wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Free in Colombia, sort of

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #8557 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

04487
November 1, 2004

Free in Colombia, sort of

Mauricio Avilez is out of jail, but his case drags on

by Alexa Smith

LOUISVILLE - A young Colombian church worker has been abruptly released after
spending 130 days in jail. But he has gone into hiding while authorities
continue to investigate his case and his attorneys fight to have it dropped.

	Mauricio Avilez, 24, was freed Oct. 20 when district court officers
overturned an earlier order to jail him. His attorney successfully argued
that there was insufficient evidence to incarcerate him.

	"All of this solidarity is what is keeping me alive, what wakes me up
every morning," Avilez told the Presbyterian News Service in an interview
shortly after his release, speaking of the support of his family, friends and
the world church.

	He said it is still important for the Christian community throughout
the world to write the Colombian government on his behalf. (See sample letter
below.)

     Avilez also said that it is important that U.S. accompaniers be posted
quickly in Barranquilla B> an effort that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is
slowly organizing. (See related story #04484.)
In a letter "From somewhere" dated Oct. 21, Avilez wrote euphorically of his
release, "I am free, and I always will be even though the criminal
investigation continues, even though they want to maintain this evil farce. I
am free, and I ... know the power of our solidarity to finish tearing down
this injustice that they hold against me.

     "We will always be free if we keep our hands united together so that no
one can be arbitrarily detained, no injustice can be committed, no right can
be violated or threatened, no life can be cut down because of its ideas ...
never again can these actions be repeated. It is certain that we will always
be free if we keep loving like we love, dreaming like we dream, and fighting
like we fight."

     Avilez was arrested in early June by an elite arm of the Colombian
military, and he remained in jail while the government investigated whether
the accusations leveled against him by a paid informant could be turned into
criminal charges.

	The testimony reportedly linked Avilez to the bombing of a
Barranquilla department store that is owned by a prominent politician. One
shopper died and others were seriously injured, leading to allegations
against Avilez ranging from terrorism and murder to guerrilla activity.

	Under Colombian law the government had 260 days to produce evidence,
or the charges would be automatically dropped. Avilez's lawyer has filed
another appeal urging the government to drop the investigation.

	In or out of jail Avilez's life is in jeopardy. While he was in jail
he was a potential victim to violence inside Colombia's political system.
Now, identified as a subversive, he is hunted by the armed groups who exact
their own kind of justice regardless of court verdicts.

	"I am not totally free," Avilez said, explaining why he is in hiding.
"I feel very vulnerable, very unprotected. I'm worried about the future. I'm
worried about my family.

	"What I need is support and solidarity."

	For the past seven years Avilez has worked with the Presbyterian
Church of Colombia (PCC) in its human rights ministries.

 For the last two years he directed a team of volunteer law students. These
students helped Colombia's internal refugees file for government assistance
and document human rights abuses by the armed paramilitary, guerrilla or
government forces that forced them off their land and into shantytowns on the
fringes of Colombia's already economically troubled cities.

	Since his arrest the PCC has learned that its Barranquilla office is
apparently under video surveillance and that its ministry to displaced people
is under government scrutiny. Avilez's interrogators - and their backers -
call human rights work subversion and say those who do it are simply
guerrillas in disguise.

	The PCC's executive director, the Rev. Milton Mejia, thinks that the
goal is to scare the church away from human rights work.

	Both the Colombian Embassy to the United States in Washington, D.C.,
and the office of Vice President Francisco Santos have refused interviews
from the Presbyterian News Service about the Avilez case and about the
pressure faced by the church.

	"Mauricio is free ... but he's not safe," said his brother, Moises
Avilez, another student lawyer who has been working on his brother's case.
"He is very much at risk."

	One of Avilez's cellmates, Alfredo Correa De Andreis - a university
professor and human rights advocate who was also released on appeal B>	is
already dead.  Correa was gunned down in the street by a gunman riding on the
back of a motorcycle. His bodyguard also died in the assassination attack.

