• Urgent Action

Urgent Action: Defenders’ Lives at Risk (Bolivia: UA 159.20)

October 29, 2020

Human rights defenders Waldo and Franco Albarracin reported that since 19 October 2020, one day after the presidential elections, they have received several death threats from unidentified persons through their mobile phones and social media. Two social media videos accused Waldo of participating in a coup against the Morales government. One included him in a “blacklist of traitors of Bolivia” and the other accused him of planning the burning of his own home. We call on the Minister of Government to immediately provide comprehensive and sustainable protection measures to Waldo and Franco Albarracin and their family, in consultation with them.

TAKE ACTION:
  1. Write a letter in your own words or using the sample below as a guide to one or both government officials listed. You can also email, fax, call or Tweet them.
  2. Click here to let us know the actions you took on Urgent Action 159.20. It’s important to report because we share the total number with the officials we are trying to persuade and the people we are trying to help.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Arturo Murillo Minister of Government Av. Arce esq. Belisario Salinas N° 2409 La Paz, Bolivia Email: [email protected] [email protected]
Ambassador Pablo Canedo Daroca Embassy of the Plurinational State of Bolivia 3014 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington DC 20008 Phone: 202 483 4410 Facebook: @usdos.bolivia Twitter: @CanedoDaroca Salutation: Dear Ambassador

SAMPLE LETTER Dear Minister of Government, I write to you in relation to the threats faced by human rights defenders Waldo and Franco Albarracin. They reported receiving several death threats through their mobile phones and social media since 19 October 2020. In two videos Waldo is accused of participating in a coup against the Morales government. In the first one, a leader of Comité de Defensa de la Democracia included him in a “blacklist of traitors of Bolivia” and, in the second one, a former authority of the Morales government accused him of burning down his own home. On 26 October 2020, Waldo Albarracin filed a criminal complaint about these threats before the Attorney General’s Office in La Paz. Earlier in the year he requested precautionary measures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). I call on you to immediately provide comprehensive and effective protection measures to Waldo and Franco Albarracin and their family, in consultation with them. Yours sincerely, [YOUR NAME] ADDITIONAL RESOURCES