C.      Petitions and cases before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

 

1.       Precautionary measures granted by the IACHR during 2002

 

9.                 Precautionary measures are provided for in Article 25 of the Commission’s Rules of Procedure, which states that in serious and urgent cases, and whenever necessary, according to the information available, the Commission may, on its own initiative or upon request by a party, request that the State concerned adopt precautionary measures to prevent irreparable harm to persons.If the Commission is not in session, the President, or, in his or her absence, one of the Vice-presidents, shall consult with the other members, through the Executive Secretariat, on possible application of precautionary measures. If it is not possible to consult within a reasonable period of time under the circumstances, the President shall take the decision on behalf of the Commission and shall so inform its members.  The Commission may request information from the interested parties on any matter related to the adoption and observance of the precautionary measures.  The request for such measures and their adoption shall not prejudice the final decision.

 

10.             What follows is a summary of the precautionary measures granted or extended by the IACHR during 2002.  It should be noted that the number of precautionary measures does not correlate with the number of individuals protected thereby since the IACHR’s precautionary measures can protect either one person or an unquantifiable group of persons, often covering communities or groups of people.  

 

a.       Argentina

 

11.             On April 10, 2002 the Commission granted precautionary measures on behalf of María Adelina Sarruggi (daughter), Concepción Flecha González, and Arsiliare Sarruggi (parents). The request indicates that since November 18, 2000 the child, María Adelina, who was three months old at the time, has been separated from her biological parents, to the detriment of all three persons. The petitioners alleged that mother and daughter were traveling from Argentina to Paraguay, with their papers in order and with the appropriate travel authorization from the father, when immigration officers at a border post in the Province of Misiones detained them "for not producing documentation establishing the link between mother and daughter."The mother was detained and the daughter initially went into a hospital and was then placed in the custody of a married couple on the list of adoption candidates. They alleged that the authorities did not notify the father, who holds parental rights; he found out about these events in March 2001. According to the information provided, when the father traveled to Misiones to get his daughter and partner back, the family court judge told him that he could go to the mayor’s office to get his partner and to begin legal proceedings to get his daughter back. The petitioners indicated that the family has very limited resources and their daughter had not yet been returned to them.  They requested precautionary measures both to prevent the presiding judge from issuing an adoption ruling in favor of the couple on the list of adoption candidates and to have the girl immediately returned to her biological parents.  The Commission asked the State to take the necessary steps to preserve the mental and moral integrity of the girl and her biological parents; their right to protection of the family, enshrined in Article 17 of the American Convention; and, in the case of the girl, the right to a name and the rights of the child, enshrined in Articles 18 and 19 of the Convention.  The Commission requested, in particular, that the State take all necessary steps to ensure that the girl was not taken out of Argentina and that it investigate and provide a report, to clarify the situation and protect the rights of these three persons. In response, the State first reported on the measures taken to prevent the girl from being removed from national territory and then on returning the girl to her biological family.

 

12.       On July 11, 2002 the Commission renewed the precautionary measures that had been granted on August 27, 2001 on behalf of María Dolores Gómez and her family.  The Commission had granted precautionary measures and requested that the State take steps to protect the life and person of Dr. María Dolores Gómez, public defender in the Province of Buenos Aires, and her family, based on the information received indicating that she had been the victim of a series of threats and harassment. The petitioners alleged that those events, including one attack, anonymous phone calls, and serious threats, were related to the performance of her functions, particularly in connection with protecting the rights of prisoners.  The Commission also asked the State to report on the measures taken to determine the origin of the threats and to try those responsible, and to end the risk to Dr. Gómez, her family, and the witnesses who testified about the threats against her.  Following initial exchanges of information that reported, inter alia, on the protection of the beneficiaries by official security forces, the parties continued to present information and observations on the precautionary measures.  

 

b.       Bolivia

 

13.             On October 3, 2002 the Commission granted precautionary measures on behalf of 52 persons, including two minors, who are carriers of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV/AIDS).The beneficiaries are identified in the file; however, at their request, their identities are being kept confidential in this report.The beneficiaries alleged that in many cases they had turned to State public health systems but had not obtained assistance to undergo the tests necessary to determine how the disease is progressing or to receive the anti-retroviral treatment needed for them to survive.On January 22, 2003 the State presented a photocopy of the report of the National Program on STDs/HIV/AIDS.

 

c.       Brazil

 

14.             On March 14, 2002 the Commission granted precautionary measures on behalf of inmates in the Urso Branco prison, located in Porto Velho, state of Rondonia. In the request for precautionary measures, the Commission was informed that since January 2002 there had been several conflicts between groups of inmates, as well as a massacre among the prisoners, resulting in the deaths of over 30 inmates.The petition indicated that the 47 survivors were at risk of being killed. In light of the State's failure to comply with the precautionary measures, the Commission asked the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to take provisional measures to protect the life and person of inmates in the aforementioned prison.The Court issued those measures on June 18, 2002.

 

15.             On June 4, 2002 the Commission granted precautionary measures on behalf of Iriny Nicolau Corres Lopes.  The request alleged that Mrs. Lopes, a human rights defender in the state of Espíritu Santo, was receiving death threats because of complaints she made in relation to organized crime operating in that state.The precautionary measures requested by the IACHR were aimed at protecting the life and person of Mrs. Lopes and investigating the threats.  On June 14, 2002 the State informed the IACHR that it was complying with the precautionary measures, by providing four federal police officers to protect Mrs. Lopes.  On December 20, 2002 at the request of the petitioners, the Commission extended the precautionary measures for six months.

