Tens of thousands of Colombians marched on March 6 in Bogota and many other cities to stand with the victims of right-wing paramilitary violence and to protest violence by all armed groups. Solidarity events occurred in New York, Washington, and San Francisco.

Now, in the wake of accusations by a presidential advisor that the activists in Colombia who helped organize these peaceful marches are guerrillas, they are being targeted with paramilitary threats, kidnappings, and even killings.

Lethal attacks on Colombian labor activists also continue. On March 4 in Washington, President Bush called on Congress to approve the Free Trade Agreement with Colombia, although Colombia is the most dangerous nation in the world to be a trade unionist. As if in response, in the four days following his statement, four labor leaders in Colombia were murdered.

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February 11, 2008

Dear Colombia Advocates:

Three young adults named Hortensia, Manuel and William were out one night celebrating Three King's day in the department of Cauca, in southwestern Colombia. After hanging out in a neighboring town, they were on their way home at 3am in the morning, traveling by motorcycle. For unknown reasons (whether on purpose or by accident) the military shot at them and killed Hortensia and Manuel, making the motorcycle crash and break William's leg. William managed to crawl back down to the community and let them know what had happened.

On January 29th, 2008 the Berkeley City Council passed a resolution calling for an end to military funding of the Colombian Army as part of the “drug war,” and re-direction of money to domestic drug treatment efforts.

The city government urged Congresswoman Barbara Lee to “step up her leadership to terminate all military assistance to the Colombian Army, and to re-direct these funds” to “substance abuse prevention, harm reduction, and treatment programs.”

The city’s Peace & Justice Commission submitted the resolution, and supporters include the local treatment center Options Recovery, the peace group Fellowship of Reconciliation, and local Colombian activists.

September, 2007
Your Calls Needed

Call your representative today! Ask them to support House Resolution 618, which brings attention to the situation of Afro-Colombians and calls on the U.S. to actively consult with these communities.

Three out of every four Afro-Colombians live in extreme poverty. Only two percent are able to attend college. Their life expectancy is two decades shorter than non-blacks in Colombia. An estimated 1.5 million Afro-Colombians have been internally displaced by political violence. Meanwhile, aerial spraying is destroying many of the food crops traditionally grown by Afro-Colombians, leading to further displacement and insecurity.

Paramilitary gunmen killed Dairo Torres, a leader of the San José de Apartadó Peace Community, on Friday, July 13, shortly after 12 noon, according to the community. Torres was a passenger on one of the jeeps that serve as the only public transport between the city of Apartadó and San José, when it was intercepted by two paramilitaries – the same men who detained the jeep the previous day and made threats against the Peace Community. The community said that gunmen told Torres to get off the jeep, which he did; they told the driver to continue, and then they killed Torres on the spot.

Action Alert: International Human Rights Group Records Stolen in Colombia

Read a letter from several US Congress members to Uribe, denouncing the robbery.

The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) denounces what appears to be a politically motivated attack on its offices on June 2 in Bogotá, Colombia.

According to people who live in the same building as FOR, unknown persons forcibly entered the FOR house/office in Bogotá between 6 pm and 7 pm on June 2, breaking the lock and part of the door. The individuals stole the FOR’s two central computers that contain the organization’s records, including information on the accompaniment of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó. This community has been the target of attacks by the all the armed groups and is covered by protective measures from the Inter-American Court for Human Rights.

José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective
Bogotá, Colombia
May 9, 2007

Take action by opposing the Colombia-U.S. Free Trade Agreement

“When this presidential administration began, there were years in Colombia in which 126, 168, or even 200 members of workers organizations were murdered in a year. We have yet to reach zero, as we would like to say to the world, however this year one worker belonging to INPEC [National Penitentiary and Prison Institute] was murdered. By all accounts, his murder was not related to his union activity.”