Colombia: Masacre by paramilitary group

                         Case COL 041198

The International Secretariat of the OMCT requests your URGENT 
intervention in regard to the following situation in Colombia: 

Brief description of the situation :

The International Secretariat of the OMCT was informed by several 
sources including "Agir Ensemble pour les Droits de l'Homme" and the 
"Comité de Solidaridad con los Presos Políticos", members of the OMCT 
network, that on October 25 1998, a paramilitary group carried out a 
massacre in the municipality of San Carlos, Department of Antioquia.

According to the information, a paramilitary group of about 200 persons 
traveling in seven trucks went from neighborhood to neighborhood, from 
home to home, killing 11 people and forcibly disappearing 15 others.  

OMCT notes that the army left the area forty hours prior to the 
paramilitary incursion.

According to information received, despite petitions from Human Rights 
Non-Governmental Organizations of the Department of Antioquia and 
the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Government remains 
indifferent to the investigation of the events.
 
Furthermore,  according to the information, the bodies of the 15 
disappeared persons were disposed in a dam located in the municipality.  
Their families are trying to retrieve them with no help from the authorities.

Action requested: 

Please write to the Colombian authorities urging them to :

i.- carry out a serious and impartial investigation of the massacre 
    that took place in the municipality of San Carlos, Antioquia 
    Department, and order the necessary measures to investigate 
    and put an end to the presumed complicity of the members of 
    the army and paramilitary groups to identify those responsible 
    for the facts aforementioned, bring them to trial and apply the 
    penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;

ii.-ensure that the families of the persons killed and disappeared 
    and the community they belonged obtain adequate 
    compensation;

  iii.-immediately comply with the recommendations set up by 
    international bodies and human rights Non-Governmental 
    Organizations;

  iv.-guarantee the effective respect of human rights and 
    fundamental freedoms in accordance with national law and in 
    compliance with the State's obligations under the international 
    law and, in general, with human rights international standards.

  Addresses:

S.E. Doctor Andrés Pastrana Arango, Presidente de la República de 
Colombia, Palacio de Nariño, Santafé de Bogotá. Colombia.  Fax : 571 
2867434.   

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 Humberto Martínez Neira, Ministro del Interior, Carrera 8 Nº 8-09, 
Santafé de Bogotá. Colombia. Fax: (571) 2815884 

Doctor Rodrigo Lloreda Caicedo, Ministro de Defensa, Avenida El 
Dorado con Carrera 52 CAN, Santafé de Bogotá, CAN, Colombia . Fax: 
(571) 288 49 06

Geneva,  4 November 1998

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.