 

16.             On August 19, 2002, the Commission granted precautionary measures on behalf of Rony Clay Chaves, Rubens Leoncio Pereira, Marcos Massari, and Gilmar Leite Siquiera. The request for precautionary measures indicated that prisoners were taken out of prison intermittently to be used as collaborators in the intelligence activities of a special group of the Military Police of São Paulo known as GARDI. Those activities allegedly include the assassination of 12 persons in an ambush known as Operación Castelinho, planned in advance by the Military Police to present it to public opinion as a successful robbery prevention operation by the Military Police of São Paulo. The protected persons indicated their willingness to testify about their activities and, as a result, had allegedly been threatened both by military police officers and other inmates. The precautionary measures requested by the IACHR were aimed at protecting the life and person of those threatened.On August 26, 2002 the State presented information to the Commission, which was subsequently disputed by the petitioners on October 11, 2002.  Both parties have provided additional information, and the precautionary measures remain in effect.

 

17.             On September 23, 2002 the Commission granted precautionary measures on behalf of Manoel Bezerra, Rosmary Souto, and Luiz Da Silva.The request indicated that along the border between the states of Paraíba and Pernambuco there was an “extermination group” that existed with the acquiescence of the police and state authorities, received financing from local merchants, and had allegedly killed over 100 persons (street children, alleged criminals, and homosexuals) in the last seven years.It alleged that Councilman Manuel Matos and Justice Advocate Rosmary Souto had received death threats for having denounced and investigated those deaths.  It also indicated that Luiz Da Silva was a member of the extermination group and later withdrew from the group and made public statements on its activities; as a result, he was the victim of an attack in which he was shot five times.  The precautionary measures requested by the IACHR were aimed at protecting the life and person of those threatened and at investigating the threats.  The State did not provide any information on compliance with the measures.On October 30, 2002 the petitioners informed the Commission that some of the measures were being fulfilled.

 

18.             On October 29, 2002 the Commission granted precautionary measures on behalf of Zenilda Maria de Araujo and Marcos Luidson de Araujo (Cacique Marquinhos), indigenous leaders of the Xucuru people. The petitioners indicated in their request that for over 13 years they had been awaiting completion of the demarcation of their lands in the state of Pernambuco and that, throughout the process, Xucuru indigenous leaders had been killed or threatened each time implementation of the demarcation process was announced.They added that the process of demarcating land and awarding titles for indigenous lands was at a defining point, endangering the life and person of those for whom protection was sought.The precautionary measures requested by the IACHR were aimed at protecting the life and person of those threatened and investigating the threats.  The State did not provide any information on the compliance with the measures by the deadline and, on January 21, 2003, indicated that Marcos Luidson de Araujo had refused the protection offered to him by the federal government.  The Commission summoned both parties to a hearing to be held in February 2003 during its 117th regular session.

 

19.             On November 21, 2002 the Commission granted precautionary measures on behalf of Elma Soraya Souza Novais.  In this regard, the Commission was told that one of Mrs. Novais’ sons was killed in December 1999; at the insistence of Mrs. Novais and because of her complaints, four military police officers from the state of Pernambuco were tried.  The petitioners claimed that the military police officers allegedly involved had threatened Mrs. Novais and assaulted her in different ways; moreover, one witness to the crime was killed.The precautionary measures requested by the IACHR were aimed at protecting the life and person of Mrs. Novais and investigating the threats.  The State did not provide information on the compliance of the measures by the deadline and, on January 22, 2003, it indicated that it had asked the Federal Police to protect Mrs. Novais, in accordance with the terms requested by the IACHR.  The Commission summoned both parties to a hearing to be held in February 2003 during its117th regular session.

 

d.       Canada

 

20.             On February 19, 2002 the Commission granted precautionary measures to stay the deportation of Ikbal Iskander, a citizen of both Sudan and Egypt, and her four year old daughter, Gina Aziez, a Canadian citizen.  Ms. Iskander's deportation from Canada to Egypt was scheduled for Friday, February 22, 2002.Ms. Iskander sought refuge in Canada and claimed that she fled religious and gender persecution and also an abusive spouse in Egypt.  She claimed to have no knowledge of the whereabouts of her husband and her non­Canadian children.  Her husband is Islamic and she converted from Islam to Coptic Christianity and claims that she would be considered an apostate if deported to Egypt, a predominantly Islamic state.She fears that physical harm would come to her if deported.Her claim for refugee status was denied, as was her application for leave and for judicial review.The Commission noted that Ms. Iskander still had domestic remedies to exhaust and if she were deported those remedies would be rendered moot.The Commission requested that the deportation be stayed and that information on the measures taken by the Government to stay the deportation be presented to the Commission within ten days.At the expiration of ten days, no information was presented with regard to the request for precautionary measures. On July 30, 2002 however, the Commission received information from the State indicating that Ms. Iskander had not been deported. Further information was submitted informally to the effect that on February 21, 2002 the Federal Court of Canada-Trial Division granted the stay of execution of Ms. Iskander's deportation.No further information has been communicated from either party.

 

e.       Colombia

 

21.             On January 2, 2002 the Commission granted precautionary measures on behalf of afro-Colombian communities in 49 hamlets in the Naya river basin in Buenaventura.The available information indicates that since the end of November 2001 there have been approximately 300 paramilitary members in northern Cauca and the southern part of Valle del Cauca, in the municipalities of Timba, Suárez, and Buenos Aires, who have threatened the Naya and Yurumanguí river indigenous, afro-Colombian, and campesino communities.  The petitioners indicated that since December and January 2001, the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) had been present in the upper Naya up to Carmen and Yurumanguí threatening the inhabitants to make them leave the area. On December 27, 2001 the threats were repeated.In its request, the Commission asked the State, firstly, to take steps to provide for unarmed civil protection and effective perimeter control by law enforcement, to prevent armed incursions into the Naya and Yurumanguí basins by the mouth of the Pacific, in consultation with the Naya Community Council and the petitioners. Secondly, the State was asked to take preventive measures, including having a law enforcement presence at the mouths of the Yurumanguí and El Naya as a control measure to prevent illegal actors from entering the hamlets where the afro-Colombian communities reside; and to provide for the immediate and ongoing presence of entities, such as the Office of the Public Prosecutor of the Nation and the Office of the Ombudsman, headquartered in Puerto Merizalde, in coordination with the National Office of the Ombudsman in Bogotá, as dissuasive, preventive mechanisms.  Thirdly, the State was asked to strengthen its early warning system by implementing effective communication systems.Finally, it was asked to launch an investigation into the acts of violence alleged in the request and to try and punish the perpetrators.  In its reply, the State indicated that the Presidential Program for Human Rights and the Ministry of the Interior met with governors and mayors in the region and that law enforcement, the Third Brigade of the National Army, and certain naval units were engaged in intelligence and information-gathering efforts.The Office of the Ombudsman reported that it was implementing ongoing observation in the region, in coordination with the early warning system. The State also reported that the National Human Rights Unit of the Attorney General’s Office was conducting an investigation, which was in the probable cause phase.The Commission has continued to receive complaints from the petitioners about threats and acts of intimidation and violence against the protected communities.

