A/HRC/16/22
(h)
On 17 June, in Arauca, several persons who had been detained on 15 June
2008 on charges of rebellion, terrorism and criminal association were released due to lack
of evidence.
(i)
In Sucre, a human rights defender detained in November 2008, remains in
detention. He was accused of criminal association with paramilitary groups, although he
himself had denounced these groups.
B.
Intelligence services
3.
Cases were reported of illegal wiretapping of emails, surveillance, information theft
and harassment affecting members of different social and political organisations, allegedly
conducted in some cases by members of state intelligence services. This conclusion was
reached after a comprehensive analysis of different elements, which taken alone may seem
irrelevant, such as the type of victim, the correlation between persons being investigated by
the intelligence services and the Attorney General’s Office, the connections between the
victims and specific social organisations and with previously documented cases, the modus
operandi or the correlation between the time and place of certain events.
(a)
Pamphlets appeared in April and May containing threats against human rights
organisations and other social organisations in several departments in Colombia. The
information collected on the victims and the modus operandi suggest state intelligence
personnel’s participation in these acts.
(b)
On 4 April, information was stolen from computers belonging to the
Women’s Pacific Route and the Corporation for Community Eco-Development
(COMUNITAR) in Popayan (Cauca) during a break-in by unknown persons into their
offices.
(c)
On 19 July, several persons entered the home of a human rights defender in
Medellín (Antioquia) and stole a computer hard disk containing reports and photographs of
her activities. The victim is a member of an NGO that does social work and carries out
educational activities in Commune 13 of Medellín.
(d)
On 10 August, unidentified persons entered the office of the Meta Civic
Committee for Human Rights in Villavicencio (Meta), and stole information on its
activities.
C.
Extrajudicial executions
4.
In 2010 the drastic reduction in cases of so-called “false positives”, where people
previously being held by the Army are presented as killed in combat, was confirmed.
OHCHR-Colombia however continued to receive information on some cases, which
confirms the need to continue efforts to fully eradicate this practice as well as any other
forms of extrajudicial execution.
(a)
On 2 February, a soldier allegedly killed a presumed member of the FARCEP that had been injured during a bomb strike in Chaparral (Tolima). The victim was
reported as killed in combat.
(b)
In Aipe (Huila), on 25 March, members of the Army Unified Action Groups
for Personal Freedom (GAULA) assigned to the Army Ninth Brigade, allegedly killed a
presumed member of the FARC-EP, a minor, who had apparently been wounded earlier
during a confrontation with the GAULA.
21
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