[van-announce] [Fwd: [Lasurda] *Urgent Action* In Defence of Liliany Patricia Obando Villota and the Rights of Colombian Workers Campaign]

[kiko at resist.ca]

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: [Lasurda] *Urgent Action* In Defence of Liliany Patricia Obando
Villota and the Rights of Colombian Workers Campaign
From:    lasurda at resist.ca
Date:    Fri, October 3, 2008 5:49 pm
To:      lasurda at lists.resist.ca
--------------------------------------------------------------------------


*Urgent Action* In Defence of Liliany Patricia Obando Villota and the
Rights of Colombian Workers Campaign

(Background info & sample letter bellow)

We write to you with a request for urgent action in solidarity with our
sister and comrade Liliany Patricia Obando Villota representative of the
Agricultural Workers Union Federation (FENSUAGRO-CUT) who on Friday 8th
August 2008 was arrested by Colombian government forces.
Liliany has been arrested on charges of "rebellion" against the state a
catch-all charge that is regularly used to imprison those who speak out
against the government for long periods without trial. 'Rebellion' also
allows the regime to smear those accused of it as being 'terrorists' and
helps to delegitimise their work.

The members of La-Surda Collective had the honour of meeting Liliany in
the spring of 2006 as she visited Vancouver to participate at the World
Peace Forum. We were moved by her commitment and work for the peasants’
associations of FENSUAGRO-CUT and for the rights of all Colombians.
Liliany described the challenges presented by state-sponsored violence
(including the scarcely imaginable extreme violence used by paramilitary
forces) but at no time called for anything but a peaceful solution to the
social conflict in Colombia.

The La-Surda Latin American Collective seeks your urgent solidarity action
and asks you to write to the Colombian authorities to protest against this
act of persecution; to demand her immediate release from custody, to
demand the dropping of all the alleged charges against her and for the
government of Colombia to guarantee her safety and well being.

La-Surda Latin American Collective
Unceded Coast-Salish Territory
Vancouver, Canada

Letters of concern can be sent to;
The Canadian Campaign in Defence of Liliany Patricia Obando Villota and
the Rights of Colombian Workers _colombiasolidaritycampaign at yahoo.es
mailto:colombiasolidaritycampaign at yahoo.es>
_
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights _cidhoea at oas.org
_
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights _oacnudh at hchr.org.co
_
Jaime Giron Duarte
Colombian Ambassador to Canada
360 Albert Street, Suite 1002
Ottawa, Ontario K1R 7X7
embajada at embajadacolombia.ca <mailto:embajada at embajadacolombia.ca>

Mr. Matthew Levin
Ambassador to Colombia
Carrera 7 #115-33 A.A.53531
Bogotá, Colombia
Matthew.Levin at international.gc.ca
<mailto:Matthew.Levin at international.gc.ca>

Álvaro Uribe Vélez
Presidente de la República
Cra. 8 #7-26   Palacio de Nariño
Bogotá   Colombia
auribe at presidencia.gov.co <mailto:auribe at presidencia.gov.co>

Vice President Francisco Santos Calderon
Vice President of the Republic of Colombia
Cra. 8 No. 7-57
Bogota
Colombia
fsantos at presidencia.gov.co <mailto:fsantos at presidencia.gov.co> ,
buzon1 at presidencia.gov.co <mailto:buzon1 at presidencia.gov.co> , rdh
at presidencia.gov.co <mailto:rdh at presidencia.gov.co>

Mr. Carlos Franco
Director del Programa Presidencial de Derechos Humanos y de Derecho
Internacional Humanitario (DIH)
Calle 7 No 6 -- 54
Bogota D.C
Colombia
cefranco at presidencia.gov.co <mailto:cefranco at presidencia.gov.co>

Dr. Juan Manuel Santos Calderón
Ministro de la Defensa
Avenida El Dorado
Cra. 52 CAN, Bogotá
siden at mindefensa.gov.co <mailto:siden at mindefensa.gov.co> ,
infprotocol at mindefensa.gov.co <mailto:infprotocol at mindefensa.gov.co>
, mdn at cable.net.co <mailto:mdn at cable.net.co>

