Urgent Action: Protect Human Rights Organization at Risk (Colombia: UA 17.21)

February 16, 2021

On 10 February, a civil society organization received a verified report of an ongoing plan to kill or displace Association for the Integral and Sustainable Development of the Amazonian Pearl (ADISPA) members, an organization protecting the rights of hundreds of peasants (campesinos) in the Putumayo region (South West). The plan would entail the deployment of the armed group called “Border Command” that are threatening the communities in the area to undermine their activities to the armed group’s will or leave their territories if they refuse. We demand authorities provide ADISPA with collective protection measures in consultation with them.

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  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.
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CONTACT INFORMATION

Daniel Palacios
Director of the Minister of interior
Carrera 8 No. 7 – 83,
Bogotá D.C., Colombia
Email: [email protected]
Ambassador Francisco Santos
Embassy of Colombia
1724 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington DC 20036
Phone: 202 387 8338
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @ColombiaEmbUSA @PachoSantosC
Facebook: @ColombiaEmbassyUS
Salutation: Dear Ambassador

SAMPLE LETTER

Dear Mr. Palacios,

I am writing to express concern for the safety of the members of the Association for the Integral and Sustainable Development of the Amazon Pearl (ADISPA), a human rights organization that defends the rights of 700 families and the Amazonian environment in the Putumayo region.

Since 2020 the legal representative of ADISPA, Jani Silva, has faced at least 6 different incidents. At the same time, other ADISPA members have faced threats to their lives. On 10 February, the Inter-ecclesial Commission of Justice and Peace received information of an ongoing plan to kill or displace ADISPA members from the region. The communities are already reporting the presence of an armed group threatening them.

I urge you to grant ADISPA members collective protection measurements, in consultation and in agreement with them.

Yours sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]

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