Dan Kovalik (of the United Steelworkers and the International Labor Rights Fund), who is working on the Drummond, Occidental Petroleum, and Coca Cola lawsuits here in the U.S., asked me to URGENTLY collect signatures on the following petition asking for the release of one of the witnesses in a case being brought against Occidental Petroleum for the bombing of the village of Santo Domingo near their oil pipeline. Dr. Pena has been unjustly detained because his autopsy report confirmed that the villagers were killed by cluster bombs.
Avi ChomskyPlease "reply" to me via email, with your complete name and affiliation as you'd like it to appear on the petition. I will send all of the names to Dan, and he will fax them to the relevant parties in the U.S. and Colombia.
Thanks!
Avi
December 13, 2004
Via Facsimile Transmission (011 57 1 570-2022)
Dr. Luis Camilo Osorio
Fiscal General de la Naci?n
Fiscal?a General de la Naci?n
Diagonal 22B 52-01 (Ciudad Salite)
Bogot?, Colombia
Re: Dr. Ciro Alejandro Pe?a Lopez
Estimado Dr. Osorio:
I am writing on behalf of Dr. Ciro Pe?a who has wrongfully been placed under house arrest and is now awaiting criminal trial. As we all know, despite other scurrilous charges being brought by the Colombian state, the only real offense for which Dr. Pe?a is being charged is his truthfully reporting upon the cause of the deaths of the bombing victims of Santo Domingo in 1998. And, it should be noted that Dr. Pe?a's autopsy report on these victims -- a report which shows that they were indeed killed by a cluster bomb dropped upon the village -- was later corroborated by the U.S Federal Bureau of Investigation.
I just learned that his trial has now been postponed, seemingly indefinitely, most likely because the Colombian state has absolutely no credible evidence of any wrongdoing on his part. The detention of Dr. Pe?a remains an affront to justice, to the medical community, and to those concerned with human rights world-wide.
I hereby demand the immediate release of Dr. Pe?a, the dropping of all charges against him and the public exoneration of Dr. Pe?a by the Colombian state.
cc: Presidente Dr. Alvaro Uribe Velez
c/o Embassy of Colombia (By Fax (202) 232-8643)
Colin Powell, U.S. Secretary of State (By Fax 202 647-1722)
Hon. William Wood, U.S. Ambassador to Colombia (By Fax 011 57 1 315 2163)
Craig Conway, U.S. Embassy (By Fax 011 57 1 315 2163)
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