CPTnet
August 12, 2002
COLOMBIA: CPT learns of alleged paramilitary plan to kill team member

Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) has recently learned that members of an
illegal right-wing organization, commonly known as "the paramilitary" may
have a plan to kill a member of the Christian Peacemaker team in
Barrancabermeja, Colombia.

Through a reliable source, CPT members learned late last week that the
paramilitary group has been unhappy with public statements that CPT has made
concerning the actions of the paramilitary in this area and is considering
killing a CPT volunteer in response. CPT has denounced violence and human
rights abuses committed by all armed actors operating in this area
(including the paramilitaries, the guerrillas and the Colombian armed
forces.)

The possibility of violence being directed against a member of CPT is
discussed here in a spirit of prayer and and with a commitment to the gospel
of life for all Colombian people. Team members pray for those who make such
threats and are sharing information about this matter with churches around
the world, with US and Canadian embassies, and other relevant organizations
and
government bodies.

The team in Barrancabermeja expects to carry on its work with more than
average precaution in the near future, but it has no plans to evacuate.
CPT's primary focus will continue to be accompaniment of the civilian
families in the Opon Township and in the Cimitarra Valley who live in
constant danger because of the cycle of violence that grips Colombia.

"We will continue to ask all armed actors to lay down their weapons and
enter into the creative effort of searching for nonviolent solutions to
their problems," CPTer Lisa Martens said, as she left to accompany the
rural population outside this Colombian city.

At this time, the team has issued "A Statement of Conviction" to explain the
framework for our presence here in Colombia (See separate release.) We are
also asking for people to find creative ways to denounce the violence of the
paramilitary and all armed actors here in Colombia, violence that is
generally directed at the most vulnerable. See below.

ACTION TO SUPPORT THE COLOMBIA TEAM

In recent weeks, armed conflict involving legal and illegal armed groups in
the area around Barrancabermeja has caused new displacements of civilians.
Today, President Alvaro Uribe declared a national State of Emergency
following violence that has left 100 dead throughout the country since
Uribe's
inauguration last Wednesday. The Colombian churches and the CPT team need
the unity of prayer and action from the entire Christian community around
the world.

The inauguration of a new President has initiated a very deliberate moment
of testing. People working to live out the gospel in Colombia deserve the
best that their sisters and brothers around the world have to offer.

CPT calls for actions to draw attention to and reduce violence against
national and international civilians in the Barrancabermeja area. Actions
may include prayers, phone calls and letters to officials, as well as public
witness actions.

We believe it is important to remind the Colombian government that it is
their role to make sure that nationals and internationals do not become
victims of violence perpetrated by illegal armed groups. Actions done
collectively by church communities are especially encouraged.

Action recommendations:
Phone or write one or more of the contacts below, and urge that nonviolent
measures be taken to make life safer for the civilian population in the Opon
township and the Cimitarra Valley in Colombia's Magdalena Medio region, and
for internationals working in these areas.

U.S. congressional representatives should also be urged to close of the U.S.
Army School of the Americas (now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for
Security Cooperation, or WHISC), the school where many Colombian soldiers
have been trained in methods that continue to harm the Colombian civilian
population.

Contact your country's embassy in Colombia and ask what they are doing to
call on the Colombian government to protect nationals and internationals in
the area of Barrancabermeja.

Gather together with other concerned people in some public place (in front
of the Colombian consulate or embassy or some other symbolic place) for a
time of prayer. Read the CPT team's statement of conviction. Invite the
local media.
Join an upcoming CPT delegation to Colombia (the next delegations are
October 4-16, 2002, Feb. 15-27 2003) and occasional special or emergency
delegations.

Make the crisis in Colombia a matter of public prayer in your community of
worship.

Contact information:

Canadian Parliament: Look for parliamentarian's contact information at
:http://www.parl.gc.ca

Prime Minister: pm@pm.gc.ca

Canadian Embassy in Bogota: Tel. 011-57-1-657-9800 Fax 011-57-1-657-9910

U.S. Congress: Tel. 202-224-3121 (ask for your Representative or Senator by
name)

House member contact information http://www.house.gov/writerep

Senate contact information
http://www.senate.gov
http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm

President: president@whitehouse.gov

U.S. Embassy in Bogota/Ambassador Ann Patterson: Tel. 011-57-1-315-0811; Fax
011-57-1-315-2163

Colombian Consulates in the U.S.
http://www.colostate.edu/Orgs/LASO/LASO/embassies.htm#Colombia

Colonel Orlando Tineda, National Police Commander in Barrancabermeja:
011-57-7-622-3828

Mayor Julio Cesar Ardila Torres, Barrancabermeja City Hall:
011-57-7-621-4809

President of Colombia: Alvaro Uribe, Palace de Marino, Cabrera 8 No. 7-26
Sendoff de Bogota, Colombia

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