Thank you for making the McGovern-Pitts congressional letter (pdf) a success. The letter was sent to Secretary Rice on December 15, 2006 signed by 64 members of Congress. It expressed serious concern about increased attacks of and threats against Colombian human rights defenders, including union representatives, religious leaders, journalists, Afro-Colombian and indigenous community leaders, and members of national and local human rights groups. Remember to thank your member of Congress if s/he signed on, and please also thank Reps. McGovern and Pitts for their tremendous initiative on this issue! (You can reach congressional offices by calling the Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121).

The letter came in response to the disturbing surge of death threats against defenders of human rights in Colombia in 2006. Union representatives, religious leaders, journalists, Afro-Colombian and indigenous community leaders, and members of national and local human rights groups received threats for their work. Moreover, a number have been assassinated or disappeared in the past year.

The congressional letter received good press in Colombia, particularly in El Tiempo, Colombia’s leading national newspaper. You can read the article on El Tiempo’s website (Spanish only): http://www.eltiempo.com/politica/2006-12-15/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-3367022.html

You can read the letter here: http://lawg.org/docs/colombia_rice_12-14-06.pdf

Letter Sponsors:

Jim McGovern (MA)
Joseph Pitts (PA)

Howard Berman (CA)
Lois Capps (CA)
Sam Farr (CA)
Mike Honda (CA)
Barbara Lee (CA)
Zoe Lofgren (CA)
Grace Napolitano (CA)
Linda Sanchez (CA)
Loretta Sanchez (CA)
Hilda Solis (CA)
Maxine Waters (CA)
Henry Waxman (CA)
Lynn Woolsey (CA)
Rosa DeLauro (CT)
Alcee Hastings (FL)
Robert Wexler (FL)
John Lewis (GA)
Madeleine Bordallo (GU)
Leonard Boswell (IA)
Melissa Bean (IL)
Danny Davis (IL)
Rahm Emmanuel (IL)
Luis Gutierrez (IL)
Dan Lipinski (IL)
Bobby Rush (IL)
Jan Schakowsky (IL)
Dennis Moore (KS)
Barney Frank (MA)
Stephen Lynch (MA)
Ed Markey (MA)
Marty Meehan (MA)
John Olver (MA)
John Tierney (MA)
Elijah Cummings (MD)
Michael Michaud (ME)
Carolyn Kilpatrick (MI)
Sander Levin (MI)
Betty McCollum (MN)
Jim Oberstar (MN)
William Clay (MO)
Bob Etheridge (NC)
Lee Terry (NE)
Rush Holt (NJ)
Donald Payne (NJ)
Chris Smith (NJ)
Maurice Hinchey (NY)
Jose Serrano (NY)
Mike McNulty (NY)
Dennis Kucinich (OH)
Earl Blumenauer (OR)
Peter DeFazio (OR)
Chaka Fattah (PA)
Todd Platts (PA)
Patrick Kenndy (RI)
Jim Langevin (RI)
Lloyd Doggett (TX)
Charles Gonzalez (TX)
Raul Grijalva (TX)
Sheila Jackson Lee (TX)
James Moran (VA)
Tammy Baldwin (WI)
Gwendolyn Moore (WI)