AMR 23/035/2007- 28 September 2007
Human rights defender Jose Manuel Gomez received an email death threat from an army-backed paramilitary group on 11 September. He is a human rights activist with the national Colombian human rights NGO Comite Permanente por los Derechos Humanos (CPDH), Permanent Human Rights Committee.
The message read : « Terrorists like you deserve Death, don’t think that shielding yourself in an NGO is going to save you, son-of-a-bitch guerrilla. We declare you to be a military target and we will be carrying out our threat. » (Los Terroristas como Usted merecen es la Muerte, no crea que escud·ndose en las ONG de Derechos Humanos se va a salvar HP guerrillero. Lo declaramos objetivo militar, y estaremos cumpliendo). The death threat was signed by the paramilitary group Black Eagles (¡guilas Negras).
Jose Manuel Gomez used to work for the CPDH branch in the city of Barranquilla (Atlantico Department), but was forced to leave the city by paramilitary death threats in 2006. In March 2005, a man approached Jose Manuel Gomez who said he was a member of the Anti-Kidnapping United Action Groups, Grupos de AcciÛn Unificada por la Libertad Personal (GAULA), a joint security force unit which in the Atl·ntico Department is attached to the army’s II Brigade. This man reportedly asked him to provide information and showed him a list of human rights activists in the city of Barranquilla. Jose Manuel Gomez refused to cooperate.
On 12 January 2006, a man who had refused to give false information to the GAULA against Jose Manuel and other human rights workers in Barranquilla survived an attempt kill him which left two acquaintances shot dead. On 19 July 2006, Jose Manuel Gomez received email death threats from paramilitaries. His name was found on a death list of human rights activists on a computer in the possession of a paramilitary leader belonging to the Northern Bloc, Bloque Norte, of the supposedly demobilized United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia, Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) in March 2006. He subsequently left the city.
RECOMMENDED ACTION : Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Spanish or your own language :
urging the authorities to protect JosÈ Manuel GÛmez, his family and other members of the ComitÈ Permanente por los Derechos Humanos (CPDH), in accordance with their wishes ;
calling on them to order full and impartial investigations into the death threats against Jose Manuel Gomez, to publish the results and bring all those responsible to justice ;
calling on the authorities to take decisive action to confront and dismantle paramilitary groups operating in the region and to break their links with the security forces, in line with repeated UN recommendations.
calling on the authorities to produce policy and plans, in conjunction with human rights defenders, to guarantee their safety according to the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights and Responsibilities of Individuals, Groups and Institutions to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and to make these plans public.
APPEALS TO :
President of the Republic Senor Presidente Alvaro Uribe Velez Presidente de la Republica, Palacio de Narino, Carrera 8 No.7-2, Bogota, Colombia Fax : +57 1 337 5890 +57 1 342 0592 Salutation : Dear President Uribe/Excmo. Sr. Presidente Uribe
Vice-president of the Republic Dr. Francisco Santos Calderon Vicepresidencia, Carrera 8A No 7-27, Bogota, Colombia Fax : +57 1 565 7682 Salutation : Dear Vice-president Santos/Estimado Sr. Vicepresidente Santos
Attorney General Dr. Mario German Iguaran Arana Fiscal General de la Nacion, Fiscalia General de la Nacion Diagonal 22B (Av. Luis Carlos Gal·n No. 52-01) Bloque C, Piso 4 Bogota, Colombia Fax : + 57 1 570 2000 (a message in Spanish will ask you to enter extension 2017) Salutation : Estimado Sr. Fiscal/Dear Mr Iguaran
COPIES TO :
Non-governmental human rights organization Comite Permanente por la Defensa de los DH (CPDH) Carrera 6 # 12 - 21 piso 2 Bogota
Ambassade de la République de Colombie Avenue F.D.Roosevelt 96A 1050 Bruxelles Fax : 02.646.54.91 Email : colombia emcolbru.be
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 9 November 2007.
