To All Living Things
Last Week's Column

Amnesty Action:
Fear for Safety of Refugees Forcibly Returned to Colombia from Panama
by Kathy Gay

his week’s action from Amnesty International concerns the decision by Panamanian authorities to forcibly return more than 300 refugees to Colombia.

The Colombian refugees, mainly women and some 177 children, had fled to Panama to escape the violence pervading their home region in northwest Colombia. Instead of granting them protection, Panamanian officials -- in cooperation with Colombian officials -- returned them less than two weeks ago to the region they fled in fear for their lives.

Amnesty International is very concerned that these people are now at serious risk of detention in unsanitary and unsafe conditions or possibly even extrajudicial execution in Colombia.

Background Information

The province of Chocó on Colombia’snorthwest Pacific coast has been a hotbed of violent activity among left-wing guerrillas, paramilitary groups and the military. As a result, hundreds of Colombians living there have tried to leave the area, hoping to find sanctuary from the violence in neighboring Panama.

But instead of getting protection, they have been forcibly returned to Chocó and the violence they hoped to leave behind.

Panamanian authorities had previously pledged they would not return the refugees to Colombia before officials representing the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had had the opportunity to see them and assess their condition and willingness to return. In spite of this pledge, the Panamanian government forcibly removed the refugees anyway. Neither representatives from the UNHCR nor the International Red Cross were permitted access to them subsequent to their removal. And this action was taken even though Panama is a signatory to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. Article 33 of that document obligates countries to honor the international principle of non-refoulement -- in other words, to refrain from deporting individuals to countries where they are threatened with serious human rights violations.

The Colombian government has reportedly guaranteed the refugees’ safety, but history has shown that promises of this type are virtually meaningless. In a similar incident last year, 88 Colombians were forcibly returned from Panama with their safety supposedly "guaranteed." Colombian authorities were not able to provide adequate protection and one person in that group has since been murdered.

How you can help

Please send a letter to the Panamanian authorities as soon as possible, but no later than May 25, 1997. You may use the sample letter linked below or use it as a model to write your own letter. If you choose to use the sample letter, please cut off or delete all website information at the very top of the letter. If you choose to write your own letter, make sure that it is politely worded and non-partisan (i.e., not used as a vehicle for political expression). Care must be taken to ensure that nothing is written that will cause harm to any refugees in Panama. Be sure to include both your name and address, as well as the date, on the letter.

U.S. airmail postage to Panama is 60 cents.

Questions?

If you have any questions, just post a message to me (Kathy Gay) at the Pub, and I will respond as soon as I can. I greatly appreciate your interest and support.

To see the sample letter for this action, click here.

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Kathy Gay is a vegan, and has been a member of Amnesty International for nearly 10 years, where she has worked on numerous campaigns. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and is a business analyst for a leading California bank.

Kathy's column, To All Living Things, is a regular feature of VegSource On-Line Magazine.