President Juan Manuel Santos
President of the Republic of Colombia
Eduardo Montealegre
Attorney General of Colombia
Dear Sirs:
We are deeply concerned for the safety of AndreaTorres Bautista, Jhon Alexander Holguίn Ramirez, and Jacqueline Ramirez. All have connections to the La Combinada case (cf our letter of June 2).
On June 20, Jhon Alexander Holguίn Ramirez was stabbed with a knife and had to be taken to the hospital in Tuluá Municipality in Casanare Department. He is the son of James Holguin, who together with four other men, was forcibly disappeared by paramilitaries on August 16, 2003. Jhon Alexander’s mother, Jacqueline Ramirez, a witness to the forced disappearances, has received repeated death threats in the context of ongoing court proceedings.
On June 24, Andrea Torres Bautista, a lawyer for the human rights organization Fundación Nydia Erika Gautista (FNEB), which represents relatives of victims of enforced disappearances, received a threatening phone call from a man who said “[…] didn’t you understand that you should stop annoying us, we are going to kill you, but first we will rape you so that you respect men.” Andrea Torres Bautista is the lawyer for Jhon Alexander Holguίn Ramirez and Jacqueline Ramirez. On June 23 she had phoned the Court in Yopal in Casanare Department, to request that the judge presiding over the La Combinada case recuse himself from this and other enforced disappearance cases. In May, a court in Yopal issued a sentence removing the judge from his post and sentencing him to 66 months in prison for “perverting the course of justice” in a case related to enforced disappearances. Court hearings relating to enforced disappearance cases, which would be presided over by the judge, are scheduled for July.
Because of the continuing threats to those associated with the La Combinada case,we strongly urge that you
- take measures to guarantee the safety of Andrea Torres Bautista, Jhon Alexander Holguίn Ramirez, Jacqueline Ramirez and other relatives and witnesses of the La Combinada case in strict accordance with their wishes and needs;
- order full and impartial investigations into the threats and the attack mentioned above and take all necessary measures to ensure that criminal investigations into enforced disappearance cases are carried out, the results published and those responsible brought to justice;
- recognize the competence of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances to receive and consider communications on this and other cases from or on behalf of victims or other states parties to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
Sincerely,
Brian J. Stefan Szittai Christine Stonebraker-Martínez
Co-Coordinators
