Letter from 68 members of the House of Representatives, December 20, 2001

December 20, 2001

The Honorable Colin Powell, US Secretary of State
The Honorable John Negroponte, US Ambassador to the United Nations
The Honorable Roger Noriega, US Ambassador to the Organization of American States

Dear Sirs:

We write out of strong concern for the safety of four members of the Colombian Congress, who are currently in the custody of that country's largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).  We ask for your assistance in the hope that, in coordination with allies, the UN, and the OAS, you can generate the international pressure that offers the best hope for securing their prompt release.

The four representatives are the latest victims in a rash of kidnappings and murders of Members of Congress that has plagued Colombia during the past year.  Guerrilla and paramilitary groups -- all on the State Department's list of foreign terrorist organizations -- are implicated in these cases.  We are particularly concerned by what seems to be a deliberate targeting of the country's legislative branch by these terrorist groups.

During this period, four Colombian legislators have been murdered:

• Representative Diego Turbay, killed (along with several members of his family) by the FARC on December 29, 2000
• Representative Jairo Rojas, killed by the paramilitary United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), on September 6, 2001
• Representative Octavio Sarmiento, killed by the AUC on October 2, 2001
• Representative Luis Alfredo Colmenares, killed by the AUC on October 8, 2001

Several other legislators and their family members have been kidnapped and released, or forced out of the country by threats.  Today four Members of Congress remain in the custody of the FARC.  In their cases, it is vitally important that the United States and the international community act swiftly to encourage their release:

• Senator Luis Eladio Perez, kidnapped by the FARC on June 20, 2001
• Representative Oscar Lizcano, kidnapped by the FARC on August 5, 2001
• Representative Orlando Beltrán, kidnapped by the FARC on August 28, 2001
• Representative Consuelo González de Perdomo, kidnapped by the FARC on September 10, 2001

We strongly and unequivocally condemn the Colombian guerrillas' and paramilitaries' deliberate targeting of legislators -- just as we denounce these groups' violations of the rights of tens of thousands of ordinary Colombians.

We urge you to immediately take all appropriate action to secure the release of the four legislators currently being held hostage.  We also encourage you to seek ways to end this ongoing assault on Colombia's legislative branch.  We suggest that such action be multilateral -- in coordination with other countries, or under UN or OAS auspices -- as these crimes against elected representatives deserve the condemnation of the entire world, not just the United States.  The US government can play an important role, however, in initiating such action.

As members of the US Congress, we cannot stand idly by while colleagues in an allied democracy are murdered or taken hostage. We encourage you to act promptly on their behalf.

Sincerely,

1. Cass Ballenger
2. Robert Menendez
3. Mark Souder
4. William D. Delahunt
   
   
5. Sam Farr
6. Benjamin Gilman
7. James P. McGovern
8. Frank Wolf
9. Tom Lantos
10. Maurice Hinchey
11. Cynthia McKinney
12. Zoe Lofgren
13. Lloyd Doggett
14. Joseph Crowley
15. Shelley Berkley
16. Earl Blumenauer
17. Barbara Lee
18. Christopher H. Smith
19. Elton Gallegly
20. Alcee Hastings
21. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
22. Tammy Baldwin
23. Howard Berman
24. James Leach
25. George Miller
26. Collin Peterson
27. James P. Moran
28. Jim Turner
29. Adam Schiff
30. Lucille Roybal-Allard
31. Amo Houghton
32. Jim Davis
33. Dan Burton
34. John Mica
35. Barney Frank
36. Robert Wexler
37. Steve Rothman
38. Donald Payne
39. Earl Hilliard
40. Brad Sherman
41. Grace Napolitano
42. Gary Ackerman
    
43. Sherrod Brown
    
44. Joe Hoeffel
    
45. Rosa DeLauro
    
46. Mark Steven Kirk
    
47. Nancy Pelosi
    
48. Nita Lowey
    
49. Diane Watson
    
50. Jan Schakowsky
    
51. Gregory Meeks
    
52. Michael Capuano
    
53. Eni H. Faleomavaega
    
54. Jo Ann Davis
    
55. Bob Barr
    
56. Eliot Engel
    
57. Constance Morella
    
58. John Conyers, Jr.
    
59. Jim McDermott
    
60. Dennis Kucinich
    
61. John Olver
    
62. Jerrold Nadler
    
63. Xavier Becerra
    
64. Henry J. Hyde
    
65. Pete Sessions
    
66. Lee Terry
    
67. Doug Bereuter
    
68. Dan Miller

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