	So Avilez stays hidden. He writes letters and poetry. He talks with
his lawyer. And he finds ways to let his mother know that he's OK.
He is sadly aware that his family had to go into hiding themselves for a few
days to avoid the armed groups who want him dead. Cars with darkened windows
- shielding the identities of the occupants - passed by the house. His
brother reportedly received threatening calls. A motorcyclist followed Sister
Crisanta Cordero - a nun who visited Avilez in prison almost daily - in her
car. After months of surveillance and harassment, Avilez's mother is having
heart palpitations.

	"I'm very worried about my family," Avilez said. But the difficult
ordeal has only solidified his resolve to continue working for the human
rights of others.

	He will most likely have to do this from the safety of another
country, because he knows his assassination is inevitable if he remains in
Colombia's deadly, polarized political world - even if the allegations
against him are dropped.

	Although inmates are usually notified by noon on the day of their
impending release and are processed out by 8 p.m., Avilez learned that he was
to be freed at 8 p.m., and by 8:20 he was standing outside the prison.

	In his letter Avilez described his feelings at that moment:

	"I woke up from a nightmare. ... It was just like they woke me up in
the middle of the night to tell me I was free. I could not believe it. It was
finally happening, what I had longed for - with the signing of a few papers.
I had thought of so many things I would do in this instant. Yet, in the
moment, I did not know what to do. I did not know if I should hug or kiss or
yell.

	"In the meantime, tears ran down my cheeks. My tears were free, too.
And I freely let them roll."

	Mejia told the Presbyterian News Service that the church is
celebrating Avilez's release, enjoying the moment. But they know the troubles
not yet over.

	"On the one hand, it shows us that everything they said about
Mauricio was a lie," Mejia said. "On the other hand, we know that we have to
find ways to protect ourselves, that they can launch an investigation against
us at any time.

	"But," he said, "for the moment we are content."

	Mejia said the PCC will continue its work with the displaced. It has
also learned the importance of international solidarity.  He said the
pressure applied by the U.S. church helped in this case - from letters
received to previously unheard of back-to-back visits by PC(USA) General
Assembly moderators  Susan Andrews and Rick Ufford-Chase.

	The sample letter:

Dear Vice President Santos,

     I am deeply troubled about the ongoing investigation of Mauricio Avilez
and the continuing harassment of members of his family in Barranquilla.

     As you know, Avilez is a volunteer human rights worker for the
Presbyterian Church of Colombia, which is headquartered in Barranquilla. He
has recently been released from jail after being detained for 130 days - but
the investigation into the allegations lodged against him is still ongoing.

   It is a biblical imperative for the church - anywhere in the world - to
serve the poor. To feed the hungry. To clothe the naked. To visit the
imprisoned. But it is becoming increasingly dangerous for church workers to
do their work in your country and that is a matter of critical importance to
the worldwide Body of Christ. Such harassment continues even though
non-violence is core to the church's teaching and it is bound to work within
the law to care for the weak and vulnerable.

     Since the Fiscalia has determined that there is no evidence to support
holding Avilez in jail any longer, I am eager to see all of the charges
dropped, or, the investigation brought to a swift close.

     I urge you to protect church workers as they go about their ministries
and to put a stop to the vicious intimidation of their families, who, like
the Avilez family, are bystanders in a political crisis that is not of their
making. Protection is also needed for CEDERHNOS - the human rights
organization where Avilez worked - and its volunteers.

     My prayers are with you as you seek to bring peace to Colombia.

Sincerely,

     This letter may be faxed to Vice President Francisco Santos at
011-57-1-334-1138; or sent to Carlos Franco, director of the Presidential
Human Rights Program at pefranco@presidencia.gov.co; and Fiscal Luis Camilo
Osorio, attorney general, contacto@fiscalia.gov.co; and Elba Beatriz Silva,
director of the Human Rights Program of the Justice Department,
elbabesilva@fiscalia.gov.co.

To subscribe or unsubscribe, please send an email to
pcusanews-subscribe-request@halak.pcusa.org or
pcusanews-unsubscribe-request@halak.pcusa.org

To contact the owner of the list, please send an email to
pcusanews-request@halak.pcusa.org