COLOMBIA URGENT ACTION: Stop the criminalization of Colombian human rights defenders!

 CPT Colombia
asks the Colombian authorities to put a stop to the growing trend of
judicial persecution and detention of campesino human rights defenders who
are fighting for their rights to land and territory.

Alvaro Garcia, campesino leader from the communities of El Guayabo and
Bella Union and member of the Victims Association of Magdalena Medio
(ASORVIMM), remains incarcerated for almost two months now under false
criminal charges.  He is one of two CPT partners who have suffered
political persecution and imprisonment in the last nine months.  

Three other leaders from El Guayabo and Bella Union currently have arrest
warrants similar to that of Alvaro’s, which severely encumbers the
community’s legal struggle and distracts the authorities’ attention from
the larger land issue at play.

Join us in asking that the authorities drop charges for all four leaders,
release Alvaro and respect the campesinos’ right to remain on the land as
the country moves forward towards a post-conflict reality.