Persecution against the Yira Castro Judicial Corporation

26.06.07

The office of the Yira Castro Judicial Corporation, a Colombian human
rights organization, was broken into during the night of June 21. The
computer CPUs and information in files and folders were stolen. A laptop
computer was also stolen, and the organization’s papers were rifled
through. The incident took place in the organization’s new office, in the
La Soledad neighborhood of Bogota. The crime has already been reported to
the Prosecutor General’s office.
This attack follows a series of incidents of harassment and persecution
against the Corporation in retaliation for their work to defend human
rights. In the Corporation’s previous office, damaged locks on the
office’s doors had revealed an earlier attempt at forced entry. The
Corporation’s members have also been unjustifiably blocked in routine
legal proceedings, and presumed undercover agents have followed them.
“Information theft” is a form of aggression against social organizations
and NGOs that has been carried out with increasing frequency under the
Uribe government’s “Democratic Security” policy. These robberies aim to
gain access to information related to human rights violations.
The most recent incident took place on June 2, when unidentified men broke
into the offices of the international human rights organization FOR. The
men stole FOR’s two computers with files about their accompaniment of the
San Jose Peace Community. The same sort of attack occurred against the
Christian Center for Justice, Peace and Nonviolent Action (Justapaz) on
June 14, when their office was broken into and their two computers stolen.
The Farmers’ Association of the Cimitarra River Valley (ACVC) and
CAHUCOPANA, farmers’ organizations that have worked together with the Yira
Castro Judicial Corporation in defense of human rights, denounce this
attack and send a message of solidarity and encouragement.

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