Note #9144 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:
06101 Feb. 17, 2006
Activists promote letter-writing campaign to help protect Colombian church workers
by Alexa Smith
LOUISVILLE - Two members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) who are "accompanying" threatened church leaders in Colombia are asking U.S. Christians to write the Colombian government to protest ongoing death threats against human-rights activists.
Bob Leslie, of Decatur, GA, and Mike Benefiel, of Kensington, MD, composed the letter after new death threats were reported against two prominent church leaders and rights activists: the Rev. Milton Mejia, executive secretary of the Presbyterian Church of Colombia (PPC), and Mauricio Avilez, a peace activist within Colombia's ecumenical network.
The PCUSA, together with the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, a pacifist group, began putting full-time accompaniers in Colombia in 2005 to:
*deter violence by keeping international witnesses on hand
*quickly report what is happening to the international community.
"Our goal is to get a message out," Leslie said by telephone from the headquarters of the Presbyterian Church in Barranquilla, which has been under surveillance by government authorities for years because of its work with people displaced by violence in Colombia.
He urged concerned Christians to send letters modeled on the following:
Dear (leader's name),
I am alarmed at specific new threats against the lives of the Rev. Milton Mejia and Mauricio Avilez of the Ecumenical Network of Colombia. The network has documented these threats in an official report delivered in Bogota during the week of Feb. 7, 2006.
These leaders are defending the democratic and constitutional rights of victims of violence in Colombia. As their record of public service proves, they are committed to non-partisan, non-violent, life-affirming works of truth, faith and peace. Their lives are committed to overcoming violence and creating more space for the empowerment of civic institutions.
As a citizen of the United States who shares the commitment of the Ecumenical Network's leaders to protect victims from violence, I seek your assurances that you are taking specific steps to defend the lives of these courageous peacemakers.
Sincerely,
(signature)
"There is suffering here, and serious human-rights violations," said Leslie, a retired mathematics professor at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta, adding that U.S. aid to Colombia's military is only worsening the situation.
Benefiel, a retired U.S. Foreign Service officer, told the Presbyterian News Service that the Bush administration is seeking $750 million in aid to Colombia for 2007, but 80 percent of that money will be funneled into the military, which has a questionable human-rights record.
Anne Barstow of PPF said the PC(USA) has 24 trained accompaniers work in Colombia in pairs. Twelve more Presbyterians will undergo training this spring in Washington, DC.
After a year of operation, the PPC is planning a program expansion.
The activists suggest sending the letters to:
Dr. Mario German Iguaran, Colombia's attorney general, (fax) 011-57-1-570-2000;
President Alvaro Uribe Velez, Colombia's president, (fax) 011-571-337-5890 or 011-571-566-2071; email auribe@presidencia.gov.co;
Dr. Carlos Franco, director of the president's human rights commission, (fax) 011-571-337-4667; email cefranco@presidencia.gov.co;
Luis Alberto Moreno, Colombian ambassador to the United States, (fax) 1-202-232-8643; email emwas@colombiaemb.org;
William Wood, U.S. ambassador to Colombia, (fax) 011-571-315-2197;
Laura Kirkpatrick, U.S. Embassy human-rights officer, (fax) 011-571-315-2163; email KirkpatrickLH@state.gov.
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