From 6-24 November 2009, a letter calling for change in U.S. policy towards Colombia will be circulating through the House of Representatives.  The CPT Colombia team asks that members of its U.S. constituency take action to protect human rights in Colombia by contacting their representatives to support the letter before it is sent to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  The letter needs the support of at least seventy members of Congress to be effective.

Click here to find out how you can ask your representative to sign the letter 

The letter to Secretary Clinton makes a strong case for why the U.S. must change its policy toward Colombia immediately.  It describes the Colombian government's failure to protect human rights, raising issues like the killing of civilians by the army, the persecution of human rights advocates, and the humanitarian crisis of over four million people who have been forcibly displaced from their homes.  It demands a cut in military aid and an increase in support for victims and those who are working for peace and justice in Colombia.  It also calls for an end to harmful and ineffective aerial fumigations, and for investing instead in drug treatment in the United States.  Click here to read the full letter. 

Click here to contact your representative today. 

An opportunity like this to influence U.S. policy toward Colombia will not happen again for a long time.  CPT Colombia encourages its constituents to forward this Urgent Action to as many people as possible.