Liberal Senator Juan Manuel Galan spoke out against Colombian intelligence agency DAS’ illegal wiretapping at the meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), according to RCN Radio.
“The complaint is to inform the Inter-Parliamentary Union Human Rights Committee that the political opposition in Colombia was intercepted and was subjected to illegal surveillance by DAS,” Galan said.
The IPU is meeting this week in Geneva, Switzerland and will send a commission to Colombia to investigate the illegal monitoring of political opposition, journalists, judges and human rights activists.
It was revealed in April that the scope of DAS’ wiretapping was not confined withing the country’s border, and was carried out in Europe as well. According to files revealed at that time, the European Parliamentary committee on human rights, the UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, and national governments were agencies deemed a threat to the Colombian government.
On Monday, former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe’s personal secretary was barred from public office for 18 years over the scandal. Members of the Green Party are now calling for Uribe himself to speak out about the wiretapping, although he has maintained the surveillance took place without his knowledge.