AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

View Alerts By > Case | Date | Country | Victim

AAAS Human Rights Action Network

FACTS OF THE CASE:

AAAS is concerned about recent attacks against researchers working on human rights issues in Colombia, most notably the murder of Professor Hernan Henao Delgado on 4 May by presumed paramilitaries and the 30 April "disappearance" of Professor Dario Betancourt Echeverry. Professor Henao was an anthropologist and the director of the Institute of Regional Studies at the University of Antioquia. He had conducted extensive research on human rights, conflict, cultural diversity, and other social justice issues, studying in particular the living conditions of internally displaced populations in Colombia. Professor Betancourt, head of the social sciences department at the National University of Educational Sciences in Bogota, is a well-known specialist on violence who has conducted extensive research on human rights violations in Colombia. His kidnapping may have been politically motivated.

The killing of Professor Henao and the disappearance of Professor Betancourt are just two in a series of attacks that have been documented against university professors in Colombia, especially those who investigate social and human rights issues. On 6 May, Professor Argiro Giraldo Quintero, a law professor at the Cooperative University of Colombia, was shot at as he drove away from the University, but he survived the attack. Seven professors have been murdered in the last ten years at the University of Antioquia alone.

Widespread and systematic human rights violations have been documented in Colombia in recent years, including extrajudicial executions, "disappearances," torture, and arbitrary arrest. Kidnapping and hostage taking by armed opposition groups occur frequently, as do serious human rights violations committed with virtual impunity by members of the Colombian security forces and their paramilitary allies. Scholars who study the growing phenomenon of internal refugees in Colombia have recently become popular targets of threat and attack by paramilitary forces.

The murder of Professor Henao, the disappearance of Professor Betancourt, and the attempt on the life of Professor Quintero constitute serious violations of international human rights standards, including protections listed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (adopted without opposition by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ratified by Colombia on 29 October 1969), and the American Convention on Human Rights (ratified by Colombia on 31 July 1973). They include:

Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

• Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person (Article 3);
• everyone has the right to freedom of expression (Article 19); and
• everyone has the right to freedom of association (Article 20).

Under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights:

• Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention (Article 9);
• everyone has the right to freedom of expression (Article 19); and
• everyone has the right to freedom of association (Article 22).

Under the American Convention on Human Rights:

• Everyone has the right to life (Article 4);
• everyone has the right to personal liberty and security. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or imprisonment (Article 7);
• everyone has the right to freedom of thought and expression (Article 13); and
• everyone has the right to freedom of association (Article 16).

(Sources of information for this case are Amnesty International and the American Anthropological Association.)

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Please send telexes, telegrams, faxes or airmail letters:

• Expressing concern for the murder of Professor Hernan Henao Delgado on 4 May, the "disappearance" of Professor Dario Betancourt Echeverry on 30 April 1999, and the attempted murder of Professor Argiro Giraldo Quintero on 6 May; and
• urging that full and impartial investigations of these incidents be undertaken, that the results of such investigations be made public, and that those responsible be brought to justice.

APPEAL AND INQUIRY MESSAGES SHOULD BE SENT TO:

Senor Presidente Andres Pastrana
Presidente de la Republica
Palacio de Narino
Carrera 8 No. 7-26
Santafe de Bogota, Colombia
Fax: 011 57 1 286 7434/ 284 2186/ 337 1351
Salutation: Excelentisimo Sr. Presidente/ Dear President Pastr

Dr. Alfonso Gomez Mendez
Fiscal General de la Nacion
Fiscalia General de la Nacion
Diagonal 22B 5201
Apartado Aereo 29855
Santafe de Bogota, Colombia
Fax: 011 57 1 570 2022
Salutation: Estimado Dr./Dear Dr. Gomez

Dr. Nestor Humberto Martinez
Ministro del Interior
Ministerio del Interior
Carrera 8, No. 8-09, Paso 2
Santafe de Bogota, Colombia
Fax: 011 57 1 286 8025
Salutation: Sr. Ministro/Dear Minister

COPIES SENT TO:

Fundacion Manuel Cepeda Vargas
AA 28233
Santafe de Bogota, Colombia


Ambassador Luis Alberto Moreno
Embassy of Colombia
2118 Leroy Pl., NW
Washington, DC 20008


Ambassador Curtis Warren Kamman
Embassy of the United States
Calle 22D-BIS, No. 47-51
Apartado Aereo 3831
APO AA 34038
Fax: 011 57 1 315 2197

Main | CSFR Letters | Science and Human Rights Program