Political Prisoners
Political prisoners, a term that many Colombians are used to hearing but few acknowledge and many prefer to forget they exist. The political prisoners are those compatriots that for thinking differently are excluded and incarcerated for supposedly representing a danger to society. “Rebels”, “terrorists”, are a few of the names chosen by the Colombian government to call those people from different sectors of society and social classes who dare to think about a different type of country.
For years, we have seen how different sectors of society have been persecuted with different excuses -the fight against communism, against narco-trafficking, and now, against terrorism. First we were witnesses to the persecution and death of an entire political party, our UP (Unión Patriotica*), then the repression against the campesinos for residing in rural areas where there was guerrilla activity and the government named them as “collaborators”, then against social activists, indigenous peoples and community leaders as well as students and teachers particularly those from public universities, (this is typical of fascist regimes).
Notes:
* The UP was a party of the Left that included guerrilleros who were laying down arms to enter the political process. They won many votes in Colombia; however, more than 4,000 of their elected officials and candidates were systematically assassinated, forcing the UP to dissolve and the former guerrilleras to return to armed struggle.
