Colombia Reports

Members of Colombian NGO International Humanitarian Diplomatic Mission Ruanda 1994 (MDIH) were forced to go into hiding after several threats by illegal armed groups.

Initially, members of a group called “21st century force” started harassing president Sergio Tapia, an Argentinian citizen living in Medellín, by msn messenger and email.

“On July 13, this person appeared in the organization’s contact list and asked me if I was a revolutionary,” Tapia says. “After I deleted them, he kept appearing on the contact list, continuing to ask me if I was a revolutionary or not,” he adds, saying he got so scared he pulled the plug from his pc.

The next time he connected to the internet the NGO’s inbox was full of e-mails, all linking to the website of the FARC. Tapia stopped using the account after that.

Exactly a week later, on July 21, three men appeared at the house where a family member of the Argentinian was trying to rebuild a local radio station the organization wanted to use to educate local youth about human rights.

“Three men, identifying themselves as Águilas Negras (Black Eagles), a right wing paramilitary group, entered the house and told my relative that if he wasn’t out of the house within two hours, they were going to kill him,” Tapia continues.

The relative immediately fled and went into hiding. Tapia denounced the threats before the UN, who supports his organization and was advised to keep a low profile for a while.

The NGO director hasn’t contacted local authorities, because he doesn’t want police protection. “I don’t want to live with two policemen. If things don’t get better I will have to leave the country and the organization will cease to exist,” he says.