Excmo. Sr. Presidente
Juan Manuel Santos
President of the Republic of Colombia
Estimado Sr. Ministro
Juan Fernando Cristo
Minister of the Interior of Colombia
Dear Sirs:
We are extremely concerned about recent threats to Danelly Estupiñán and Rocío del Pilar Segura in the La Inmaculada district of Buenaventura, a Pacific coastal seaport in Valle de Cauca Department. Danlley Estupinañán works with the Process of Black Communities (PCN), a network of Afro-descendant communities and organizations across Colombia with local chapters. Rocio del Pilar Segura is a district community leader.
On November 20, Rocío del Pilar Segura was threatened after she took down a street banner which had been hung up the day before on behalf of TCBuen, a container port company. Three young men of the neighborhood came to her house with two people who said they worked for TCBuen. Rocío del Pilar Segura was not home, but a relative heard one of these people tell the young men that they “must make Rocíopay for the street banner.”
On November 22 the PCN and other organizations visited the La Inmaculada district, which borders the TCBuen facilities. People living in the neighborhood have complained that several houses in the area have been damaged by vibrations when the shipping containers are moved. The Afro-descendant community in La Inmaculada has joined PCN in making repeated requests to the government not to allow further development of the port facilities until the community’s right to a meaningful consultation is respected. Despite the presence of security forces, many people living in Buenaventura neighborhoods earmarked for construction of tourist and port infrastructure projects have been killed or subjected to enforced disappearance by paramilitary groups. Human rights defenders in the region have faced repeated death threats.
The afternoon of November 23 Danelly Estupinañán received a death threat via text message on her mobile phone, which appeared to come from a paramilitary. It said: “Danelly, you are very close to the end.” That evening, while she was speaking to a friend on her phone, a voice interrupted the conversation, saying: “We know where you are, we know where you are.”
Because of our concern for the safety of these women andothers associated with the La Inmaculada neighborhood, we strongly urge that you
- take all measures deemed appropriate by Danelly Estupiñán and Rocío del Pilar Segura to guarantee their safety;
- order a full and impartial investigation into the threats against them, publish the results and bring those responsible to justice;
- take decisive action to dismantle paramilitary groups operating in the city and break any links with the security forces.
Sincerely,
Brian J. Stefan-Szittai Christine Stonebraker-Martínez
Co-Coordinators
