30/7/2003 Case COL 290703.VAW Violence Against Women / Disappearance of Woman Human Rights Activist The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Colombia. Brief description of the situation: OMCT has been informed by a reliable source about the presumed forced disappearance of Mrs. Nhora Cecilia Velasquez Cortes, a member of the National Association for Rural, Indigenous and Black Women in Colombia (ANMUCIC), and president of the same organisation in the region of Rionegro (Province of Cundinamarca). According to the information received, Mrs. Nhora Cecilia Velasquez Cortes left on July 21st 2003, at about 2:00 in the afternoon, from the Naranjos property in the rural zone of Sasaima (Cundinamarca). She had an appointment at 3:00 in the afternoon of the same day with her daughter and Mr. Juan Segundo Cabrero with whom she was going to talk about the possible realisation of a training course for the National Learning Service (SENA). Mrs. Nhora Cecilia Velasquez Cortes never arrived at the meeting. Her family reportedly waited for her late into the night, but she did not return and up to this moment they are unaware of her whereabouts. Her relatives have looked in surroundings areas and in the hospitals but have not obtained any information. According to the information received, Mrs. Nhora Cecilia Velasquez Cortes has been a member of ANMUCIC for 14 years working for women in towns and villages in the region of Rionegro, such as Utica, Villa Gomez, Paime, La Pena, Yacopi and Topaipi, among others. Mrs. Nhora Cecilia Velasquez Cortes has offered support to women who have become displaced from the municipality of Viota (Department of Cundinamarca) because of the violence generated by the conflict. In 2002, Mrs. Nhora Cecilia Velasquez Cortes and her family, started to receive threats from the armed groups of the region. Reports indicate that on March 23, 2002, a group of seven armed men, apparently belonging to a paramilitary group, came into the courtyard of a house which was holding a meeting for ANMUCIC, in La Palma, region of Rionegro. They reportedly interrogated the participants over who had granted the authorization for this meeting. On this occasion, one of the men fired a shot in the air which caused many of the women to abandon the place, leaving Mrs. Nhora Cecilia Velasquez Cortes and her daughter alone with the armed men. It has been reported that on this occasion, these men declared that they had: "information that accused the members of ANMUCIC of helping the guerrillas and that they should attend a meeting with 'el Patron'", they got into a van and they were transported to a place that Mrs. Nhora Cecilia Velasquez Cortes identified as Hoya Tudela. "El Patron" arrived at approximately 4:30 in the afternoon and he said that " the villages visited by her (Talanquera, Hortigal, Cambulos, Llano Grande and Naranjal) are guerrilla zones and that the work she does with the women incites the struggle with the guerrillas." Furthermore, the men threatened her saying that they "do not want to see her anymore in the villages, or in the municipality or the region of Rionegro". According to the information received, in all the regions where ANMUCIC has expanded its work (Gualiva, Tequendama, Magdalena Centro y el Guavio), it has become the object of frequent and direct harassment by the paramilitary groups, and occasionally its leaders have had to negotiate with these paramilitary groups in order to go forward with their projects. OMCT recalls that in March 2001, the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights asked the Colombian State to protect the physical and psychological integrity of the members of ANMUCIC. When ANMUCIC began organising the Woman's march in Colombia, that was carried out on July 25th 2002, the situation of threats and harassment reportedly increased. On June 25th 2002, one of the paramilitary groups threatened to kill Mrs. Nhora Cecilia Velasquez Cortes and her family if she did not give up her work. From that moment on they have continued to receive many threats over the phone. It appears that the disappearance of Mrs. Nhora Cecilia Velasquez Cortes is linked to her activities with ANMUCIC given the large number of threats she has received in the past in this regard. OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Mrs. Nhora Cecilia Velasquez Cortes and fears that she may be at risk for ill treatment or torture. OMCT particularly recalls that the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, in article 4(c), provides that States should "exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate and, in accordance with national legislation, punish acts of violence against women, whether those acts are perpetrated by the State or by private persons." OMCT further notes that large numbers of women have been displaced from their homes because of violence in Colombia and is concerned that their displacement leaves them particularly vulnerable to violence. OMCT is also deeply troubled by the continued human rights abuses in Colombia, particularly forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings by paramilitary groups. Action Requested Please write to the authorities in Colombia asking them to: i. immediately locate Mrs. Nhora Cecilia Velasquez Cortes and guarantee her physical and psychological integrity; ii. initiate a prompt, impartial and full investigation into the disappearance of Mrs. Nhora Cecilia Velasquez Cortes and hold the responsible persons accountable; iii. guarantee adequate reparation to Mrs. Nhora Cecilia Velasquez and her family; iv. take all necessary measures to prevent such violence in the future, in particular against women human rights activists; v. ensure that internally displaced women, such as those that Mrs. Nhora Cecilia Velasquez Cortes assists in her work, are protected from violence; vi. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards. Addresses * President of the Republic, Senor Presidente Alvaro Uribe Velez, Presidente de la Republica, Palacio de Narino, Carrera 8 No.7-26, Santafe de Bogota, Colombia, Fax: +57 1 342 05 02/342 05 92/337 58 90 * Minister of the Interior and Justice, Sr. Fernando Londono Hoyos, Palacio Echeverry, Carrera 8a, No.8-09, piso 2o., Santafe de Bogota, Colombia, Fax: +57 1 566 4573 * Attorney General, Dr. Luis Camilo Osorio, Fiscal General de la Nacion, Diagonal 22B 52-01 , Santafe de Bogota, Colombia, Fax: +57 1 570 2022 /2017 * Procurator General, Dr. Edgardo Maya Villazon, Procuraduria General de la Nacion, Carrera 5, No. 15-80, Santafe de Bogota, Colombia, Fax: +57 1 342 9723 * Minister of Foreign Affairs in Colombia, Sra. Maria Carolina Barco Isakson, Ministra de Relaciones Exteriores, Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Calle 10 #5-51, Palacio San Carlos, Santafe de Bogota, Colombia, Fax: +57 1 562 7822 Please also write to the embassies of Colombia in your respective countries. Geneva, July 29, 2003 Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply. --- The "women-rights" mailing list provides information on issues related to women's human rights. Archives of "women-rights" messages, as well as instructions on how to (un)subscribe to the list, can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/women-rights/markup/maillist.php
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