 

22.             On January 11, 2002 the IACHR granted precautionary measures on behalf of 110 members of the La Balsita Living and Working Community in Dabeiba, department of El Chocó. The request indicated that on December 31, 2001 a paramilitary group of approximately 100 men made an incursion into the Caracolón-La España farm–a community property given by the State to the aforementioned displaced community.The information indicated, inter alia, that “...many of the armed men were dressed in camouflage, some with military badges, with special forces emblems. Since then, the population has been intimidated and their provisional houses searched; and the armed men have used community goods and conducted lengthy interrogations of the campesinos and the Catholic monks and nuns who are with them on a permanent basis. [...] The Office of the Vice President […] and the National Office of the Ombudsman have been informed of all these situations; the response the petitioners have received is that the Fourth Brigade is already apprised of the situation.” In response, the State confirmed the permanent presence of law enforcement in the region and an increase in manpower from the Sixth Army Brigade in the municipality. The municipal representative of Dabeiba reported that three complaints of forced disappearance were lodged and are in the preliminary investigation phase. The Social Solidarity Network, in turn, reported on different investments in productive projects, humanitarian assistance, and programs to return the displaced population.

 

23.             On February 8, 2002 the IACHR granted precautionary measures on behalf of Marco Tulio Bustos Ortiz, Jairo Javier Bustos Acuña, and María Esneda Bustos, witnesses in the trial for the Mapiripán massacre that occurred from July 15 to 20, 1997 which gave rise to the processing of Case 12.250 by the IACHR.The Bustos family, whose property was burned and who was displaced as a result of the massacre, had to move over five times due to harassment and threats made against them after they gave statements on the formation of paramilitary groups in Casanare and the alleged involvement of current and former members of the Army. On November 23, 2002 the petitioners informed the IACHR that the beneficiaries had settled in Canada.

 

24.             On February 22, 2002 the IACHR granted precautionary measures on behalf of María Luisa Murillo López, a correspondent for the newspaper El Tiempo; Efraín Jiménez, a correspondent for RCN Radio; and Alfonso Altamar, Manuel Taborda, and Francis Paul Altamar, correspondents for CMI Televisión and Noticias Uno in San Vicente del Caguán, who had received death threats from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) because of their work in journalism.In its reply, the State reported that an evaluation and risk assessment of the beneficiaries was being conducted and humanitarian assistance provided.

 

25.             On March 15, 2002 the IACHR granted precautionary measures on behalf of 40 Embera Chamí indigenous persons in the reservations and settlements of Cañamomo-Lomaprieta, San Lorenzo, Nuestra Señora Candelaria de la Montaña, Escopetera-Pirza, Totumal, La Trina, La Albania, Cerro Tacón, and La Soledad and members of the Regional Indigenous Council of Caldas (CRIDEC).Since June 2001, these communities–which State agents have publicly named as collaborators of the guerillas–had been the victims of threats, harassment, and violence by the AUC.Available information indicated that an armed group made an incursion into the community of Escopetera-Pirza causing material damage, intimidating those present, killing Leonardo Díaz Becerra (former town councilor for the reservation) and wounding Luis Eduardo Flórez (alternate treasurer of the indigenous town council).The petitioners indicated that despite efforts by a number of nongovernmental organizations, the authorities had not taken any steps to prevent paramilitary incursions in the area and did not provide support for going into the area for humanitarian purposes.The IACHR was subsequently informed of the assassination of indigenous leader María Fabiola Largo and an assassination attempt against former indigenous governor Miguel Antonio Largo Pescador, both of whom were beneficiaries of the precautionary measures granted on April 9, 2002 for the Cañamomo-Lomaprieta reservation.The State also reported on a mission conducted by the Administrative Security Department (DAS) to shed light on the attacks, but indicated that the testimony compiled “… did not provide information of interest to individually identify the perpetrators or provide evidence to the investigating authority.”It also said that the Ayacucho Batallion had conducted counter-insurgency raids in Riosucio and that the municipal police were providing security at Community meeting sites. The Commission has continued to receive information on the situation of the indigenous community and the threat of incursions.

 

26.             On March 15, 2002 the IACHR granted precautionary measures on behalf of Rafael Gómez Serrano, Jahel Quiroga Carrillo, Diana Gallego, Luis Alberto Matta, Diana García, Edilma Rosa Granados, Denys Jiménez, Astrid Suárez, Alejandra Vega, and Celmira Moreno, members of the human rights organization REINICIAR, headquartered in Bogotá. According to the request, the beneficiaries had systematically been the victims of verbal and written threats and acts of intimidation, such as being followed and attacks in which they were named as collaborators of dissident armed groups.The Commission decided to grant precautionary measures at its 114th regular session and asked the State, inter alia, to effectively investigate the origin of the threats and harassment and to present information on whether or not the organization’s telephone lines had been tapped illegally.

