CSW urges Colombia: protect civil society leaders

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is making an urgent appeal to the Colombian government to guarantee the safety of civilians and civil society leaders in a significant coca cultivation area in the region of Southern Cordoba.

This call follows the assassination of a Protestant Pastor on 6 September and the attack and attempted abduction of a second pastor on 21 September.

A CSW delegation recently returned from a fact-finding visit to the region where they met the widow of the murdered Pastor; Rafael Velasquez, as well as a number of other church leaders who have come under threat from armed groups in recent months.

CSW is particularly concerned for the safety of a Pastor who was victim of an attack and attempted abduction only hours after telling CSW representatives that he had received repeated threats from armed groups.The pastor escaped and is now in hiding.

CSW Advocacy Director, Tina Lambert, said: “We are deeply concerned for the civilian population in Southern Cordoba and particularly for church leaders who appear to be a primary target for armed paramilitary groups. The Southern Cordoba region is on the brink of a humanitarian crisis and so we appeal to the Colombian government to make every effort to guarantee the safety of communities there, and to fully investigate the murders and threats against church leaders in the region. Finally, we urge the European Union and the Organisation of American States to monitor the situation closely.”

To read CSW’s latest report on threats in Cordoba, please contact CSW’s press office.

Notes to Editors:

• These two incidents are the latest in a series of threats, attacks and forcible displacements of church leaders in the region over the past year. The situation has escalated over the summer with a number of massive displacements of civilian populations and the murder of three church leaders.
• Community leaders point to a lack of an effective government response to the growing insecurity in the region. A number of re-armed paramilitary groups as well as FARC guerrillas are fighting for power in the region which is a significant coca cultivation area and is strategically important for any group to control the drugs trade. Paramilitary groups are implicated in all of the incidents documented over the past year.