Dr. Fernando Ibarra
Asesor del Programa Presidencial de Derechos Humanos y de DIH.
Calle 7 No 6 -- 54
Bogota D.C
Colombia
fibarra at presidencia.gov.co <mailto:fibarra at presidencia.gov.co>

Dr. Mario Germán Iguarán Arana
Fiscal General de la Nación,
Diagonal 22B (Av. Luis Carlos Galán No. 52-01) Bloque C, Piso 4
Bogotá, Colombia
contacto at fiscalía.gov.co <mailto:contacto at fiscal%C3%ADa.gov.co> ,
denuncie at fiscalía.gov.co <mailto:denuncie at fiscal%C3%ADa.gov.co>


James J. Brittain, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Sociology
Acadia University
Wolfville, Nova Scotia
Canada B4P-2R6
Phone: (902) 585-1292
james.brittain at acadiau.ca


-- 
Michael A. Lebowitz
Professor Emeritus
Economics Department
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6

Director, Programme in 'Transformative Practice and Human Development'
Centro Internacional Miranda, P.H.
Residencias Anauco Suites, Parque Central, final Av. Bolivar
Caracas, Venezuela
fax: 0212 5768274/0212 5777231
http//:centrointernacionalmiranda.gob.ve
mlebowit at sfu.ca


*In Defence of Liliany Patricia Obando Villota and the Rights of
Colombian Workers: Canadian Campaign Update #2*
_colombiasolidaritycampaign at yahoo.es

September 8th marked the anniversary of Liliany Patricia Obando
Villota's first month in prison. The important Colombian filmmaker,
women's rights proponent, labour solidarity activist, and sociologist is
but one of many recent individuals targeted by the Colombian state for
speaking out against the social, political, and economic injustices of the
current Álvaro Uribe Vélez administration [2002-/2010/]. As many of you
know, Liliany was violently taken from her modest home in Modelia, Bogotá
at 3:00pm on August 8th by a special wing of the Anti-Terrorism Unit
(/Unidad Antiterrorismo/) of the Colombian National Police and the
Criminal Investigation Directorate (/Dirección de Investigación
Criminal/, DINJIN) under the direction of the Office of the Attorney
General (/Fiscalía General de la Nación/). The charge, "rebellion" and
"managing resources related to terrorist activities". Liliany's arrest and
incarceration has severed long established relations with many of Canadian
unions, faith-based communities, Latin American solidarity networks, and
social justice organizations.

The primary grounds for Liliany's incarceration is that she allegedly
worked to obtain funding earmarked for Colombia's largest rural-based
labour organization (FENSUAGRO) but utilized the collected finances for
the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (/Fuerzas Armadas
Revolucionarias Colombianas-Ejército del Pueblo/, FARC-EP) -- a movement
listed as a foreign terrorist organization in the United States and
Canada. Immediately following her capture, the state demonstrated the
feeble intelligence related to Liliany's detention.

The Office of the Attorney General of Colombia publicly announced the
reason for the arrest was on the basis that Liliany (misspelled
Liliana)worked for a non-governmental organization (NGO) entitled
FENSUAGRO and indirectly rallied funds for the FARC-EP through said
association. Such findings are incredibly misinformed in the fact that
FENSUAGRO is not an NGO but rather a 90,000 member-strong labour
organization in its 32nd year of formation, which organizes and
consolidates the many unions,labour associations, and voices of those
across the Colombian countryside. If the state cannot correctly identify
intelligence of this simplistic nature than what assurances are there that
any information related to the charges against Liliany are less erroneous.