 

27.             On April 12, 2002 the Commission granted precautionary measures on behalf of Lieutenant Colonel Orozco Castro, a commander assigned to the Seventh Brigade under General Uscátegui during the July 1997 massacre of 49 civilians in Mapiripán, Meta. Lieutenant Colonel Orozco Castro warned his superiors of the imminence of the paramilitary incursion in which the victims were massacred, and his testimony linked senior Army commanders to the investigation.The international responsibility of the State in the aforementioned incidents is being examined in Case 12.250, pending before the IACHR. Because of his statements, the beneficiary had been constantly harassed, and current and former members of the Army have publicly voiced their hostility towards him and acknowledged that he was being followed.  The IACHR has continued to receive information about threats made by the AUC against the beneficiary. In response to the precautionary measures, the State took steps to protect the beneficiary and his family.

 

28.             On April 19, 2002 the Commission granted precautionary measures on behalf of Luz Perly Córdoba Mosquera, Santos Mendoza, Rodrigo Alberto Pacheco, Hugo Alberto Peña, Luis Alfonso Gutiérrez B., Pedro Luis Sosa, Apolinar Herrera, Antonio Yotagri, María Teresa Rincón, and Hermes Villada, members of the Asociación Campesina de Arauca (ACA).The petitioners alleged that after ACA members took part in a campesino demonstration, Mrs. Luz Perly Córdoba was harassed and Henry Neira, director of the ACA Municipal Committee in Saravena, was killed.  On March 13, 2002 Hugo Alberto Peña Camargo, ACA's acting-president was detained by members of the Batallion Héroes de Saraguro battalion, intended to intimidate him.The State reported that the prosecution office assigned to work with the Criminal Law Judges of the Special Circuit in Arauca had delegated in the DAS the criminal investigation into the alleged threats against ACA members.  After precautionary measures were adopted, the petitioners informed the IACHR that the harassment and threats against the beneficiaries had not stopped.

 

29.             On April 25, 2002 the Commission granted precautionary measures on behalf of Amelia Pérez Parra, Leonardo Augusto Cabana Fonseca, Lucía Margarita Luna Prada, Amparo Cerón Ojeda, Luis Augusto Sepúlveda Reyes, and Giovani Alvarez Santoyo, members of the National Human Rights Unit, and Martha Cecilia Camacho, an investigator with the Technical Investigative Body (CTI), who were threatened by paramilitary leaders Carlos Castaño and Salvatore Mancuso because of their involvement in a series of investigations being conducted by the National Human Rights Unit of the Government Attorney’s Office, involving high-level members of the armed forces.One of the prosecutors, Luis Augusto Sepúlveda Reyes, was dismissed from his post on April 23, 2002 before he could issue an arrest warrant. The Commission asked the State to take the necessary steps to protect the life of the beneficiaries and investigate the threats against them.

 

30.             On May 15, 2002 the Commission granted precautionary measures on behalf of Javier Carrascal Martínez, Plinio Rafael Barros Quiñones, Danuil Duran Tellez, Miled Humberto Guerrero, and Juan de Jesus Madarriaga in the municipal capital of El Tarra, department of Norte de Santander.  According to the request received by the Commission, on April 15, 2002 paramilitary groups established checkpoints along the roads leading to the municipality of El Tarra and caused several persons to disappear, after which they announced a “cleansing” campaign in indigenous communities (corregimientos) in the area. It also claims that on April 16, after a clash with the police, paramilitary members took control of the municipal capital and exiled Plinio Rafael Barros Quiniones, Danuil Duran Tellez, Miled Humberto Guerrero, and Juan de Jesus Madarriaga under the threat of extrajudicial execution and death.They also ordered the mayor of El Tarra, Javier Carrascal, to cooperate or else be considered a military target.The petitioners indicated that this situation had led to the displacement of many of the municipality's inhabitants and that there were at least three executions from May 2 to 6, 2002.In its reply, the State indicated that offensive operations were being conducted to banish illegal armed groups and that disciplinary proceedings were being implemented.The petitioners indicated, however, that no steps had been taken to protect the life and person of the beneficiaries and that security conditions in El Tarra continued to deteriorate because paramilitary groups were acting with impunity.

31.             On June 10, 2002 the IACHR granted precautionary measures on behalf of Jesús González Luna, a member of the executive committee of the United Workers Federation (CUT), director of human rights of the CUT, and member of the CRER (Risk Assessment Committee responsible for implementing IACHR precautionary measures in Colombia) who had been continuously receiving threats since 1995 in a context of widespread violence against members of the Colombian union movement, including attacks in which his guards were killed.On May 1, 2002 while he was trying to clarify an incident in which two known members of the AUC were photographing and filming participants in the Labor Day march in Cali, Jesús González Luna and his guard were surrounded by a dozen police officers dressed in black and were truncheoned and kicked. The State told the IACHR that the investigation into the events of May 1, 2002 was in the hands of the National Police Division, Cali district, at the instructions of the Presidential Program on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law.  Regarding the protection plan designed for the beneficiary, the CRER recommended granting special humanitarian aid, facilitating monthly air tickets, and reinforcing the Cali residence of Jesús González Luna.

 

32.             On June 21, 2002, the IACHR granted precautionary measures on behalf of Gustavo Petro Urrego, a parliamentarian with a well-known track record in the area of human rights.  According to the request received by the IACHR, there had been evidence of plans to take the beneficiary’s life since February 2002 and Carlos Castaño told a government official over the telephone that the beneficiary “…would no longer be a problem" after July 20, 2002 the date on which the parliamentarian was to resume his functions in Congress.  During its 116th regular session, the IACHR granted a hearing at the request of the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation, to follow up on the validity of these precautionary measures.

 

33.             On July 15, 2002 the IACHR granted precautionary measures on behalf of Pablo Bustos Sánchez, director of the so-called Citizen’s Watch Committee, which reports corruption in the administration of public resources to judicial and control agencies.  This activity has made members of the Watch Committee the subject of constant threats and persecution throughout the country, and six of them had been killed in the last three years.The petitioners alleged that they learned, through reliable sources, that there was a plan in place to kill Pablo Bustos Sánchez.Three days after precautionary measures were ordered, the beneficiary received an anonymous letter at home threatening him and his family with death, and his wife was assaulted on the highway.The beneficiary asked the State to strengthen its protection plan, which is headed up by the DAS.

