Sr. Pablo Elías González Monguí
Director of the National Unit of Protection
Sr. Fabio Espitia Garzón
Attorney General of Colombia
December 23, 2019
Dear Sirs:
We are quite concerned about the safety of staff and members of the human rights organization dhColombia (Asociación Red de defensores y defensoras de derechos humanos). Since the beginning of November, members of dhColombia have been surveilled by unknown men outside their homes and office. Prior to this, in August a member of dhColombia faced communication espionage, theft of sensitive information, and death threats. dhColombia made a request on October 4 for protection measures from the National Protection Unit (UNP); to our knowledge, they have not received a response.
dhColombia is an advocacy group that responds to urgent situations of individuals and communities who are victims of human rights violations. dhColombia provides legal accompaniment to communities, families, organizations and social movements in cases of land restitution, defense of territory, and criminal sanctions of companies linked to human rights violations. In addition, they provide legal representation in national and international judicial courts. They work to ensure that senior officers of the National Army, the National Police, and other state agents who are linked to human rights violations are held criminally responsible. Some of their high profile cases have included those involving the Movimiento Ríos Vivos Antioquia (MRVA) and the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó in Antioquia.
Because of the continuing threats to the essential work of dhColombia, we strongly urge that you:
- grant dhColombia the protection measures they requested: one vehicle, two persons for personal protection, and a protection barrier for the office headquarters.
Sincerely,
Brian J. Stefan Szittai Christine Stonebraker-Martínez
Co-Coordinators
copies:
Sr. Iván Duque Márquez, Presidente de Colombia ~ via email
Francisco Santos Calderón, Ambassador of Colombia to the US ~ via fax: 202.232.8643 and email
Rebecca Daley, Human Rights Officer, US Embassy in Colombia ~ via email
Christine Russell, Desk Officer for Colombia, US State Dept ~ via email
Francisco José Eguiguren Praeli, Rapporteur for Colombia and Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ~ via email
Amnesty International ~ submitted online
US Senators Brown & Portman ~ via email
US Representatives Beatty, Fudge, Gibbs, Gonzalez, Johnson, Jordan, Joyce, Kaptur, Latta, Ryan ~ via email
11_29_2019_UA143/19_Colombia
The following people hereby urge you to take action on this matter as indicated in this letter:
