Protest letter re Liliany Obando.

HE Ambassador Mauricio Rodríguez Múnera

Colombian Embassy

3 Hans Crescent

London

SW1X 0LN

8^th March, 2010

Dear Ambassador,

We are writing on behalf of the more than 40 British organisations that are affiliated to the Justice for Colombia campaign in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland in relation to the case of Liliany Patricia Obando.

As you are aware Ms Obando, who has been in prison since August 2008, is a human rights defender and trade union consultant. Despite having been jailed for over 18 months she has never been convicted of any crime. Whilst in prison she has been forced to endure inhumane conditions and has been subjected to assault by prison officials.

As you may also be aware, no evidence against Ms Obando has been made public and she is simply accused of 'rebellion'. Furthermore, we believe that the so-called proof against her allegedly came from the computer of Mr Raul Reyes, who was murdered during an illegal raid into Ecuador by Colombian forces in March 2008. The international police organisation INTERPOL has made it clear that the content of the computers should not be used in a court of law due to the fact that the content was tampered with during the time that they were in the custody of the Colombian intelligence services.

In the absence of any legitimate evidence we can only conclude that Ms Obando has in fact been imprisoned for her political views, making her, in effect, a prisoner of conscience.

Several other cases bear a striking resemblance to this one. For example trade unionist Aliro Garcia, human rights defender Carmelo Agamez and academic Miguel Angel Beltran - all opponents of the Colombian Government whom have served long periods in prison without being convicted of any crime.

This state of affairs is utterly unacceptable and Colombia's continuing policy of jailing people for political reasons without convicting them of any crime can only be compared to the situation in countries such as Burma, China and Iran.

Justice for Colombia and its affiliates strongly urge your Government to immediately and unconditionally release Liliany Obando and the other three individuals mentioned in this letter as well as the hundreds of other civil society activists currently held in Colombia's prisons. Until this happens we will continue to work to ensure that the international community is aware of the ongoing persecution of those in your country who speak out in favour of human rights, workers' rights, peace, democracy and social justice.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Frances O'Grady Jeremy Dear

Vice-President, Justice for Colombia Chair, Justice for Colombia