wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Displaced concern

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

Note #8658 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05124
March 3, 2005

Displaced concern 

Colombian churchmen say alleged link to guerrilla group is government ruse

by Alexa Smith

LOUISVILLE - Human rights workers in northern Colombia are increasingly
concerned about government efforts to portray advocates for poor and
displaced Colombians as allies of the FARC, the country's oldest and largest
guerrilla group.

	Fears were heightened on Feb. 15 when federal agents in Barranquilla
accosted the treasurer of the National Association for Displaced People
(ANDESCOL), alleging that the group is full of "guerrilleros" representing
the FARC.

	The incident was described by a number of sources in Barranquilla,
including officials of the Presbyterian Church of Colombia (PCC).

	ANDESCOL is a national organization that defends the rights of the
more than three million Colombians who have been forcibly displaced from
their land. It is part of a coalition of Colombian groups that work on behalf
of the poor - the Barranquilla Human Rights Coordination (BHRC). The PCC also
is a coalition member.

	BHRC's bullet-proof office is on the PCC campus.

	"When they threaten ANDESCOL, they indirectly threaten us," said the
Rev. Milton Mejia, executive secretary of the PCC, whose headquarters is in
Barranquilla, a sweltering port city on the northern coast. "There is
pressure against all these organizations. When they threaten other groups,
they threaten us."

	Mejia, who is scheduled to visit the offices of the World Council of
Churches (WCC) in Geneva, Switzerland, later this month, said he will urge
the WCC to send international accompaniers to Colombia.

	The Presbyterian Church (USA), which launched an accompaniment
program in December, has stationed U.S. Presbyterians in Barranquilla
full-time to observe and keep the international church community informed
about the situation. 

	When the threats were made against ANDESCOL, the two PC(USA)
accompaniers, Patricia Forner of Reston, VA, and Dick Junkin of Muscle
Shoals, AL, divided their time between denominational offices and those of
ANDESCOL.

	Two other PC(USA) accompaniers arrived in Barranquilla recently -
Erik Mason of Santa Fe, NM, and Ted Collins of Concordia, KN.

	Churches have often used accompaniment to deter violence in conflict
zones, reasoning that aggressors are less likely to strike when international
observers are on hand. Accompaniers also circulate eyewitness reports to the
international church community and human rights organizations so that
intimidation and violence do not occur without some international response.

	During the on-street encounter last month, agents apparently named
ANDESCOL's directors by name and asked, "If they didn't have links with FARC,
why then (did) Mauricio (Avilez) work with them?" 

	The question was followed by a threat to arrest the entire board,
according to a statement issued by the BHRC.

	Avilez, 24, is a law student who volunteered with the PCC to help
displaced people sign up for government assistance and to collect data about
human rights abuses by guerrillas, paramilitaries and government agents -
groups that have forced people off their land and into shanty towns on the
outskirts of cities.

	Avilez did some legal work for ANDESCOL when it was chartered, but is
not a member of the organization. He was accused of terrorist activities last
spring and spent more than four months in jail while the government decided
whether to press formal charges. Although he was released, the government has
neither filed charges against him nor dropped the case.

	Avilez is now in hiding, fearful of paramilitary "death squads" that
execute civilians with relative impunity.

	Another human rights worker, Guillermo Larios, was arrested in
December and is now in custody. He also did occasional contract work for the
PCC.

	"It's much worse here," said a spokesperson for CEDERHNOS, a
volunteer organization Avilez founded as part of the PCC's human rights
ministry. "It has gotten very intense at CEDERHNOS."

	CEDERHNOS shares space with the BHRC on the PCC campus.

	The CEDERHNOS spokesperson, who asked that his name not be published,
said the law-student volunteers who work with CEDERHNOS usually stay away
from the organization's office, for security reasons.

	He said three union leaders had just left Barranquilla after being
threatened.

	Unions, student groups and human rights organizations - including
churches with human rights ministries - are under the most intense pressure.
Organizations that work with displaced families are highly controversial
because such "internal refugees" are considered a burden on cities already
overwhelmed by high rates of crime and unemployment.

	Displaced communities also provoke anxiety among officials concerned
about possible infiltration by guerrilla or paramilitary groups.

	Mejia, the PCC executive director, has long maintained that efforts
to link human rights groups and the FARC are intended to terrorize and
discredit the rights organizations.

	Although the work of the BHRC and the church is clearly legal, both
are under increasing duress. 

	Last year the PCC learned that its offices were under video
surveillance by an unknown entity. Mejia said he isn't sure whether the
surveillance is continuing. He also has received death threats because of his
work with displaced people.

	The BHRC argues that ANDESCOL, which operates in Atlantico Province,
has a legal right to do its work, and that the government is obliged to
ensure "free development" of its activities among the displaced. It is asking
international churches and other rights groups to write letters to regional
and national Colombian officials demanding that the government protect the
lives of ANDESCOL's board of directors and other human rights workers. 

	Letters should be sent to Francisco Santos, vice president of
Colombia (email: ); Michael Frulin, director of the Colombia Commission on
Human Rights (); and Carlos Rodado Noriega, the governor of Atlantico
Province (Fax: 011-575

	"We need to continue international pressure in Colombia," said the
Rev. Israel Batista, president of the Latin America Council of Churches
(CLAI) in Quito, Ecuador. "This is the reality of life in this region. But
Colombia is the worst."

	Batista told the Presbyterian News Service that increasing the
visibility of international church representatives in Barranquilla is
necessary to protect the lives of Colombians. Even CLAI's regional secretary,
the Rev. Jairo Barriga, has received telephone threats, he said.

	Barriga is a Presbyterian minister whose office is on the PCC campus.

	Batista said Presbyterians have taken a prophetic stand that has
provoked opposition from some sectors of Colombian society.

	Mejia agreed, saying: "We defend the poor population. We work to have
justice. And each time that we do so, we are framed as guerrillas or
terrorists."

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