CPTnet
July 15, 2002
SASKATOON, SK: Burn the Death Lists
by Doug Pritchard

On July 5, fifty people attending the Mennonite Church Canada Annual
Assembly in Saskatoon walked one kilometre from the assembly site to the
Market Mall and gathered to pray for an end to the violence in Colombia.
Then they burned sample "death lists" commonly used for targeting
Colombians for assassination and they raised up a "life list" while praying
for protection for all the persons named on these lists.

Recently arrived refugees from Colombia, Dario Hernandez, Adriana Ramirez,
and their children Angie and Erika, spoke at the vigil. Hernandez said
through a translator, "Armed men killed my father. Then they wanted me.
They threatened me. We had to move around a lot to escape them. We are very
grateful that we could come to Canada."

Vigilers delivered a petition with 150 signatures gathered at the
Mennonite assembly to the Market Mall office of the local Member of
Parliament, Lynne Yelich. In November 2001, while attending hearings on
Colombia held by the Parliamentary Subcommittee on Human Rights, Yelich
said, "I am appalled at what I am hearing. I did not know this was even
going on in Colombia."

The petition urges Members of Parliament to call for: (1) an end to the
Colombian government's support for paramilitary groups as it responds to
guerilla violence; (2) strict controls on Canadian companies investing in
Colombia; and, (3) an increase in the number of Colombia refugees sponsored
by Canada.

Yelich was unable to meet the vigilers in person but promised to submit
the petitions to Parliament and wrote a letter saying, "...thank you once
again for the altruistic work that you do in fighting the profound
injustices that so many Colombian citizens are inhumanely subjected to."