New York / The Hague, February 10, 2015: Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), expresses its deep concern and condemns the death threats against Sen. Ivan Cepeda Castro, his adviser, Agustin Jimenez and Ana Jimena Bautista.
Sen. Ivan Cepeda Castro, Member of PGA, is a human rights defender, co-chairman of the Peace Commission of the Congress, a member of the group Colombians for Peace, official spokesman of the Movement of Victims of State Crimes (MOVICE) and has played a very important role in the peace process, the promotion and protection of human rights.
An official complaint was filed on February 3, 2015 in the Attorney General's Office, after Sen. Ivan Cepeda Castro and one of his advisors, Agustin Jimenez received alarming threats during the month of January. Such activities have already been deplored a year ago, when PGA wrote a letter expressing the same concern.
In an increasingly complex landscape, such threats not only endanger the life and physical integrity of some individuals from various sectors who are committed to peace, but they also undermine the peace process, which the Colombian government has made great efforts to advance, by demonstrating its commitment to the creation of a universal system of international criminal law, strengthening democratic institutions and the establishment of the rule of law. The importance of the peace process has been recognized in the Annual Forum of PGA, held on 9 and 10 December, 2013 in the Parliament of Colombia.
It is for this reason that PGA calls on the relevant authorities of Colombia to take all necessary measures to ensure the protection of Sen. Ivan Cepeda Castro, his adviser, Agustin Jimenez, and all the people whose safety is at risk. Additionally, PGA calls on the Attorney General's Office to immediately investigate and ajudicate those responsible for these threats, setting the tone of the government that Colombia aspires to be: a responsible, democratic government, respectful of the rule of law and Human Rights.
