Death threat at gunpoint against member of CREDHOS

PBI expresses its profound concern regarding the threat received by Abelardo Sánchez Serrano, member of the board of directors of the Regional Corporation for Human Rights Defence (CREDHOS), on 13 January 2012 in Barrancabermeja. As reported to the Attorney General’s office, two men on a high-speed motorcycle intimidated, reproached and threatened Abelardo Sánchez with a gun, telling him that he should “stop denigrating the armed forces, we already have a son of a bitch guerrilla from Credhos in jail and if it’s necessary to take care of the rest, well we’ll do so to shut them up; and before leaving, they said that he had seventy-two hours to leave the city.”

CREDHOS was formed in the city of Barrancabermeja and focuses its work on training and education about human rights and International Humanitarian Law, and on collecting formal complaints regarding human rights abuses and crimes against humanity committed by presumed paramilitaries and members of the Armed Forces, particularly cases of extrajudicial executions, in the region. PBI has accompanied CREDHOS since arriving in Colombia in 1994.

Given this situation of grave risk, PBI asks the International Community to urge the Colombia State:

• To investigate the threat in order to sanction those responsible and to guarantee that the events are not repeated;
• To implement protection measures, agreed upon with CREDHOS, to protect the lives of Abelardo Sánchez and the other members of CREDHOS;
• That President Juan Manuel Santos publicly supports the human rights, victims’ and lawyers’ organizations that seek truth, justice and reparation, particularly those that work on cases against State agents;
• That high-ranking government officials, particularly the President, express public support for commemorative acts or other initiatives by victims’ or social organizations related to emblematic cases of human rights abuses, with the purpose of publicly supporting the search for truth and reparation for victims.

Similarly, PBI requests that the International Community:

• Publicly condemns any threat or act of aggression against human rights defenders or victims reclaiming their rights;
• Demonstrates public support for the work of CREDHOS;
• Highlights its support of CREDHOS through visits to its headquarters in Barrancabermeja;
• Accompanies the victims and human rights organizations in commemorative acts of emblematic cases, like that of the La Rochela massacre.

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