Protect Jailed Human Rights Workers in Colombia

On June 10th, 2004 a human rights advocacy worker was unjustly arrested and jailed in Colombia. Mauricio Avilez Alvarez worked as the director of a volunteer ministry of the Presbyterian Church of Colombia (PCC) in Barranquilla, linking lawyers with the 70,000 people displaced by violence - now living on Barranquilla's fringe.

Avilez was arrested by military intelligence agents on charges of terrorism, homicide and subversion in connection with a series of December bombings that killed one person and injured more than 70 others. The arrest was based on the testimony of a paid government informant, Luis Enrique Meneses Pedraza, an accused terrorist who has allegedly sought amnesty from the government. No evidence has been submitted to substantiate the accusation against Avilez.

Officers in civilian clothes arrested Avilez in a doctor's office in Barranquila. He was held incommunicado for at least 24 hours and interrogated without an attorney present. The judicial system was not immediately notified of his arrest. As he begins his fifth month in prison, formal charges are yet to be made.

The arrest tipped off the church to more frightening realities. During interrogations by government agents it has become obvious that the denomination's Barranquilla office is under video surveillance and its ministry -- particularly to displaced people -- is under intense scrutiny. In an effort to disrupt human rights activism and the work of the ministry, government officials are linking the office with the FARC (Colombia's largest and oldest guerilla group). Like the accusation against Avilez, these claims lack any evidence and are completely unjustified.

Take Action!

Please write a letter to President Uribe of Colombia or to Vice President Francisco Santos asking for the immediate release of Mauricio Avilez Alvarez and for a government guarantee that human rights workers will be permitted to work without fear of threats or persecution.

Alvaro Uribe President of Colombia Cra. 8 N. 7-26, Palacio de Nariño Santa Fe de Bogotá fax: 011-57-1-342-0592

Francisco Santos Vice President of Colombia fax: 011-57-1-334-1138