US students subpoena Uribe over violations of human rights
Published by MAC on 2010-11-29Source: SOA Watch
Colombia's ex-president accused of links with Drummond Coal
A group of US students has severed Colombia's former presidnet, Avaro Uribe, with a subpoena.
According to the students: "Uribe will have to talk about his knowledge of paramilitary collusion with the transnational Drummond and with the Colombian Armed Forces".
Drummond is being sued by around 500 families of victims of paramilitary terror, who allege that the US coal company "worked with the Colombian paramilitaries to murder, torture and disappear their loved ones".
For earlier story, see: Communique To Workers And Public Over The Recent Ruling In Alabama
Georgetown Students Serve Uribe Subpoena to Speak Under Oath About Paramilitary Ties
SOA Watch
10 November 2010
Last week, students at Georgetown University in Washington, DC succeeded in serving Colombia's ex-president Álvaro Uribe with a subpoena to testify about paramilitary ties in Colombia.
The Adios Uribe Coalition has campaigned since September to get Georgetown to drop Uribe as a 'Distinguished Scholar'.
Following a rally at Georgetown's Red Square of over 100 students, teacher and activists, Charity Ryersonformer SOA Watch Prisoner of Conscience (serving 6 months in a federal prison in 2003) and current Georgetown law student Charity Ryerson served Álvaro Uribe with a subpoena, directing him to testify under oath in a case against Drummond Mining Company.
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| Student calls for justice in Colombia - Photo Adios Uribe |
The importance of this action cannot be overstated. Uribe will have to talk about his knowledge of paramilitary collusion with the transnational Drummond and with the Colombian Armed Forces. Drummond is being sued by close to 500 families of victims of paramilitary terror, who claim that the coal company worked with the Colombian paramilitaries to murder, torture and disappear their loved ones. Augusto Jiménez, the president of Drummond in Colombia, is a distant relative of Álvaro Uribe.
Under the regime of Álvaro Uribe, close to 35,000 Colombians were killed, with thousands being presented as guerrilla fighters killed in combat.
He has been accused of wiretapping his political opponents, attacking social movements and many in his party have been tied to the paramilitary infrastructure. While the Jesuits have been outspoken defenders of the poor and the marginalized in Latin America,
Georgetown University continues to try to clean the image of Uribe by employing him as an academic. SOA Watch remembers the thousands of disappeared, displaced and massacred in Colombia and across the Américas, and calls on Georgetown to drop Uribe.
Colombia, ¡PRESENTE!
Adios Uribe