Colombia: Leading Human Rights Defender Murdered

URGENT ACTION - OBSERVATORY

COL 002 / 9804 / OBS 025
Summary Execution
COLOMBIA
19 April 1998


The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, an FIDH
and OMCT venture, requests your URGENT intervention in the following
situation in Colombia.

Brief description of the situation :

The Observatory for Human Rights Defenders has been informed by
various  Colombian organisations of the summary or extrajudiciary
execution of  Doctor José Eduardo UMAÑA MENDOZA, eminent lawyer,
professor of Criminal Law, well-known human rights defender, ex-member
of the Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo and member of the
Executive Council of the OMCT from 1988 to 1994.

This act was perpetrated on April 18, 1998 in Bogota, Colombia, by two
unidentified men and an unidentified woman, who appeared at the
residence of Dr. José Eduardo UMAÑA MENDOZA pretending to be
journalists wanting to interview him.

Since the 1970's, José Eduardo UMAÑA MENDOZA has furthered the cause
of human rights, through his participation in various activities
organised by diverse Colombian and international non governmental
organisations in favour of fundamental rights and liberties. Dr. José
Eduardo Umaña Mendoza denounced the killing of a great number of
victims of violence in Colombia, most notably for leaders of
indigenous peoples, trade unions, workers and peasants. In the
framework of these activities he also publicly denounced the existance
and responsibility repressive groups even within the security forces.
On numerous occasions he denounced  the responsibility of  military
forces in the "Dirty War". He equally denounced the role of certain
civil authorities in human rights violations, as well as the
responsibility of the Procurer General of the Nation in prosecuting
human rights organisations (both social and trade union) on the basis
of false accusations. He similarly denounced the role of Military
Criminal Courts  for their part in maintaining the  impunity of those
actually responsible for daily violations

Dr. José Eduardo Umaña Mendoza defended over the course of his career,
innumerable persons tried for political reasons.  He fought so that
the situation of hundreds of forcibly disappeared persons be
clarified; this included the disappearances of at least 12 people
 during the assault, by military forces, of the Court House in
 November 1985, for which State
responsibility was finally established.

His commitment to human rights earned José Eduardo UMAÑA recognition
from the international community, and his nomination as a Judge of the
People's Permanent Tribunal.

The death of  Dr. José Eduardo Umaña Mendoza could be linked to some
of his most recent activities: he recently requested that the Procurer
General of the Nation reopen an inquiry into the death of the liberal
presidential candidate Jorge Eliecar Gaetan, assassinated in 1948.
MENDOZA had also recently introduced a petition to exhume the bodies
of various victims of the assault on the Court House.

The death of UMAÑA MENDOZA occurred a few hours after the declaration
of the President of the United Nations Human Rights Commission
presently in session in Geneva, which recognised the supposed efforts
of the Colombian authorities' to resolve its human rights crisis ; it
confirms once again the intentions of those who ensure the impunity of
persons responsible for Crimes against humanity and who harass and
intimidate human rights defenders in an effort to silence them.

The Observatory strongly expresses its indignation and firmly condemns
the assassination of Doctor José Eduardo UMAÑA MENDOZA, one of the
most distinguished and appreciated human rights defenders.
Furthermore, the Observatory manifests its grave preoccupation
concerning the continuous persecutions, attempts, disappearances and
assassinations which have for several years targeted human rights
defenders in Colombia.  This situation has been tolerated, if not
encouraged by successive governments whose representatives have
continuously accused human rights defenders of being spokespersons for
the guerrilla forces or enemies of the nation.

Action requested :
Please write to the authorities of Colombia urging them to :

i	Immediately carry out a thorough inquiry on the execution of Dr
Umaña Mendoza in order to identify all the persons responsible, and
ensure that they be prosecuted and punished with the severity required
for such a crime ;

ii	put an end to assassinations and any other act undermining the
right to life, the security or freedom of persons involved in the
promotion, and defence of human rights

iii	put an end to the activities of extermination groups whatever
their motives or links may be with organisations or persons detaining
or  exercising authority ;

iv	respect the State commitments concerning the respect of human
rights as established in the constitution, national legislation and
international instruments ratified by Columbia.

Addresses

S.E. Doctor Ernesto Samper Pizano, Presidente de la República de
Colombia, Palacio de Nariño, Santafé de Bogotá. Colombia.  Fax : 571
2842186.    E-Mail: esamper@presidencia.gov.co

Doctora Sonia Eljach Polo, Consejera Presidencial para los Derechos
Humanos, Santafé de Bogotá. Carrera 8 Nº 7-26, Palacio de Nariño,
Santafé de Bogotá, Colombia.  Fax : (571) 3371351

Doctor Jaime Bernal Cuellar, Procurador General de la Nacion, Carrera
Nº 5, 15-80, Santafé de Bogotá. Colombia.  Fax: (571)3429723

Doctor Alfonso Gómez Méndez, Fiscal General de la Nacion, Diagonal
22-B, Nº 52-01, Santafé de Bogotá. Colombia.  Fax: (571) 320 37 83

Doctor Fernando Castro Caicedo, Defensor del Pueblo, Calle 55 Nº
10-32, Santafé de Bogotá. Colombia. Fax: (571) 3461225

Doctor Carlos Holmes Trujillo, Ministro del Interior, Carrera 8 Nº
8-09, Santafé de Bogotá. Colombia. Fax: (571) 2815884

Doctor Gilberto Echeverri Mejía, Ministro de Defensa, Avenida El
Dorado con Carrera 52 CAN, Santafé de Bogotá, CAN, Colombia . Fax:
(571) 221 36 53

General Mario Hugo Galan Rodríguez, Comandante de las Fuerzas
Militares,  Avenida El Dorado con Carrera 52 CAN, Santafé de Bogotá,
CAN, Santafé de Bogotá.  CAN, Colombia. Fax : (571) 221 89 41

Doctor Antonio Barrera Carbonell, Presidente de la Corte
Constitucional, Calle 72 Nº 7-96, Santafé de Bogotá. Colombia. Fax:
(571) 212 82 64

General Luis Enrique Montenegro R., Director Departamento
Administrativo de Seguridad -DAS-, Carrera 28 Nº 17 A-00 Paloquemao,
Santafé de Bogotá.

Dra. María Emma Mejía, Ministra de Relaciones Exteriores, Palacio de
San Carlos, Santafé de Bogotá, Fax : (571) 2842186

Colombian Embassy in Madrid :E-Mail : prensa.embajada@mad.servicom.es

Geneva - Paris, 20th April 1998

Kindly inform the Observatory of any action undertaken quoting the
code number of this appeal in your reply.

The Human Rights Action Network, a part of Derechos Human Rights, distributes appeals on behalf of victims of human rights violations. You are invited to join the network. Please check the date of the present action and do not write if it's over a month old.