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Brussels 17 March 2005

Dr. Alvaro Uribe
Presidente de la República


CC

Dr. Francisco Santos
Vicepresidente de la República

Dr. Jorge Alberto Uribe Echevarria
Ministro de Defensa

Dra. Carolina Barco
Canciller

Dr. Luis Camilo Osorio
Fiscal General


Dear Sir/Madam,

The undersigned Members of the European Parliament wish to express our deep concern at the massacre which was carried out in the district of San José de Apartadó (Urabá) between the 21st and 22nd February. Among the victims were Luis Eduardo Guerra, a well-known leader of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, at least four minors and two women.

As it has been indicated by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in its recent statement condemning this massacre, "These murders are the latest in a string of attacks that, according to the San José de Apartadó community, have left 154 of their members dead since 1997. Peace communities were established in the late 1990s in the Urabá region of north-western Colombia by people displaced by the conflict who gradually began to return to their communities. Peace communities are committed to peaceful civil resistance and neutrality. They reject the presence in their territory of irregular armed groups and the regular army. Mr. Guerra was a founder of the San José de Apartadó peace community and had represented it in negotiations with the government. Since its foundation in 1997, UNHCR has supported San José de Apartadó through various projects. In 1997, the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights requested special protection measures on behalf of the San Jose de Apartadó peace community”.

We regard this Community’s peaceful initiative very highly, and therefore consider of utmost urgency that immediate steps are taken to clarify the facts and the authorship of this massacre -particularly given the allegations of participation by state forces-, and to act to prevent a mass displacement in the community.

We are writing to you in the context of the commitments made by the European Union in the EU Council Conclusions of December 2004 and in the London Declaration -ratified in Cartagena in February 2005, about the importance of ensuring the safety of those individuals, organisations or institutions, including human rights defenders, working for the promotion and protection of human rights, and of protecting the rights of minorities and indigenous people.

To this end, we would respectfully ask that you consider the following actions:

· Carry out an exhaustive and impartial investigation to clarify the facts of what occurred which takes into account all testimonies gathered, take those found to be responsible to justice, and to provide reparation for the victims’ relatives and for the Peace Community.

· Inform the international community about the actions which the government will carry out to prevent a similar occurrence in the future, within the framework of respect for the Community’s principles. Specifically, how it will implement Sentence T 327, passed down by the Constitutional Court in 2004. This ruling requires the 17th army brigade to guarantee and protect the fundamental rights of the inhabitants of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, in line with the Provisional Measures granted by the Interamerican Court of Human Rights since the year 2000.

· Guarantee the Peace Community’s right to a non-violent Project of Life allowing them to remain outside the conflict, without their suffering smears, threats or attacks because of this, as it is indicated by the Principle of Distinction observed by International Humanitarian Law.

We thank you in advance for your attention to this matter, and ask that you keep us informed of the advances in the investigation of this case.

Yours sincerely,

SIGNATURES CONTAINED IN THIS DOCUMENT

Ms Luisa Morgantini (GUE/NGL) – President, Development Committee
Ms Helene Flautre (Greens/ALE) – President, Human Rights Subcommittee
Mr Richard Howitt (PSE) – Vice Chairman, Human Rights Subcommittee
Mr Johan Van Hecke (ALDE) – Vice Chairman, Human Rights Subcommittee
Ms Ana Maria Gomes (PSE) - Vice Chairwoman, Security and Defence Subcommittee
Mr Alain Lipietz (Greens/ALE) – President, Andean Community Delegation
Mr Lapo Pistelli (ALDE) - Vice Chairman of the ALDE Group at the EP
Ms Mónica Frassoni (Greens/ALE) – Co President of the Greens/ALE Group at the EP
Mr Francis Wurtz - President of the GUE/NGL Group at the EP
Ms Ilda Figueiredo - Vice Chairwoman GUE/NGL Group at the EP
Mr Adamos Adamou
Mr Vittorio Emanuele Agnoletto
Ms Marie-Helene Aubert
Mr Jean-Luc Bennahmias
Ms Monika Benova
Mr John Bowis
Mr Carlos Carnero Gonzalez
Mr Giusto Catania
Mr Michael Cramer
Mr Robert Evans
Mr Claudio Fava
Ms Vera Flasarova
Mr Pedro Guerreiro
Mr Klaus Hänsch
Mr David Hammerstein
Ms Satu Hassi
Ms Marie Anne Isler Beguin
Mr Helmut Kuhne
Mr Sepp Kusstatscher
Mr Enrico Letta
Ms Evelyn Lichtenberger
Ms Caroline Lucas
Ms Cecilia Malmstrom
Mr Helmuth Markov
Mr Erik Meijer
Mr Willy Meyer
Mr Roberto Musacchio
Ms Cristiana Muscardini
Mr Justas Vincas Paleckis
Mr Tobias Pflüger
Mr Jozef Pinior
Mr Miquel Portas
Mr Miloslav Ransdorf
Mr Vladimir Remek
Mr Michel Rocard
Mr Raul Romeva
Mr Pierre Schapira
Mr Carl Schlyter
Mr Frithjof Schmidt
Mr Jonas Sjöstedt
Mr Bart Staes
Mr Daniel Stroz
Ms Eva-Britt Svensson
Mr Johannes Swoboda
Ms Patrizia Toia
Ms Elena Valenciano
Ms Anne Van Lancker
Mr Luis Yañez-Barnuevo
Ms Gabriele Zimmer