In addition, the accusations against Liliany are suspect due to the fact
that no material evidence has been found to support the charge. The only
'proof' presented by the state against Liliany is purely speculative as it
was allegedly retrieved from FARC-EP computers captured after an illegal
raid at an insurgent encampment on March 1st, 2008 in Ecuador.
Furthermore, Interpol confirmed that agents connected to the
Anti-Terrorism Unit (the same faction that arrested Liliany) had
manipulated tens of thousands of files from the seized FARC-EP
databases. In their report, Interpol published that "using their
forensic tools, specialists found a total of 48,055 files for which the
timestamps indicated that they had either been created, accessed,
modified or deleted as a result of the direct access to the eight seized
exhibits by Colombian authorities between the time of their seizure on 1
March 2008 and 3 March 2008 at 11:45 am".
The Colombian state has greatly manipulated the facts. Over the past
several years Liliany has been an active link between Colombian and
Canadian labour. She has visited Canada many times to speak with
thousands of unionists -- not to mention civil society groups,
development agencies, members of religious organizations, and university
students -- on issues of human rights abuses and anti-labour activities
under the Presidency of Álvaro Uribe Vélez and Vice-Presidency of
Francisco Santos Calderón. During this period Liliany worked for
FENSUAGRO's international relations commission and was heavily involved in
fundraising in Canada, the European Union, the UK, and Australia. As a
direct result of her efforts, funding was acquired from some of Canada's
most important unions. Finances obtained trough this work were utilized in
a number of projects across Colombia ranging from the creation of
socioeconomic infrastructure for small and medium
agricultural producers, human rights advocacy and data collection, and the
development of an important experimental farming and educational facility
called /La Esmeralda/ - which assists displaced rural families in areas of
agricultural training in organics, gender equity, reading and writing. All
this begs the question as to why the state has targeted Liliany (and
FENSUAGRO).

It has been cited that more members of FENSUAGRO have been assassinated
than any other union in Colombia. Since its inception, as many as
fifteen-hundred persons associated with FENSUAGRO have been assassinated
or disappeared by right-wing paramilitaries and/or state forces, while
five thousand members have experienced some form of state-based abuse or
human rights violation. In 2007, twenty percent of all known unionists
murdered in Colombia belonged to this one labour organization. It is clear
that the Uribe-Santos administration is attempting to silence any and all
measures of international solidarity with Colombian labour and social
movements. Liliany was one of FENSUAGRO's most important contacts outside
Colombia. Her work as a filmmaker and a scholar within the National
University of Colombia has been widely recognized for its insight. Her
analysis on Colombia's political economy has been heard and applauded at
countless conferences and colloquiums. Her achievements in raising
awareness of the trials and tribulations of the Colombian poor have
spanned countless countries. It is clear that the state is taking steps to
silence this important proponent for social justice. In silencing her
activities, so too does the state hope to silence the capacity for
increased understanding of the violations being committed against
activists, civilians, and workers in Colombia /and/ the important efforts
made by Canadians who wish to support the struggle of the rural and urban
working class.

Retrieving information related to Liliany's condition and the case at hand
has been very difficult. Nevertheless, contact has been made with
Liliany's legal council. Through her lawyers, Liliany continues to receive
messages of solidarity from concerned citizens all over the world who have
denounced the state's coercive strategy of targeting citizens critical of
the Uribe-Santos administration, anti-labour
practices and neoliberal policies, and the continuation of a civil war at
the expense of Colombian citizens. Her legal council forwarded a statement
of how emotionally touched and tremendously encouraged Liliany is that
such a broad mobilization is in support of her and all
Colombians subjugated to such treatment at this troubling time.

It was hoped that Liliany would be able to obtain a reprieve from her
formal incarceration at a maximum-security women's prison (/Buen
Pastor/) in Bogotá. Her legal council applied for home detention so the
single-mother could care for her two young children. The
Australian-based Peace and Justice for Colombia (PJFC) have argued that
Liliany's detention is, in fact, a negation of her children's basic human
rights as she is the principal provider for the family. The court,
however, refused to acknowledge such circumstances and denied the request.
The PJFC also reported that during the raid on Liliany's place of
residence state forces "seized passports, photos and other personal
belongings of her children and Mother". Arguing that such items have
nothing to due with the allegations or formal investigation the legal
council requested that the family's possessions be returned. Much like the
request for home detention, the courts refused.

