Statement from H Street NW outside White House

Lily Whitesell: 202 821 6241
Sara Wallace-Keeshan:

Bodies of Slain Colombians Block President Uribe’s Path to President Obama

Murdered human rights activists demand that Obama keep his promise not to reward impunity

JUNE 29, 2009, WASHINGTON, DC – Today ten bodies of murdered Colombian human rights activists appeared on H Street NW, just north of the White House, to block Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez’s path to the White House for his first-ever bilateral meeting with President Obama. Since Uribe took office in 2002, thousands of peaceful activists have been murdered by the Colombian armed forces or paramilitaries with documented ties to the president and his governing coalition. In 2008 then-Senator Obama promised to be an ally of beleaguered activists, particularly labor unions, and forcefully stated that his opposition to the US-Colombia free trade agreement (FTA) was due to the Uribe government’s unwillingness to investigate these murders.

The Obama Administration has said in recent weeks that it will be announcing “a new framework on trade,” but since January Hillary Clinton and Steny Hoyer (D-MD) have indicated their intention to move forward with the FTA.

The bodies — of campesinos/family farmers, indigenous people, Afro-Colombians, journalists, union leaders, teachers and human rights defenders — surfaced with a message for the US president: “President Obama, keep your promise.”

Their statement continued:

“When House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer tells you Uribe has made great “progress,” and that it’s time to pass the FTA, remember that 60% of the trade unionists killed worldwide last year were Colombian, with the killers still at large. President Obama, keep your promise.

When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton advises your administration to continue to give Uribe’s military US $500 million a year, remember that this is the same military that was found to have assassinated nearly 2,000 civilians over six years, falsely presenting their bodies as dead insurgent fighters.1 President Obama, keep your promise.

When your trade negotiator Ron Kirk proposes that you sign a proposed free trade agreement, remember that 380,000 people were displaced by violence last year in Colombia, including state violence. President Obama, keep your promise.

And when Uribe asks you to make a statement affirming that his government has addressed the concerns of labor and human rights activists, remember that over 30% of the legislators in his governing coalition are being investigated or have been jailed for ties to paramilitary groups. Remember that Uribe continues to publicly attack human rights defenders, often leading to death threats against them by paramilitaries. President Obama, keep your promise.

Remember that in 2005 you wrote to President Uribe criticizing his paramilitary demobilization as having a ‘negative impact on justice, peace and the rule of law in Colombia.’

President Obama, keep your promise to be an ally of the victims of human rights abuses. Continue to oppose passage of the Free Trade Agreement, and shut off US aid to the Colombian armed forces.”

1 Statement by Professor Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions – Mission to Colombia 8-18 Jun 2009