 

34.             On July 15, 2002 the Commission granted precautionary measures on behalf of Luis Felipe Santiago León, an activist in the Unión Patriótica political movement who was the police inspector for the municipio of Iconozo (Tolima) through June 1, 2002. The petitioners indicated that in the early morning of April 17, 2002 Mr. Santiago León was attacked at his residence with an incendiary bomb, grenade, and gunfire. They indicated that they found pamphlets with the inscription “Grupo Justiciero 14 de julio de 1997” [July 14, 1997 Avengers] announcing new attacks and informing him that the Tolima Bloc of the AUC had declared him a military target. As a result, the beneficiary was forced to resign from his post as police inspector and leave the municipality. The petitioners allege that, despite his displacement, Mr. Luis Felipe Santiago León’s life continues to be in danger. He has moved several times, since he is constantly being followed. Although the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation investigated the situation preliminarily, no case was opened. The State reported that the Attorney General’s Office suggested that the investigation be transferred to the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Unit.

 

35.             On July 19, 2002 the IACHR granted precautionary measures on behalf of 46 workers (physicians and auxiliary and administrative personnel) at the Hospital del Municipio de Puerto Lleras, department of Meta.According to the information received by the Commission, on June 26, 2002, Front 43 of the FARC-EP convened a meeting of health workers at the Hospital and ordered them to resign from the posts and leave the location.The petitioners alleged that some workers at the Hospital de Puerto Lleras had received direct threats.Mr. Leonidas Buitrago was detained by the Army and accused of assisting the insurgency.  Mrs. Milagros Ipia Miranda and Mrs. Betzabeth López were threatened by paramilitary members and accused of helping the insurgency.On July 3, 2002, James Bonilla Jiménez, a worker at the Centro de Salud de Caño Rayado, which is part of the Hospital de Puerto Lleras, was threatened by paramilitary members for helping the insurgency. In its reply, the State reported that it entrusted the Commission of prosecutors assigned to work with the Criminal Judges of the Special Circuit Court in the city of Villavicencio with launching criminal investigations into the alleged threats made to the beneficiaries. Regarding protective measures, the State indicated that it had alerted the Seventh Army Brigade and that the beneficiaries have been working as usual since July 6, 2002.

 

36.             On July 19, 2002 the Commission granted precautionary measures on behalf of members of the National Solidarity Aid Association (ANDAS) and social leaders in Santander.  On June 23, 2002 the Fidel Castaño Gil Urban Front, Bolívar Central Bloc of the AUC released a public document ordering ten social leaders in Bucaramanga, Santander and surrounding areas to leave the region or lose their lives. Specifically, the threats were made to Hernando Maldonado, a university professor who has handled projects on displaced persons; Wilson Vega Castro, president of the Association of Displaced Persons of Bucaramanga; Julio Avella García, founder of ANDAS; Mercedes Usuga, age 75, leader of the UP in the Urabá region; Luis Antonio Núñez, treasurer of the Association of Displaced Persons of the Municipality de Girón, who had already been assaulted; Alvaro Tapias, president of the Santander section of ANDAS; Belcy Rincón, founder of the Santander section of ANDAS and wife of a UP leader killed in 1998; María Gutriérrez, ANDAS spokeswoman in Santander; and Nicanor Arciniegas, president of the Association of Displaced Persons of Piedecuesta. In response, the State informed the IACHR that risk assessments were being performed for the beneficiaries and indicated that the investigation into the threats was being conducted by the Third Prosecutor with the Special Criminal Courts; however, the IACHR did not receive information on progress made in that connection.

 

37.             On July 25, 2002 the IACHR granted precautionary measures on behalf of journalists Alveiro Echavarría, Alvaro Miguel Mima, Luis Eduardo Reyez (or Reyes), Hugo Mario Palomari (or Palomar), Humberto Briñez, Wilson Barco, and Mario Fernando Prado. The information received by the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression indicated that on July 19, 2002 the RCN news program in Cali, department of Valle de Cauca, received a pamphlet from the Manuel Cepeda Vargas Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) which read: “…in light of the tendentious information from several media outlets and persons who call themselves journalists, but who are nothing more than puppets of President Pastrana’s military regime, our organization has decided to call on the following journalists to leave the city of Cali within 72 hours or else become military targets of our organization...” The information provided by the petitioners indicated that the Ministry of the Interior’s Program to Protect Journalists and Social Communicators had taken safety measures to protect the aforementioned journalists for a period of only five days. The State reported on the performance of police patrols and continuous accompaniment by a guard and indicated that the investigation into the threats had been assigned to a prosecutor with the Unit for Crimes against Individual Liberty and Other Guarantees.

 

38.             On July 29, 2002 the Commission granted precautionary measures on behalf of 14 social leaders from the department of Arauca.A violent paramilitary offensive was launched in September 2001 in the municipalities of Tame, Puerto Rondón, and Cravo Norte.This situation led to a public statement by the United Nations, mobilization of social sectors in Arauca, and finally a commitment signed on March 4, 2002 with the national government, which pledged to ensure law enforcement presence.The petitioners alleged that the persons named as beneficiaries in the request played a key role in the mobilization and the signature of this agreement and that some of them were on a list of “military targets” found by the Attorney General’s Office in the possession of paramilitary leader Jesús Emiro Pereira, who was captured in December 2001.  The petitioners feel that because of their high profile as spokespeople for their communities, these social leaders are at serious risk of being attacked by the AUC.  They had learned that a group of assassins had been hired by the AUC to kill the social, political, and union leaders and communicators on the list.  On November 8, 2002, human rights defender José Rusbell Lara was killed; he was a member of the Joel Sierra Regional Human Rights Committee and was a beneficiary of the precautionary measures.In a press release, the IACHR condemned the killing, which occurred in the municipal capital of Tame, and urged the State to exhaustively investigate this crime, prosecute and punish the perpetrators, and ensure that the rest of the human rights defenders covered by the Commission’s request receive due protection (See press release 45/02).

