http://action.humanrightsfirst.org/campaign/UribeObama?rk=57BcblKqt5jaE

Tell President Obama to Stand Up for Human Rights in Colombia

Monday, June 29, 2009, President Barack Obama will meet in Washington D.C. with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, their first official private meeting since President Obama took office. Urge President Obama to place human rights at the top of his agenda with Colombian President Uribe.

While the pending Free Trade Agreement with Colombia is likely to attract most attention, it is vital that President Obama tells President Uribe that respect for human rights in Colombia is essential. 

A new scandal in Colombia reveals the precarious situation of human rights defenders and indicates the poor state of human rights there generally. Colombia's national intelligence agency (DAS) has apparently engaged in widespread illegal wiretaps and surveillance of human rights defenders, and in one case, sent a defender a death threat in the form of a bloody doll, instead of providing protection. Soraya Gutierrez from the Jose Alvear Restrepo Lawyers Collective received the doll with a note, "You have a pretty daughter. Don't sacrifice her."

Demand that President Obama stand up for human rights defenders in Colombia and recognize the importance of the human rights they promote. Take action now to send President Obama an email with five key human rights messages he should raise with President Uribe.

Alert Date: June 23, 2009

Tell me more​

http://action.humanrightsfirst.org/campaign/UribeObama?rk=57BcblKqt5jaE

Dear President Obama:

I write to urge you to place human rights at the top of the agenda for your meeting with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on June 29, 2009. It is vital that both privately and publicly you express the importance that the United States places on respect for human rights in Colombia, in particular the U.S. desire to see President Uribe support the work of Colombian human rights defenders.

On October 15, 2008, you stood up for Colombia's labor rights activists by stating, "[t]he history in Colombia right now is that labor leaders have been targeted for assassination on a fairly consistent basis and there have not been prosecutions." I ask that you are similarly forthright during your meeting with President Uribe. Pressure from the United States has positively impacted the human rights situation in Colombia and your continued engagement will have tangible results on the ground.

http://action.humanrightsfirst.org/campaign/UribeObama?rk=57BcblKqt5jaE