PUBLIC DENOUNCEMENT

THE WOMEN’S HOUSE CORPORATION of Bogotá, a non-profit, feminist, non-government organization, which for the past 22 years has been working in the promotion, protection and demandability of Colombian women’s human rights, within the framework of the defense of the social democratic Law State, denounces before the national and international public opinion the following deeds:

 On Friday, December 19^th, at approximately 7:15 pm, four armed men entered the organization’s offices, located at Carrera 28 Nº 51-22, without breaking doors or locks.  Once inside, they forced Emilce Marroquín (pregnant), Myriam Pérez, and Richard Alarcón to lie on the floor while one of the armed men watched over them.

 Meanwhile, the other three members of the assault team went directly and strategically to the offices located in the second floor, where the CPUs and the commuter terminal were.  They cut all communications and took in total 5 CPUs containing information related to the institutional projects, the organizations and the feminine leaders with which it works, the spaces of social movement in which it participates, the databases of the national and international organizations with which the institution is related, the financing agencies and the accounting and financial information.

 In spite of the fact that in the institution there were other computer and communications equipments (printers, photocopying machines, fax, laser, video beam), as well as other audiovisual paraphernalia, none of these, except for the CPUs and the commuter terminal, were stolen.

 The operative was performed in only seven minutes and once the men left the House, the police were called from a public phone.  Two officers appeared immediately at the site without formally reporting the denouncement and without as much as even asking for the description of, or any other data that could contribute to identify or arrest the perpetrators.

 The organizations signing below consider that:

 The way in which the operative was performed against the Women’s House Corporation indicates that the main objective was to take information of interest only to the Institution and to the related organizations.

 These deeds are in addition to the other cases of robbery, threats and breaking and entry known to the public opinion and to the authorities, which have been aimed against non-government, social and human rights organizations.

 It is worrisome to verify that there is a repeated pattern in these cases that indicates that a new mode of pressure and harassment against the legal and legitimate work performed by these organizations, based on rights and norms acknowledged nationally and internationally, has been put in action.

 These deeds occur within a stigmatization and pointing-out of the work performed by the non-government social and human rights organizations, carried out by some State instances, within the framework of the democratic safety policy of the current government.

 These deeds not only affect the institutions internally, but also the organizational processes that accompany and give support, due to the fact that they generate panic, which entails the political and organizational immobility of these groups and organizations.

 These deeds reaffirm that a systematic persecution is being carried out against women’s social movements and their organizations, mentioned in the national and international reports on women’s human rights.

 The theft of information not only generates economic costs, it also has serious political costs, since it implies the loss of the historical memory of the institutions and of their organizational and participative processes.

 We request the Colombian government and the pertinent authorities the following:

 ·                          The investigation and sanction of those responsible for these unlawful acts.

 ·                          The guarantees for and protection of the women of the Women’s House Corporation and the organizations with which it works.

·                          The compliance of the recommendations of the international instances in human rights matters, the protection of human rights defenders of both sexes and the obligations derived from them.

We make a call to the national and international communities so that they express their solidarity with the Women’s House Corporation and that they demand from the Colombian government and the pertinent authorities the compliance with their obligations related to guarantees and protection of the work and the goods of women’s organizations as well as that of other social and human rights organizations.

 Asamblea Permanente de la Sociedad Civil por La Paz

 Asociación Nacional de Mujeres Campesinas e Indígenas de Colombia CODHES
 Comisión Colombiana de Juristas

 Comité Latinoamericano de Defensa de los Derechos de las Mujeres -CLADEM
 Coordinación Colombia Europa

 Corporación Casa de la Mujer de Bogota

Corporación Viva la Ciudadanía

 DIAL
 Iniciativa de Mujeres por la Paz

 Instituto Latinoamericano de Servicios Legales Alternativos ILSA
 Mesa de trabajo "Mujer y conflicto armado"

 MINGA
 Movimiento Popular de Mujeres

 Mujeres que Crean – Medellín

Organización Femenina Popular de Barrancabermeja

Planeta Paz

Programa de Mujer Campesina ANUC –UR

Red de Salud de las Mujeres Latinoamericanas y del Caribe

Ruta Pacífica de las Mujeres

Senadora Piedad Córdoba

Tribunal Regional Mujeres y Derechos Económicos Sociales y Culturales

Vamos Mujer - Medellín-

 Bogotá 21 de diciembre 2003