Sr. Presidente
Sr. Juan Manuel Santos
President of Colombia
Sr. Fiscal
Sr. Fiscal Eduardo Montealegre
Attorney General of Colombia
Sr. Ministro
Sr. Ministro Juan Fernando Cristo
Minister of the interior
Sr. Ministro
Sr. Ministro Enrique Gil Botero
Minister of Justice
Dear Sirs:
We are outraged at the detention measures against members of Congress of the Peoples and the Southern Bolivar Inter-Dialogue Commission, Center and South of Cesar (CISBCSC) who were detained after coordinated actions by the police on March 21 and 22. During the state crackdown, Colombian authorities arrested and detained at least 12 social movement leaders, including members of FEDEAGROMISBOL (Agro-mining Federation of the South of Bolivar) and the People’s Congress (cf our letter of March 26).
On March 29 a court in Cartagena imposed house arrest on Milena Quiroz Jiménez, spokesperson for CISBCSC, pending the judgement of her case. To prevent her from working, the judge determined that the house arrest must take place outside her community of southern Bolívar.
On March 31, the same judge imposed provisional “intramural detention” pending the judgement of the cases of the other nine members of the community who were arrested on March 21 and 22. They include Isidro Alarcón Bohorquez, a local leader in MicoHumado, and Manuel Francisco Zabaleta, the legal representative of the Association of Miners of Casa de Barro.
The arrest and detention of these social leaders is occurring in the context of the militarization of the urban center of Micohumado, the paramilitarization of the region, and increased threats against local leaders. The Colombian State has previously accused social leaders of being linked to guerrilla groups without concrete evidence.
We are further concerned that the measures imposed against members of the Congress of the Peoples and CISBCSC represent the ongoing stigmatization and criminalization of social leaders in Colombia.
We strongly urge that you
- release these social movement leaders immediately
- refrain from using the judiciary system to hinder the legitimate work of human rights defenders in Colombia
Sincerely,
Brian J. Stefan Szittai and Christine Stonebraker-Martinez
Co-Coordinators
