InterReligious Task Force on Central America
3606 Bridge Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44113
tel: 216.961.0003 fax: 216.961.0002 e-mail: irtf@irtfcleveland.org
Excmo. Sr. Presidente Gustavo Petro Urrego President of the Republic of Colombia contacto@presidencia.gov.co | Sr. Fiscal Francisco Barbosa Delgado Attorney General of Colombia |
January 11, 2023
Dear Sirs:
We are deeply concerned for the safety and security of social leader Darnelly Rodríguez in Cali, Valle del Cauca Department. On December 24, 2022, she received a death threat from the paramilitary organization Autodefensas Gaitanistas (AGC, or Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces) that listed her by name.
Darnelly Rodríguez is the director of Centro Pazífico, a Cali-based community center that provides temporary housing for threatened social movement leaders; lodging for human rights monitors; trainings for activists, labor leaders, and human rights monitors; and meeting space for popular movement organizers. Serving one of the regions most affected by Colombia's political violence, Centro Pazífico, operated by the Francisco Isaias Cifuentes Human Rights Network, is a refuge for social leaders fleeing violence.
This is one of multiple threats that Darnelly Rodríguez has received from the AGC since the Centro Pazífico opened. These threats have been sent by email, left at public buildings, even delivered to her home. Earlier this year, her office at the Centro Pazífico was broken into; files and computer USB thumb drives were taken.
Darnelly Rodríguez is a highly-respected human rights defender, having been nominated for the 2022 Colombia National Human Rights Prize. Because of our concern for her safety, we urge that you
- conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the threats against Darnelly Rodríguez and the break-in at her office, publish the results, and bring those responsible to justice
- instruct the Risk Re-assessment Committee to review the case of Darnelly Rodríguez
- instruct the Unidad de Protección Nacional (UNP, or National Protection Unit) to coordinate a protection scheme with Darnelly Rodríguez, in strict accordance with her wishes
Sincerely,
Brian J. Stefan Szittai and Christine Stonebraker-Martínez
Co-Coordinators
copies: Augusto Rodríguez Ballesteros, Director de la Unidad Nacional de Protección (UNP) ~ via email
Alfonso Prada Gil, Ministro del Interior ~ via email
Luis Gilberto Murillo, Ambassador of Colombia to the US ~ via email, US mail
Joel Hernández García, Rapporteur for Colombia , Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) ~ via email, US mail
UN: Juliette De Rivero, Representative in Colombia of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights ~ via email
US Embassy: Francisco Palmieri (Chargé d’Affaires, ad interim); Sandra Lee (human rights); Mariel Chatman (vulnerable populations) ~ via email
US State Department: Christine Russell, Desk Officer for Colombia ~ via email
US Senators Brown & Vance from Ohio ~ via email
US Representatives from Ohio: Balderson, Beatty, Brown, Johnson, Jordan, Joyce, Kaptur, Latta, Miller, Sykes ~ via email
06 JAN 2023_AfGJ_Colombia
