NOMADESC: 2014 – 2016

Among the most severe attacks against the Association for Social Research and Action (NOMADESC) between 2014 and 2016, the following are worthy of note:

Threats and acts of aggression

  • 23 of July 2015: death threat, via a telephone call, against Nicolasa Diaz Ortiz, member of the Association for Social Investigation and Research (Nomadesc) and beneficiary of IACHR protection measures since 2004.[1]
  • 11 April 2016: threat by the ‘Gaitanista Self Defence Forces of Colombia’ (AGC) neo-paramilitary group in a leaflet that was slid under the door of Nomadesc’s offices in Cali. The message declared that several human rights defenders were military targets, including Martha Giraldo, the coordinator of the National Movement ofVictims of State Crimes (MOVICE) Valle del Cauca Chapter; and Walter Agredo, member of the Committee for Solidarity with Political Prisoners (FCSPP).[2]

Tracking and surveillance

  • 2 April 2014: Two apparent representatives of a phone company visited the offices of NOMADESC and inquired about its director, Belenice Celeyta, and whether she lived or worked there. They insisted to be let inside to install a router and left after being denied entrance.[3]
  • 5 May 2014: Surveillance of the home of human rights defender Berenice Celeyta, director of NOMADESC, from a vehicle parked a few meters from the house.[4]
  • 22 May 2014: A man attempted to install encoders at the NOMADESC office. No requests had been made for technical support. The phone company confirmed that they had not sent any technicians. When NOMADESC asked the man for identification, he left.[5]
  • 20 June 2015: Surveillance and physical monitoring of the home of Berenice Celeita, president of Nomadesc. Men in a car took photographs of the inside of her home.[6]
Footnotes:

[1] NOMADESC: Amenaza de muerte contra la defensora de derechos humanos y líder comunitaria Nicolasa Díaz Ortiz, 24 July 2015
[2] NOMADESC: Acción urgente – El movimiento social y sindical del Valle del Cauca amenazados por Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia (AUG), 13 April 2016
[3] Congreso de los Pueblos: Acción urgente terrorismo vía mensajes de texto contra organizaciones sindicales, indígenas, afrodescendientes, defensores de derechos humanos y líderes políticos del Valle del Cauca, 9 July 2014
[4] Ibíd.
[5] Ibíd.
[6] Amnesty InternationaI: Colombia: Human rights defender under surveillance: Berenice Celeita, 25 June 2015

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