February 10th, 2009 :  Colombianos por la Paz

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Statement by
FICIB (International Federation of Comités Libertad)
FIDH (International Federation of Human Rights)

The organisations listed above welcome the release of six new hostages by FARC, and wish to thank publicly all those who are at the heart of these liberations; Senator Piedad Cordoba and the group of intellectuals known as “Colombians for Peace”, as well as Brazil and the International Red Cross.

However they also wish to show their high level of concern about the comments just made by President Uribe who used the expression “ group of FARC intellectuals”,  and also about the connection that he made between the group of intellectuals “Colombians for Peace” and FARC’s political organisation.

These accusations seriously endanger the lives of the members of this group by naming them as possible targets of extremist paramilitary groups who continue to operate in Colombia.

We ask the President of Colombia to amend these comments immediately, and to acknowledge clearly that defending human rights and seeking a negotiated release for all hostages and a negotiated political outcome in this armed conflict does not imply collusion with the guerrilla.

We are also asking him to guarantee the protection and security of Piedad Cordoba and of all those who took action and continue to do so in order to obtain, through dialogue and negotiation, freedom for those hostages still held.

We equally condemn the branding by the president of those journalists who covered the releases as they happened, and we also ask him to guarantee their protection.

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