 

39.            

 

40.             On August 6, 2002 the IACHR granted precautionary measures on behalf of members of the Colombian Legal Foundation (CORPOJURÍDICO), headquartered in Apartadó, Antioquia, and the relatives of the victim in petition P0597/2001 on the disappearance of Alcides Torres Arias. The petitioner requested a hearing to present the testimony of the victim’s mother during the 114th regular session of the IACHR in Washington, D.C.; however, before departing, attorney María del Carmen Flores Jaime, a member of CORPOJURÍDICO, was killed after she met with the victim’s mother. The petitioners claim that, since then, they have received threats and members of the organization have had to move or go into exile abroad for security reasons.

 

41.             On August 27, 2002 the IACHR granted precautionary measures on behalf of Diego Osorio, Carlos Valencia, Aide Trujillo, Rodrígo López, Vicente Villarda, Gerardo Santibáñez, Guillermo Cardona, Domingo Taboparda, Adriana, Gonélez, María Teresa Henao, and others.On August 21, 2002 the Risaralda Teacher’s Union (SER) received a leaflet by fax signed by the self-appointed Cacique Calarcá Bloc of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) ordering them to “leave the region within 15 days. If not, our units will take the actions set forth by our general command.”The letter specifically named the following members of the United Workers Union (CUT) and the Human Rights Committee (CDH): Diego Osorio, district president of the CUT; Carlos Valencia, treasurer of the executive committee of the CUT branch; Aide Trujillo, president of the Risaralda Teacher’s Union (SER); Rodrigo López, vice president of the SER; Vicente Villada, treasurer of the executive committee of the SER branch; Gerardo Santibáñez, secretary general of the Public Company Workers Union (SINTRAEMDES); Guillermo Cardona, President of the Risaralda branch of the Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CPDH); Domingo Taborda, vice president of the Risaralda branch of the CPDH; Adriana González, secretary general of the Risaralda branch of the CPDH and member of the national executive committee of the "Eduardo Umaña Mendoza" Association of Defense Lawyers; María Teresa Henao, Risaralda branch of the CPDH; Gustavo Marín, Risaralda branch of the CPDH; Dover Hoyos, Risaralda branch of the CPDH; and Hernando Aguirre, Risaralda branch of the CPDH.With regard to the protective measures taken by the State, the IACHR received information on the reinforcement of the headquarters of the CUT, SINTRAEMSDES, and the SER in October.Regarding implementation of protection plans, the State reported that it was still awaiting the results of the risk assessments, although it did approve the provision of national airplane tickets for 13 of the beneficiaries. The State also indicated that the National Police had conducted different raids in the region, to dismantle self-defense and guerilla groups in the region.The National Human Rights Unit is responsible for the criminal investigations into the illegal placement of constraints on members of the CPDH and CUT of Risaralda.

 

42.             On October 2, 2002 the Commission granted precautionary measures on behalf of one person infected with HIV/AIDS.According to the request, on August 15, 2002 the beneficiary, who lived alone and did not have any income, became unemployed and hence was cut off of social insurance.Because the Colombian state offered access to treatment for this disease through that vehicle, the beneficiary was automatically removed from the HIV/AIDS program that he had been involved with since November 1994, which provided him with anti-retroviral treatment (AZT 3TCIDV).  According to Pan American Health Organization standards, suspension of this treatment for a person infected with HIV/AIDS is fatal.The Commission asked the State to resume the beneficiary’s treatment. In response, the State took steps to include the beneficiary in an ad hoc program providing access to anti-retroviral treatment.

 

43.             On October 4, 2002 the Commission granted precautionary measures in favor of Antonio García Barrios, Israel Barreiro D., Henry Gordon A., Magangue, Jesús Tovar C., Lidys Jaraba B., Carmen Torres de Orozco, Nicolás Castro O., Edgar Pua Samper, Tomas Ramos Quiroz, José Meriño Camelo, Euripides Yance Rodríguez, Campo Elias Quintero Ortiz, Limberto Carranza Vanegas, Magangue, Jaime Camargo, Ismael Martínez Salcedo, Evelio Mancera Sánchez, Agedo Llorente Arteagas, Jaime Castillo Rogero, Plinio Avila Cassianis, Hernán Arturo Durango Patrillau, Luis Fernando Arevalo Restrepo, members of the subdirective of the Department of Atlántico of the Central Trade Union.The request presented to the Commission indicates that the beneficiaries were declared a military objective by the AUC.Illegal armed groups under the denomination of “Los Chamos”, "Los Mezas”, “Muerte a activistas revolucionarios” and “Braca el que no falla” distributed written threats in the metropolitan area which read “you will suffer the same fate as Ricardo Orozco, because you are guerrillas.”Mr. Orozco was an ANTHOC union leader, assassinated on September 27, 2001.  The State reported on the provision of security measures and the initiation of a formal investigation regarding these threats.

 

44.             On October 29, 2002 the Commission granted precautionary measures on behalf of Dr. Teresa Cedeño Galíndez, president of the Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CPDH) of Arauca.The petitioners claimed that on October 2, 2002 a man who identified himself as Commander Mario of the AUC made repeated calls to the cell phone of attorney Teresa de Jesús Cedeño Galíndez, threatening her with death and ordering her to leave the city and to “stop defending the guerillas.”He also said that he would post a guard at her house and expected not to see her there.  The AUC commander repeated the calls and a prosecutor from the support structure had the opportunity to verify the veracity of the calls and threats.  On October 22, 2002, Dr. Cedeño Galíndez detected persons following her, as well as movement of suspicious persons in front of her home.In its reply, the State reported that the prosecution office assigned to work with the Criminal Law Judges of the Special Circuit in Arauca was in the preliminary phases of an investigation and the Ministry of the Interior had evaluated the situation of Teresa Cedeño Galíndez and provided the beneficiary with a transportation and cellular telephone allowance.

