From Roter Morgen
Organ of the Communist Party of Germany
July 21, 1994

Freedom for Francisco Caraballo!

Declaration of the Communist Party of Colombia (Marxist-Leninist)
and of the People's Liberation Army

The CPC(M-L) and its military wing, the People's Liberation Army (EPL) inform you of and denounce the following:

On June 22, 1994, our comrade and commander Francisco Caraballo together with other people was arrested by the oppressive Colombian army.

Francisco Caraballo is the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Colombia (M-L) and Commander of its military wing EPL, which is a member of the Simón Bolívar Guerrilla Coordination, the umbrella organization of the guerrilla movement in Colombia.

Commander Caraballo, his wife Beatriz Helena Muñoz and his 16-year old son were arrested in a suburb of Bogotá. Olga Lucía Piedrahita, Mariluz Muñoz and Carlos Humberto Rojas were arrested at the same time.

For more than 27 years, Francisco Caraballo has rebelled, as is his legitimate right, against inequality and oppression and was thus a leading figure in the fight for social justice for the Colombian people.

Eduardo Ramirez, another member of our party, was likewise interned in Ibague by an army patrol and charged with being a member of the CPC(M-L). In the hands of the army he like many other political prisoners has suffered brutal treatment and torture, and since he is locked up in a military prison, there is a danger to his life.

Carlos Arturo Velandia, whom the army alleges to be the fourth leading member of the leadership of the National Liberation Army (UC-ELN), was arrested in Bogotá and is likewise a victim of brutal treatment and torture.

We demand and request:

We demand that the Colombian regime respect and guarantee the lives and rights of these people as political prisoners.

There are more than 4,000 political prisoners in Colombia and we demand that their rights be respected.

We ask the international community, the human rights organizations, political parties, parliamentary representatives, lawyers' organizations, journalists and trade unions to write to the Colombian regime and demand the respect of human rights and fair treatment for the political prisoners, whose rights have been abrogated by the so-called "secret justice" and their institutional custody in barracks.

Workers of all countries, unite!

Communist Party of Colombia (Marxist-Leninist)
People's Liberation Army (EPL)

Please send protest letters to:

César Gaviría T.
Presidente de Colombia
Palacio de Narino
Santafé de Bogotá
Colombia
Fax 00517-287 7939 or 286 7434

Dr. Carlos Gustavo Arrieta
Procurador General
Carrera 5a No 15-80
Santafé de Bogotá
Colombia

Señor Presidente
Corte Suprema de Justicia
Carrera 7a No 27-18
Santafé de Bogotá
Colombia

Click here to return to Colombia Index