Free Liliany Obando

IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED IN SUPPORT OF HOME DETENTION FOR LILIANY OBANDO: HEARING ON MONDAY, DEC. 21ST 2009

We have learned that Colombian political prisoner, Liliany Obando, will have another hearing today THIS MONDAY, DEC. 21ST. Please support her application for Home Detention. This is a basic right frequently given to those accused and convicted of a broad range of crimes, including those jailed for paramilitary and parapolitical activities.

The right to home detention is especially made available to single mothers, like Liliany, who are sole providers for their families.

We are urging people to act now and contact the presiding Judge, Dr. Oscar Gustavo Jaimes Villamizar.  If at all possible, we suggest people send his office a fax. However, if you are unable to make an international call, please send your message as an email.

SAMPLE EMAIL/FAX English version (copy and paste and sign or develop your own)
Dr. Oscar Gustavo Jaimes Villamizar, Juez # 9
Your attention:
Via fax & Email: FAX +57-1-323 0102, info@ramajudicial.gov.co

The Honorable Dr. Oscar Gustavo Jaimes Villamizar:

I am writing in support of the petition for home detention by Colombian political prisoner, Liliany Patricia Obando Villota.  Ms Obando is a head of household, single mother of two children.  The right to home detention is frequently extended to prisoners in similar circumstances, even to those accused or convicted of paramilitary or parapolitical crimes.  We call on you to do the right thing and grant Ms Obando’s petition for the well-being of her family, especially her children.

I solemnly believe that Liliany Obando this to be her right and that she does not represent any danger to her community. She is an academic and critical thinker whose constitutional rights must be guaranteed.

Yours truly,
Signed by__________________________________________

There are more than 7,200 political prisoners in Colombia.  PJFC works in solidarity with all these prisoners, but has a particular concern regarding the case of Liliany Obando. She served as a consultant for FENSUAGRO, the largest union of farmers and farm workers in Colombia. She was arrested the very week she was to release a report on the murders of FENSUAGRO members by the military and paramilitaries.

Liliany’s case is a flagship case, because she was the first person detained and tried on bogus charges as part of the FARC-política.  The FARC-política is an attempt to repress, intimidate and marginalize the political opposition, labor and student movements by falsely linking them to Colombia’s armed rebellion.  The basis for this process are emails allegedly discovered in computers recovered after a bombing attack by the Colombian Air Force against a guerrilla peace negotiation camp on March 1, 2008.  However, the Colombian Police Officer in charge of the initial investigation has said the computers contained no emails but only documents in Word. The international police agency, INTERPOL, has said that the computer’s files showed evidence of tampering by the  Colombian authorities.

Liliany’s case is important for two reasons:

1. If she wins the case, the whole FARC-política process is discredited; but if  she loses,  then a precedent is set for a virtual witch-hunt against the Colombian opposition based on this process.
2. The Colombian government is trying hard to shut down FENSUAGRO by spuriously portraying it as a front for the guerrillas.  A conviction of Liliany will result in a renewed effort against FENSUAGRO, which is already the most persecuted union in Colombia.

In solidarity,

Peace and Justice for Colombia, PJFC.

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