CPTnet
7 November 2007
COLOMBIA URGENT ACTION: Ask Colombian government to investigate threats
against CPT partners in Barrancabermeja
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) asks for your help in demanding a full
investigation into the threats made against Yolanda Becerra Vega and
Jackeline Rojas, members of the leadership team of the Popular Women's
Organization (OFP Organización Femenina Popular). The Popular Women's
Organization is one of CPT's most important partners in Barrancabermeja.
On 4 November 2007, at approximately 7:30 a.m., two armed, masked men
entered Yolanda Becerra Vega's apartment in the city of Barrancabermeja.
Several minutes earlier, two women from the OFP had left Yolanda's home, so
when the armed men knocked on the door she thought that the women had
returned and opened the door. The men pushed open the door, pinning Yolanda
against a wall. One of the men pointed his gun at her, called her an obscene
name, and told her "Time is up. You have 48 hours to leave or else we will
finish off your family and you will not escape us."
During the next fifteen minutes, the two men ransacked Becerra's residence,
destroying many items. As they left, they were going to take her computer
but in the end left it in the entrance of the house. The guards at the
front gate of the residential complex declared that they had not seen the
two armed men enter the area. [see pictures:
<http://www.cpt.org/gallery/album225>]
That same morning, Jackeline Rojas Castañeda found that someone had jammed
a foreign object in the lock of her third-floor apartment, preventing those
inside from opening the door, and that the security gate on the second floor
had been opened by unauthorized persons.
Before these incidents, OFP had sent a document to the national
government--with a copy to the different government authorities and to the
international community--detailing incidents that put Yolanda Becerra others
of the OFP at risk. The OFP demanded immediate action from the Colombian
government. These new events illustrate the gravity of the danger that
Yolanda Becerra, her family, and the entire team of the OFP are facing
Please write (Sample letter bellow) or call the different offices listed
below, demanding:
1. Protection for Yolanda Becerra Vega, the members of her family and all
the members of the Organización Femenina Popular including Jackeline
Rojas.
2. An investigation into the above mentioned events leading to the
prosecution of those involved. (One of these events includes the kidnapping
of Katherine Gonzalez Torres, sister of an OFP member. See 15 March 2007
CPTnet release, "COLOMBIA URGENT ACTION: Call for full investigation into
kidnapping of Katherine Gonzalez Torres.")
Addresses: Álvaro Uribe Velez, President of the Republic, Cra. 8 # 7-26,
Palacio de Narino, Santa Fe de Bogotá, Fax: 011-57-1-566-2071, E-mail:
auribe@presidencia.gov.co
* Sr. Francisco Santos, Vice President of the Republic, Tels:
011-57-1-334-4507, 011-57-1- 772-0130, E-mail: fsantos@presidencia.gov.co;
buzon1@presidencia.gov.co
* Human Rights Program of the Vice Presidency:
ppdh@presidencia.gov.co
* Dr. Volmar Antonio Perez Ortiz, Office of the National Human
Rights Ombudsman, Calle 55 # 10-32, Bogotá, Fax: 011-57.1.640.04.91,
E-mail: secretaria_privada@hotmail.com; agenda@agenda.gov.co
* Doctor Mario Hernán Iguaran Arana, Attorney General,
Diagonal
22-B # 52-01, Bogotá, Fax: 011-57-1-570-2000; 011-57-1-414-9000,
Extensión:1113, E-mail: contacto@fiscalia.gov.co;enuncie@fiscalia.gov.co
* Dr. Edgardo Jose Maya Villazon, Prosecutor General, Cra. 5#,
15-80, Bogotá, Tel: 011-57-1-284-7949, Fax:011-57-1-342-9723, E-mail:
cap@procuraduria.gov.co; quejas@procuraduria.gov.co;
webmaster@procuraduria.gov.co;reygon@procuraduria.gov.co;
anticorrupcion@presidencia.gov.co
* Dr. Juan Manuel Santos Calderon, Minister of Defense, Avenida
El Dorado con Cra. 52 CAN, Bogotá, Fax: 011-57-1-222-1874, E-mail :
siden@mindefensa.gov.co; infprotocol@mindefensa.gov.co; mdn@cable.net.co
* Dr. Carlos Franco, Director of the Presidential Programe for
Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, Calle 7 N° 5-54 Bogotá,
D.C., Fax: 011-57-1-337-4667, E-mail: cefranco@presidencia.gov.co
* Dr. Carlos Holguin Sardi, Minister of Internal affairs and
Justice, Avenida El dorado con carrera 52 CAN Bogotá D.C., Fax:
011-57-1-222-1874, E-mail ministro@minjusticia.gov.co
Please send copies of your messages to: Popular Women's Organization
(Organización Femenina Popular) E-Mail: femenina@colnodo.apc.org
telephones:
011-577-622-6625
Sample letter in Spanish: Respetado Dr. ______________: Reciba un saludo
cordial de ____(your name)____ de ___(your state or province and country)___
Escribo a usted con una gran preocupación por la situación de YOLANDA
BECERRA VEGA, quien recibió amenazas en Barrancabermeja el 4 de noviembre
de
2007. A través de mi apoyo a los Equipos Cristianos de Acción por la
Paz, conozco algo del trabajo de la Organización Femenina Popular, y me
preocupa la situación de seguridad de las mujeres de la OFP y de sus
familias.
Por este motivo le pedimos que haga todo lo posible para hallar a KATHERINE
GONZALEZ TORRES sin ningún daño a su integridad.
Muchas gracias por la atención prestada,
___(your name)____
_______________
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Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) seeks to enlist the whole church in
organized, nonviolent alternatives to war and places teams of trained
peacemakers in regions of lethal conflict. Originally a violence-reduction
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