----- Original Message -----
From: folabi olagbaju <folagbaj@aiusa.org>
To: <hrandenv@aaas.org>
Sent: Monday, March 13, 2000 12:33 PM
Subject: Amnesty's Urgent Action on U'wa People of Colombia
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA

Dear Friends of Human Rights and the Environment,

We have all been following the U'wa people's struggle against Occidental
Petroleum Company
in Colombia for years. Amnesty International today released an Urgent
Action on
the killing of
three U'wa children, possible disappearance of nine U'wa people and the
reported
use of excessive
force by the Colombian police and army in the forced eviction of U'wa people
from a land they had
occupied as part of their protest against oil exploration by Occidental
Petroleum Company. Amnesty's
recommended actions on this case include writing letters to various
Colombian
government officials
expressing concerns for the safety of the missing individuals and all those
forcefully evicted by
police from Las Canoas on February 11, 2000; expressing concerns at reports
that
the police and
army used excessive force to carry out the eviction; and urging the
authorities
to conduct an impartial
investigation into the missing peoples' whereabouts and into the reported
use of
excessive force
during the eviction in which three U'wa children were killed, for the result
be
made public and those
responsible to be brought to justice.

Best regards,
Folabi

U R G E N T A C T I O N A P P E A L

---------------------------------------------------

13 March 2000

UA 60/00
Possible 'Disappearance' / Reported excessive use of force by the
police and army

COLOMBIA
Eleonor HERRERA (baby)
Luz Helena HERRERA
Wilson HERRERA
Gustavo DELGADO
Antonio DELGADO
Nelson DIAZ
Edgard DIAZ
Alfredo DIAZ
Wilson DIAZ

On 11 February 2000, three children from the U'wa indigenous
population were killed, three others injured, including a young child,
and nine others, including a four month old baby, went missing after
the police and army reportedly violently evicted them from land they
had occupied as part of a protest against an oil company.

Amnesty International is now very concerned for the safety of the
nine missing people named above.

The organization is also concerned by reports that excessive force
was used by the Police and Army in carrying out the eviction: Some
500 Army and Police (from the Regional Cucuta Command)
reportedly used tear gas, riot sticks and bulldozers to evict around
450 U'wa people from Las Canoas.

The U'wa had occupied the Saravena-Pamplona road at Las Canoas,
in the rural area of Toledo, department of Santander, on 1 February to
try to stop oil exploration machinery passing through into their
ancestral lands.

A few days earlier they had been forcibly evicted from an occupation
(an area outside their reservation] at Cedeno, where oil drilling is due
to take place, after the Government gave authorization for petroleum
exploration in the area.

Kenowuia Nury BOKOTA (4 months), Mauricio DIAZ (9 years) and
Jorge ANIKUTA (10 years) were all killed and Maria Antonieta
HIGUANITO, Chela HIGUANITO and Patricia HIGUANITO (12 years)
were injured.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

For several years the Indigenous U'wa have been protesting against
oil exploration by the Occidental Petroleum Corporation on what they
claim to be their ancestral lands situated mainly in the Boyaca and
Santander departments of northeast Colombia.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send
telegrams/telexes/faxes/express/airmail letters:
- expressing concern for the safety of Eleonor Herrera (baby), Luz
Helena Herrera, Wilson Herrera, Gustavo Delgado, Antonio Delgado,
Nelson Diaz, Edgard Diaz, Alfredo Diaz and Wilson Diaz, all
indigenous U'wa people forcibly evicted by police from Las Canoas,
department of Norte de Santander, on 11 February 2000;
- expressing concern at reports that the police and army used
excessive force to carry out the eviction;
- urging the authorities to initiate full and impartial investigations into
their whereabouts and into the reported excessive use of force by
police during the eviction in which three U'wa children were killed, for
the results be made public and those responsible to be brought to
justice.

APPEALS TO:
President of Colombia:
Senor Presidente Andres Pastrana
Presidente de la Republica
Palacio de Narino
Carrera 8 No. 7-26
Santafe de Bogota, COLOMBIA
Telegrams: President Pastrana, Bogota, Colombia
Telexes: 396 44281 PALP CO
Faxes: 011 57 1 286 7434/ 284 2186/ 337 1351
Salutation: Excelentisimo Sr. Presidente / Dear President
Pastrana

Minister of the Interior:
Dr. Nestor Humberto Martinez
Ministro del Interior
Ministerio del Interior
Carrera 8, No.8-09, Piso 2
Santafe de Bogota, COLOMBIA
Telegrams: Ministerio Interior, Bogota, Colombia
Telexes: 396 45406 MINGO CO
Faxes: 011 57 1 286 8025 / 281 5584 / 342 3201 / 341 9739
Salutation: Sr. Ministro / Dear Minister

Minister of Defense:
Dr. Luis Fernando Ramirez Acuna
Ministro de Defensa Nacional
Ministerio de Defensa Nacional
Avenida Eldorado CAN - Carrera 52
Santafe de Bogota, COLOMBIA
Telegrams: Ministro Defensa, Bogota, Colombia
Telexes: 396 42411 INPRE CO; 396 44561 CFAC CO
Faxes: 011 57 1 222 1874
Salutation: Sr. Ministro / Dear Minister

Governor of Norte de Santander:
Sr. Jorge Alberto Garcia-Herreros
Gobernador del Departamento de Norte de Santander
Gobernacion de Norte de Santander
Avenida 5 Calle 13 y 14
Cucuta, Norte de Santander
COLOMBIA
Faxes: 011 57 (75) 710510
Salutation: Estimado Dr. Garcia

COPIES TO:
Non-governmental Organisation:
Organizacion Nacional Indigena de Colombia (ONIC)
Calle 13, No. 4-38
Apartado Aereo 32395
Santafe de Bogota, COLOMBIA

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

Please contact your Representative and/or two Senators and ask
them if they were aware of this case and what they can do for those
affected (threatened/attacked, etc). You may point out that any US
aid package has to ensure that such incidents stop altogether or such
a package is not worth supporting.

Senate offices are: The Honorable (full name)
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

House offices are: The Honorable (full name)
United States House of Representatives

Washington, DC 20515

Please send appeals immediately. Check with the Colorado office
between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm, Mountain Time, weekdays only, if
sending appeals after April 21, 2000.

This information is from Amnesty International's research
headquarters in London, England. A.I. is an independent worldwide
movement working for the international protection of human rights. It
seeks the release of people detained because of their beliefs, color,
sex, ethnic origin, language or religious creed, provided they have not
used nor advocated violence. These are termed prisoners of
conscience. It works for fair and prompt trials for all political
prisoners and works on behalf of such people detained without
charge or trial. It opposes the death penalty, extra-judicial executions
(political killings), 'disappearances' and torture or other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of all prisoners
without reservation. Amnesty International promotes awareness of
and adherance to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
other internationally recognized human rights instruments, the
values enshrined in them and the indivisibility and interdependence
of all human rights and freedoms.

Please do not repost this appeal to any part of the Internet
without prior permission from Amnesty International. Thank you for
your help with this appeal.

Please read the monthly Urgent Action Network Newsletter posted
on
the web at: http://www.amnesty-USA.org/urgact/newslett.html

Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
PO Box 1270
Nederland CO 80466-1270
Email: sharriso@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgact/
Phone: 303 258 1170
Fax: 303 258 7881