Targeting Liliany and other social justice activists is not a surprise but
rather a structured tactic on the part of the Colombian state. Canada and
Colombia are in the final stages of a controversial bilateral free-trade
agreement with an administration embroiled in a
'parapolitica' scandal where officials from all levels of government and
military have been found guilty of working with death squads to
eliminate political-economic opponents or state antagonists. Silencing
cross-national linkages hinders the capacity for Canadians to become
materially informed of the internal realities of government sanctioned
paramilitarism and corporate exploitation. In addition to this, Liliany
was on the cusp of finalizing a significant Canada-Colombia solidarity
project involving several Canadian unions and FENSUAGRO. In conjunction
with labour, agronomists, farmers, and researchers, Liliany was working on
an expanded development program to further assist rural workers at /La
Esmeralda/. By imprisoning Liliany and those struggling against
neoliberalism and state corruption, solidarity with Colombia has taken a
hit.

The international campaign to free Liliany Patricia Obando Villota
strongly urges any and all individuals, unions, community and civil
society groups, development agencies, members of faith communities,
academics, students, and concerned citizens to show their solidarity for
Liliany. We must express our opposition to the unjust detention of this
important Colombian activist, scholar, and worker. Please demand that
Liliany Patricia Obando Villota be released, that all charges against her
be withdrawn, and that she be treated as a democratic citizen.


Update #1 on the National Campaign in Defence of Liliana Patricia Obando
Villota and the Rights of Colombian Workers
Colombia Solidarity Campaign / Friday 22 August 2008
The following is an update from the Canadian campaign concerning Liliany’s
condition and current situation. For a brief review of the campaign please
refer to In Defence of Liliana Patricia Obando Villota and the Rights of
Colombian Workers: National Campaign (Canada).
As you all know, Liliany is currently incarcerated under the
broadly-defined charges of “rebellion” and “managing resources related to
terrorist activities”. Since her detention the Office of the Attorney
General of Colombia (La Fiscalía General de la Nación) publicly announced
that the information related to the arrest was on the basis that Liliany
worked for a non-governmental organization (NGO) entitled FENSUAGRO and
indirectly rallied funds for the FARC-EP through said association. Such
state-based intelligence is incredibly misinformed in the fact that
FENSUAGRO is not an NGO but rather the largest rural-based labour
organization in Colombia. In its 32nd year of formation, FENSUAGRO is
specifically structured to organize and consolidate the many unions,
labour associations, and voices of those in the countryside. If the state
cannot obtain intelligence of this simplistic nature than what assurances
are there that any intelligence related to the charges against Liliany are
less erroneous (For additional information on the state’s tampering of
information as it relates to this case please refer to the aforementioned
document In Defence of Liliana).
Retrieving information related to Liliany’s condition and the case at hand
has been very difficult. Nevertheless, delegates from the Canadian
campaign have been able to get in contact with Liliany’s legal council and
have indirectly heard from Liliany herself. Through her lawyers, Liliany
has managed to receive messages of solidarity from those involved in the
National and International campaigns across Australia, Canada, the
European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Concerned
citizens from all over the world have joined in support of Liliany while
denouncing the state’s coercive strategy of targeting citizens critical of
the Uribe administration, anti-labour practices and neoliberal policies,
and the continuation of a civil war at the social expense of Colombian
citizens. Her legal council forwarded to us a statement of how emotionally
touched and tremendously encouraged Liliany is that such a broad mass are
in support of her and all Colombians subjugated to such treatment at this
troubling time.
>From a legal standpoint the situation is as follows;
1) The state has continued to incarcerate Liliany within a “Prosecutor
Bunker” even though a case and evidence related to her detention has not
been fully established. We have been told that this is where Liliany will
remain until the state has been able to compile, analyze, and evaluate
evidence related to the case. If the case becomes formally ratified by a
judge than a “measure of assurance” related to Liliany’s well-being will
be issued.
2) Following the inquiry last week, there has been no need for “security
measures” to be taken against Liliany.
3) If the state deems “security measures” are needed, Liliany will be
immediately transported to a women’s jail.
The Canadian National Campaign in Defence of Liliana Patricia Obando
Villota and the Rights of Colombian Workers strongly urges any and all
individuals, unions, community and civil society groups, development
agencies, members of faith communities and religious organizations,
academics, students, and concerned citizens to forward letters of
solidarity for Liliany as soon as possible. It is an important moment and
sending your support may help Liliany from the dregs and insecurity of
prison. Please forward your signed letters to
colombiasolidaritycampaign at yahoo.es.
Liliany Patricia Obando Free Now! ¡Libre Liliany Patricia Obando!