 

45.             On November 7, 2002 the IACHR granted precautionary measures to protect the lives and persons of 515 families of Afro-Colombian descent (2,125 persons), members of the Jiguamiandó Basin Community Council, who reside on 54,973 hectares of land, and families in the Curbaradó Basin, who live on 25,000 hectares of land, in the municipality of Carmen del Darién, department of El Chocó, land collectively titled to them by the national government on May 21, 2001. According to the information received, starting in January 2001 and particularly after the collective titles were given for the territory of communities of Afro-Colombian descent, in accordance with Law 70 and the Constitution of 1991, there has been a series of acts of violence, murders, and forced displacements that had led nine communities in the Community Council of Curbaradó to seek refuge in the Collective Territory of Jiguamiandó and caused over 20 Afro-Colombian communities to flee deep into the jungle.  In October 2002, armed paramilitary actions began to intensify and to occupy the collectively owned land, penetrate the communities’ jungle refuges, and surround their departure routes.On October 16, 2002 approximately 160 men in military dress, wearing AUC armbands, entered the Uradá indian reservation and threatened the indigenous communities, saying: “either you join us or you leave. The next incursion will be into the communities of Puerto Lleras and Pueblo Nuevo; from there we are going to sweep these communities; either you join us or you leave; you have to plant palm and coca; you are either with us or you leave.” In the last week of October and the first week of November, 2002, there was movement by “armed civilians” in the area around where the families from Jiguamiandó and Curbaradó had sought refuge, in some cases from paramilitary groups in Brisas, Cetino, Belén de Bajirá near the presence of the Seventeenth Army Brigade and the point where control actions are conducted on the Atrato River.The IACHR asked the State, inter alia, to take preventive measures for perimeter control and to fight paramilitary action in the Atrato River and other areas of influence, in order to protect the beneficiary communities; facilitate the operation of an early warning system, including an adequate, reliable communications system with humanitarian areas; ensure the institutional presence of entities such as the Office of the Ombudsman, and the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation in the humanitarian areas defined by the community (Remacho, Pueblo Nuevo, Nueva Esperanza); take humanitarian measures to return the displaced families to the humanitarian areas established by the communities; effectively investigate the acts of violence and threats justifying the adoption of precautionary measures; and prosecute and punish the perpetrators.  Nonetheless, the Commission has continued to receive information in connection with ongoing armed incursions into the territory of the protected communities and on the human crisis that has befallen the beneficiaries.

 

46.             On November 7, 2002 the IACHR granted precautionary measures on behalf of Virgilio Hernández Castellanos, who in the past twelve years has held the positions of judge, regional prosecutor, director of the attorney general’s office, chief of the National Human Rights Unit, and chief of the National Anti-Corruption Unit of the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation. According to the background information, during his tenure as chief of the National Human Rights Unit from 1997 to 1999, the beneficiary received direct and/or veiled threats from Víctor Carranza Niño, Carlos Castaño, “Commander Yara”, El Zarco, Co. Hernando Navas Rubio, Nelson Lesmes, and others accused of committing serious human rights violations.On September 27, 2002 in an interview circulated in the media, Carlos Castaño, commander of the AUC, said: “ ...I believe that the current attorney general deserves all due respect, our full confidence, however before... you only have to look at the human rights unit, at Virgilio Hernández, ... people who support the guerrillas. Since I was going to surrender, I am surrendering to justice, not to the enemy.” This statement by the AUC commander rendered the beneficiary a target for that armed organization. The IACHR has learned that the beneficiary temporarily left the territorial jurisdiction in order to protect himself.

 

47.             On November 14, 2002 the Commission requested precautionary measures on behalf of 22 health workers in the hospitals of Puerto Rico, Paujil, and Curillo in Caqueta and San Vicente del Caguán. The petitioners mentioned a series of acts of violence, threats, and displacements that occurred from April to October 2002. They indicated that on April 18, 2002 Jhon Fredy Marin, branch president of the National Association of Hospital and Clinic Workers (ANTHOC), vaccinator, and health worker in the municipio of Curillo in Caquetá, was killed by members of the AUC. They also indicate, inter alia, that on August 6, 2002, the FARC-EP established a checkpoint at the health post along the highway connecting the municipality of Puerto Rico with San Vicente del Cagúan, where health aid María Lilia Ramírez works and lives with her family. She later received a death threat from the AUC, giving her 12 hours to leave the region. On September 27, 2002 nursing assistants Norbery Caicedo Matiz and Luz Marina León, who work at the Local Hospital of Puerto Rico, received death threats from the AUC against themselves and their families, because of their health-related activities, which that group feels help the insurgency.

 

48.             On November 19, 2002 the Commission granted precautionary measures on behalf of Mrs. Marta Lucía Rentería Barreiro, civic representative of Jamundí and human rights defender.The beneficiary had denounced cases of corruption in different municipalities in Valle del Cauca, which led the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation to launch investigations and resulted in disciplinary investigations against civil servants.She also denounced serious acts of violence in the department of Valle del Cauca, particularly in the municipality of Jamundí, that had led to the death, disappearance, and displacement of hundreds of persons.  The petitioners alleged that, as a result, her life was in danger and that she was the victim of harassment and threats and was followed in June, July, August, and September 2002.  They indicated that both civil servants and paramilitary groups operating in Valle del Cauca were behind these incidents and that other popularly-elected civic representatives in the municipality had been murdered and that those crimes had gone unpunished.They also claimed that she had been the victim of systematic harassment.  In its reply, the State indicated that the Unit on Crimes against Individual Liberty and Other Guarantees, Unit 28, in Santiago de Cali is in the preliminary phase of investigations into the alleged offense of making threats.  The Technical Investigative Body (CTI) is responsible for providing protection to the beneficiary and her family, a measure taken along with security rounds by the National Police, while waiting for the risk assessment to be conducted by the DAS.

