Quebec City, 30 June 2009 - Lawyers Without Borders Canada (LWBC) is deeply concerned by recent attacks on the independence and safety of the judiciary and lawyers who defend human rights in Colombia.
It is now known that the Administrative Department of Security (Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad - DAS), an intelligence agency under the authority of the President of the Republic, conducted a large scale spying operation directed at several members of opposition political parties, judges, journalists and human rights defenders.
At present, former DAS Director Jorge Noguera is accused of homicide and conspiracy to collaborate with paramilitary groups. During the course of its investigation of Noguera, the office of Attorney General of Colombia searched the DAS premises in Bogota and seized files that document an illegal surveillance operation carried out by a covert unit of the DAS.
“We are especially concerned to learn that the lawyers who defend human rights with whom we work in Colombia, members of the Corporación Colectivo de Abogados José Alvéar Restrepo (CCAJAR), were one of the main targets of these illegal operations,” commented LWBC Program Manager Philippe Tremblay. The seized DAS files contained photographs of lawyers and their relatives, along with their psychological profile, curricula vitae, and details of their movements and whereabouts. Officials from various international organizations, such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the International Federation for Human Rights, were also targeted by the DAS during that same period.
“To obtain this information, they did not hesitate to intercept emails and listen to telephone conversations made by the CCAJAR and its members in blatant violation of solicitor-client privilege,” Tremblay added.
In one of the seized documents, it is explicitly stated that the purpose of the DAS surveillance operation was to “neutralize the opposition”. The documents also make reference to the possibility of baseless criminal prosecution of those who were spied on in order to impede their ability to work for the promotion of justice.
“As we have noted on many past occasions, the threats and violence directed against those who defend human rights continues to worsen in Colombia,” observed Pascal Paradis, Executive Director of LWBC. “The role of human rights advocates remains largely stigmatized by government authorities. The safety and independence of lawyers and the judiciary are endangered in direct violation of the UN Basic Principles of the Role of Lawyers and on the Independence of the Judiciary.”
This disdain for the work of human rights lawyers and judges hurts the fight against impunity, protection and development of Colombia's rule of law, the effective representation for victims and the quest for truth, justice and adequate redress for the victims.
LWBC is hopeful that the Attorney General’s inquiry will result in the identification and prosecution of those responsible for the illegal surveillance operations, as well as reform in the practices of the Government’s counter-terrorism security operations.
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Lawyers Without Borders analysis of the situation: Télécharger le fichier
Source: Lawyers Without Borders Canada
www.asfcanada.ca
Contact:Me Philippe Tremblay, Program Manager
418-907-2607
philippe.tremblay@asfcanada.ca