Senor Presidente Alvaro Uribe Velez
Presidente de la Republica, Palacio de Narino, Carerra 8, No 7-2 Bogota
Colombia
Fax: +57 1 337 5890 / 342 0592
Email: auribe at presidencia.gov.co

Dr Francisco Santos Calderon
Vicepresidencia, Carerra 8A, No 7-27 Bogota
Colombia
Fax: +57 1 565 7682
Email: fsantos at presidencia.gov.co

Dr Mario German Iguaran Arana
Fiscal General de la Nacion, Fiscalia General de la Nacion
Diagonal 22B (Av. Luis Carlos Galan No 52-01), Bloque C, Piso 4, Bogota
Colombia
Fax: +57 1 570 2000 (extention 2017)


                                                                        Yours
sincerely,

XXXXXXXXXXX

CC:
1. Embassy of Colombia
Fax: (613) 230-4416
Email: embajada at embajadacolombia.ca

2. Prime Minister Stephen Harper
House of Parliament, Ottawa
Fax: 613-941-6900
Email: pm at pm.gc.ca



Senor Presidente Alvaro Uribe Velez
Presidente de la Republica, Palacio de Narino, Carerra 8, No 7-2 Bogota
Colombia
Fax: +57 1 337 5890 / 342 0592
Email: auribe at presidencia.gov.co

Dr Francisco Santos Calderon
Vicepresidencia, Carerra 8A, No 7-27 Bogota
Colombia
Fax: +57 1 565 7682
Email: fsantos at presidencia.gov.co

Dr Mario German Iguaran Arana
Fiscal General de la Nacion, Fiscalia General de la Nacion
Diagonal 22B (Av. Luis Carlos Galan No 52-01), Bloque C, Piso 4, Bogota
Colombia
Fax: +57 1 570 2000 (extention 2017)


									October 02, 2008

Dear Mr President, Vice-President and Attorney General,

Re: Release of Liliany Obando

The [NAME OF UNION/ORGANIZATION] is horrified at the arrest and detention
by the Colombian government of workers’ and human rights advocate Liliany
Obando. We are writing to protest in the strongest possible terms against
this persecution of Ms Obando, and to demand her immediate unconditional
release from custody and the dropping of all charges against her. We
insist that government of Colombia guarantee Ms Obando’s safety and well
being.

Ms Obando’s arrest on August 8 in her home, in front of her two young
children and distraught mother, defies all notions of justice. Ms Obando
is a recognised sociologist at the National University and a
world-renowned human rights defender who has for many years carried out
important international work with social movements, religious
institutions, human rights groups, academics and trade unions outside
Colombia.

Ms Obando has visited Canada on a number of occasions in connection with
her work as a member of the Agricultural Workers’ Union Federation
(Fensuagro) and met with a wide range of trade unions, workers’
organisations, community, indigenous and faith groups. At those meetings
she has spoken convincingly about the situation for Colombia’s workers and
peasants, and consistently advocated peaceful solutions to their problems.

We are extremely concerned about the fact that, according to the
International Confederation of Trade Unions, there were 1165 documented
murders of Colombian trade union members between 1994 and 2006. Another 17
union members have been murdered between January and March this year. It
is internationally acknowledged that union leaders in Colombia face death,
constant harassment, threats and arbitrary arrest.

We condemn this latest attempt to silence a voice for social justice in
Colombia and demand that Ms Obando be permitted to exercise the
fundamental democratic right of freedom of expression in defence of
workers and the poor.

We hope that the Colombian government will act responsibly by releasing Ms
Obando immediately, and acting urgently to end the harassment, kidnapping,
arrest and murder of all workers in Colombia.


Yours sincerely,

XXXXXXXXXXX

CC:
1. Embassy of Colombia
Fax: (613) 230-4416
Email: embajada at embajadacolombia.ca

2. Prime Minister Stephen Harper
House of Parliament, Ottawa
Fax: 613-941-6900
Email: pm at pm.gc.ca






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