Student Leader Killed

On October 5, 2006 Julian Andres Hurtado was assaulted and shot in the head by a man and a woman pretending to wait for a taxi in front of his home. He was pronounced brain dead at the University Hospital. Mr. Hurtado was a student at the Universidad del Valle de Cauca located near the city of Cali, Colombia. He was a student representative dedicated to the defense of the free university education (public university system) and human rights issues, both within the university and in Cali neighborhoods most afflicted by social conflict. Because of his work he received death threats constantly.

Before Mr. Hurtado’s assassination, Dimas Orejuela, Ibis Yanguas, William Correa, and Mr. Hurtado (all student representatives) appealed to the Governer of Valle de Cauca and the university Vice-Chancellor for guarantees of safety, as they feared for their lives. They also made a similar request to the Human Rights Unit of the Ministry of the Interior, but received no answer. Student council members were left totally vulnerable – and now resulting in the death of one of its members. The other representatives continue to be systematically pursued, threatened, and attacked.

Mr. Hurtado’s death occurs one year and 14 days after the assassination of another student Johnny Silva Aranguren, whose case has yet to be investigated. When 1000 members of the University community marched in a vigil demanding an investigation into Mr. Hurtado’s death a person in a Ford Laser with tinted windows shot into the crowd, causing widespread panic.

WE NEED YOUR HELP. Despite mounting social pressure and demands for safety and investigation by the University community, these crimes (the deaths of Mr. Hurtado and Mr. Aranguren) have been ignored by the University of Valle de Cauca and Colombian government authorities. Private military forces now occupy the university, and the student community in general is put at grave risk by their presence. Send this letter below to demand public effective action be taken by the responsible authorities

TO: Presidencia de la República
Dr. Álvaro Uribe Vélez
Cra. 8 No. 7-26, Palacio de Nariño
Santa Fe de Bogotá
COLOMBIA

CC: [THE NAMES OF ALL OTHER AUTHORITIES YOU SEND THIS LETTER TO]

Dear Mr. President –

As concerned members of the international community, we write to you in
regards to the disturbing reports of the student killings of Johnny Silva Aranguren on 22
September, 2005 and Julian Andres Hurtado on 5 October, 2006, whose murders have not
yet been investigated. While this concerns us for reasons of justice, it is much more
alarming that the murders are not arbitrary acts, but in both cases targeted human rights
defenders. There is evidence of a concentrated and systematic effort against human
rights defenders of the University of Valle de Cauca

We know that Mr. Aranguren was held hostage and killed after Esmad entered the
University of Valle de Cauca, brandishing guns at human rights defenders. We also
know that Mr. Hurtado, a student council member dedicated to social justice and human
rights in the university and Colombia, frequently received death threats for his work as a
community leader. We know that an unknown individual shot into a public protest of
Mr. Hurtado’s death, terrorizing the crowd. We know that other student council members
are also systematically stalked and threatened, and have thus far received no kind of
protection from any authority.

For the sake of the integrity of Colombia law, justice, and fundamental human
rights we ask the following of Your Excellency: [1] ensure that a transparent and
effective investigation be conducted immediately into the murders of Julian Andres
Hurtado and Johnny Silva Aranguren; [2] immediately implement a program of
protection for the threatened student council members (Dimas Orejuela, Ibis Yanguas,
Numa Andres Paredes, and William Correa) so that they may continue to exercise their
office, [3] guarantee the same measures of protection to the general University of Valle
de Cauca population - including student body, workers, and professors - as they exercise
their constitutional right to protest the deaths of their fellow schoolmates.

Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]

AUTHORITIES
Presidencia de la República (President of the Republic)
Fax: (+57 1) 566.20.71
E-mail: auribe@presidencia.gov.co ;

Vicepresidencia de la República (Vice President of the Republic)
Dr Francisco Santos
E-mail:fsantos@presidencia.gov.co

Procuraduría General de la Nación (Attorney General of the Nation)
Dr. Edgardo José Maya Villazón.
Carrera 5 No. 15-80
Santa Fe de Bogotá.
COLOMBIA
Fax: (+57 1)342.97.23
Email: reygon@procuraduria.gov.co

Defensoría del Pueblo (Public Defense)
Dr. Volmar Antonio Pérez Ortiz.
Calle 55 No. 10-32 Bogotá. Fax: (+571) 640 04 91
E-mail:secretaria_privada@hotmail.com

Misión Permanente de Colombia ante las Naciones Unidas en Ginebra.
(Permanente Mission of Colombia before the United Nations in Geneva)
Chemin du Champ d’Anier 17-19, 1209
Ginebra.
FAX: (+4122)791.07.87; (+4122)798.45.55