could ensure that the "carta de aval" (letter of support), which has been granted to Peace Brigades International since it first began its work in Colombia in 1994, be reaffirmed in writing by Vice President Santos. In addition, it would be important for clear directives to be sent to all civilian and military officials in the region of Urabá to support the work of international organizations accompanying the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, and to recognize the important role played by the UNHCR and the Colombian Human Rights Ombudsman. Finally, it is essential that Sentence T 327 of the Constitutional Court issued on April 15, 2004 be applied, which requires the full implementation of the Provisional Measures granted to San José by the Inter-American Court on Human Rights that oblige the state, among other requirements, to "continue allowing participation of the beneficiaries of the provisional measures or their representatives in the planning and implementation of these measures."

Thank you for your attention to this matter, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

U.S. based Organizations:

Atossa Soltani
Executive Director
Amazon Watch

Alexandra Arriaga
Director for Government Relations
Amnesty International-USA

Mary E. Lord
Assistant General Secretary for Peace and Conflict Resolution
American Friends Service Committee

Bishop Thomas J. Gumbelton
Auxiliary Bishop
Archdiocese of Detroit, Michigan

Rev. Jim Lowder
Interim Executive Director
Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America

Sister Janet Korn RSM
Social Justice Awareness Coordinator
Catholic Charities, Diocese of Rochester

Adam Isacson
Director of Programs
Center for International Policy

Gary Cozette
Director
Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America

Daniel de la Pava and Ruth Goring
Co-Directors
Chicagoans for a Peaceful Colombia

Cristina Espinel and Barbara Gerlach
Co-Chairs
Colombia Human Rights Committee

Jack Laun
President
Colombia Support Network

Matthew Wade, S.M.
Associate Director
Conference of Major Superiors of Men

Meaghan Sheehan,
Coordinator
Committee on US/Latin American Relations (CUSLAR)
Cornell University

Janet Chisholm, Chair of the National Executive Council
Jackie Lynn, Executive Director
Episcopal Peace Fellowship

The Very Rev. Richard A. Bower
Executive Director
Fundación Cristosal, San Salvador

Kirsten Moller
Executive Director
Global Exchange

Jeff S. Vogt
Assistant General Counsel
International Labor Rights Fund

Alan Forsberg, Board Chair
Glen Gersmehl, National Coordinator
Lutheran Peace Fellowship

Sarah Ford
Director, Office of Public Policy
Lutheran World Relief

Dale Sorensen
Director
Marin Interfaith Taskforce on the Americas

Marie Dennis
Director
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

Saul Murcia
Co-Director Latin America/Caribbean
Mennonite Central Committee

Blase Bonpane
Director
Office of the Americas

Rev. Elenora Giddings Ivory
Director, Washington Office
Presbyterian Church (USA)

Rick Ufford-Chase
Melissa Schoerke
Len Bjorkman
Co-Chairs
Presbyterian Peace Fellowship

Jacqueline Baker
Legislative Coordinator
School of the Americas Watch

Rev. Ruth Chavez Wallace
Program Associate, Latin America and the Caribbean
United Church of Christ and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada

Daniel Kovalik
Assistant General Counsel
United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO/CLC

Rev. William G. Sinkford
President
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations

Rev. Ann Marie Coleman and Rev. Donald Coleman
Co-Senior Ministers
University Church, Chicago

Neil Jeffery
Executive Director
U.S. Office on Colombia

Ana Maria Murillo
Executive Director
U'wa Defense Project

Kimberly Stanton
Deputy Director
Washington Office on Latin America
Canadian based Organizations:

Alex Neve
Secretary General
Amnesty International Canada

Richard Renshaw
Acting Director
Canadian Catholic Organization for Development
and Peace

Gerry Barr
President-CEO
Canadian Council for International Co-operation

Sharon O'Regan
Deputy Director
Canadian Foundation for the Americas (FOCAL)

Kenneth V. Georgetti
President
Canadian Labour Congress

Deborah Bourque
National President
Canadian Union of Postal Workers

Basil "Buzz" Hargrove
President
CAW-Canada

Viviana Patroni
Director
Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC)

Mary Corkery
Executive Director
KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives

Gail Davidson
Executive Director
Lawyers Rights Watch Canada

Viviane Weitzner
Senior Researcher
The North-South Institute

Nancy Montgomery
President of the Board of Directors
Social Justice Committee

Cc

Dr. Francisco Santos
Vicepresidente de la República De Colombia

Dra. Carolina Barco
Ministra de Asuntos Exteriores

José Herran-Lima
Director
South American Division
Foreign Affairs Canada

Lorne Craner
Assistant Secretary
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
United States Department of State