 

49.             On November 21, 2002 the IACHR granted precautionary measures on behalf of Jairo Pinzón López, Pedro Elías Quinteros Montejo, Omar Ramírez Rincón, Holger Antonio Pérez Quintero, Carlos Daniel Botello Correa, Ramón Angarita Peñaranda, Héctor Mauricio, Zambrano Pinto, Hernán Andrés Molina, Javier Serrano Ramírez, and Evelio Guerrero, officials and inhabitants of the municipality of San Calixto, Norte de Santander. According to the information received by the IACHR since October 5, 2002 a paramilitary group led by a former member of Infantry Batallion Nº 15 of the Fifth Brigade, known as Reinel Lobo, began to operate, with the consent of the Army, in the municipality of Teorema and from there is planning to deploy to the municipality of San Calixto in Norte de Santander. Mr. Lobo was one of the false witnesses presented by the Fifth Brigade in a trial on open rebellion against several public officials and residents of San Calixto that eventually was shelved definitively.The petitioners alleged that on November 4, 2002 Reinel Lobo and Army Captain Frailes Amarís Rico went up and down the streets of San Calixto commenting that they had a list of persons to kill at the request of paramilitary members.On November 15, 2002 a contingent of 200 paramilitary members was positioned in the La Quina district, three kilometers from the municipal capital of San Calixto (and two kilometers from the military base).  The petitioners alleged that this caused social panic and led to the displacement of many of San Calixto’s inhabitants, including town and political leaders.  The petitioners indicated that this situation was reported to authorities with the Fifth Brigade, the Office of the Ombudsman, the Office of the Attorney General, and the central government, however no measures had been taken.

 

f.                 Cuba

 

50.             On December 6, 2002 the Commission granted precautionary measures on behalf of Francisco Chaviano González, who has been denied freedom since 1994, when he was detained while serving as president of the National Civil Rights Council in Cuba. Mr. Chaviano suffers from many ailments, including a back tumor, respiratory difficulties, a chronic infection in one ear, and a peptic ulcer.  The petitioners alleged that prison authorities had denied the prisoner specialized medical care and refused to authorize an analysis to determine the nature of his tumor.The Commission asked the Cuban government to provide Mr. Chaviano with specialized medical care.The State did not report to the IACHR on the measures adopted.

 

g.       Dominican Republic

 

51.             On August 14, 2002 the Commission granted precautionary measures on behalf of ten carriers of HIV/AIDS. The beneficiaries are identified in the file, however, at their request, their identity is being kept confidential in this report. The petitioners allege that the beneficiaries went to health centers or hospitals, but were not given the drug treatment needed to fight the disease. As a result, the immune systems of these ten persons are in a critical state, with low CD4 counts, and they do not have access to clinical tests to monitor how the disease is progressing. On September 3, 2002, the State indicated that it would provide comprehensive care to the beneficiaries within four months and would supply drugs to selected patients who meet the criteria set by the National Commission on Anti-Retroviral Drugs (composed, inter alia, of DIGECITSS, COPRESIDA, PAHO/WHO, REDOVIH, the Dominican Society of Infectology, Subsecretariat of Drugs and Pharmacies, and UNAIDS) in accordance with the availability of the resources allocated for 2002. On September 16 and 26, 2002, the IACHR broadened the precautionary measures on behalf of others, at the petitioners’ request, covering 119 persons with HIV/AIDS. Despite the State’s comments, the petitioners informed the Commission that they have not yet received anti-retroviral drugs.

 

h.       Ecuador

 

52.             On February 11, 2002 the Commission granted precautionary measures in favor of Ecuadorian Navy Captain Rogelio Viteri and his family. Captain Viteri had been the target of death threats as a result of his allegations of corruption against members of the Ecuadorian Army. The Commission requested the Government to protect the life and physical integrity of Captain Viteri, his wife and their two children and to investigate the situation.On March 6, 2002 the State indicated that on February 15, 2002 an officer and four policemen were assigned to provide protection and security to Captain Viteri and his family.In March, Captain Viteri informed the Commission that he had been imprisoned for 23 days, that his functions as naval attaché had been terminated and that he would no longer be eligible for promotions.  The beneficiary also informed the Commission that on August 28, 2002 the Primera Sala del Tribunal Constitucional, granted his constitutional amparo, and made it possible for him to seek damages for the arrests and detentions that he suffered.

 

53.             On July 9, 2002 the Commission granted precautionary measures on behalf of six Ecuadorian citizens who claimed to be HIV/AIDS carriers.For reasons of confidentiality their names are in the Commission's files but not listed in this Annual Report.The petitioners argued, inter alia, that State health agencies had failed to provide the beneficiaries with basic testing to determine the course of the disease as well as adequate treatment.The Commission requested that the State provide the beneficiaries with the medical examination and treatment indispensable for their survival.  The petitioners filed a second, third and fourth requests bringing the total number of affected persons, by August 12, 2002, to 54.With each request, the Commission extended the precautionary measures of July 9, 2002.  On August 26, 2002 the State indicated that the original six HIV/AIDS carriers were receiving medical attention and that the Ministry of Health had acquired medication to prevent mother-child transmission for 100 women and to assist approximately 120 persons with HIV.Subsequently, the petitioners filed additional fifth and sixth requests, bringing the total number of affected persons by September 23, 2002 to 153 persons. Precautionary measures were requested in these cases as well.On October 15, 2002 the Commission held a hearing on this matter, at the request of the State.The petitioners have informed the Commission that approximately 18 HIV/AIDS carriers in this group have died.

 

 

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[1] For an explanation on the situation in Ciudad Juárez, please see the report of the Special Rapporteur for Women’s Rights in Chapter VI of this Annual Report.

[2] For an explanation on the situation in Ciudad Juárez, please see the report of the Special Rapporteur for Women’s Rights in Chapter VI of this Annual Report.