November 1, 2004
by Alexa Smith

LOUISVILLE - A young Colombian church worker has been abruptly released after spending 130 days in jail. But he has gone into hiding while authorities continue to investigate his case and his attorneys fight to have it dropped.

Mauricio Avilez, 24, was freed Oct. 20 when district court officers overturned an earlier order to jail him. His attorney successfully argued that there was insufficient evidence to incarcerate him.

"All of this solidarity is what is keeping me alive, what wakes me up every morning," Avilez told the Presbyterian News Service in an interview shortly after his release, speaking of the support of his family, friends and the world church.

He said it is still important for the Christian community throughout the world to write the Colombian government on his behalf. (See sample letter below.)

Avilez also said that it is important that U.S. accompaniers be posted quickly in Barranquilla - an effort that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is slowly organizing. In a letter "From somewhere" dated Oct. 21, Avilez wrote euphorically of his release, "I am free, and I always will be even though the criminal investigation continues, even though they want to maintain this evil farce. I am free, and I ... know the power of our solidarity to finish tearing down this injustice that they hold against me.

"We will always be free if we keep our hands united together so that no one can be arbitrarily detained, no injustice can be committed, no right can be violated or threatened, no life can be cut down because of its ideas ... never again can these actions be repeated. It is certain that we will always be free if we keep loving like we love, dreaming like we dream, and fighting like we fight."

Avilez was arrested in early June by an elite arm of the Colombian military, and he remained in jail while the government investigated whether the accusations leveled against him by a paid informant could be turned into criminal charges.

The testimony reportedly linked Avilez to the bombing of a Barranquilla department store that is owned by a prominent politician. One shopper died and others were seriously injured, leading to allegations against Avilez ranging from terrorism and murder to guerrilla activity.

Under Colombian law the government had 260 days to produce evidence, or the charges would be automatically dropped. Avilez's lawyer has filed another appeal urging the government to drop the investigation.

In or out of jail Avilez's life is in jeopardy. While he was in jail he was a potential victim to violence inside Colombia's political system. Now, identified as a subversive, he is hunted by the armed groups who exact their own kind of justice regardless of court verdicts.

"I am not totally free," Avilez said, explaining why he is in hiding. "I feel very vulnerable, very unprotected. I'm worried about the future. I'm worried about my family.

"What I need is support and solidarity."

For the past seven years Avilez has worked with the Presbyterian Church of Colombia (PCC) in its human rights ministries.

For the last two years he directed a team of volunteer law students. These students helped Colombia's internal refugees file for government assistance and document human rights abuses by the armed paramilitary, guerrilla or government forces that forced them off their land and into shantytowns onthe fringes of Colombia's already economically troubled cities.

Since his arrest the PCC has learned that its Barranquilla office is apparently under video surveillance and that its ministry to displaced people is under government scrutiny. Avilez's interrogators - and their backers - call human rights work subversion and say those who do it are simply guerrillas in disguise.

The PCC's executive director, the Rev. Milton Mejia, thinks that the goal is to scare the church away from human rights work.

Both the Colombian Embassy to the United States in Washington, D.C., and the office of Vice President Francisco Santos have refused interviews from the Presbyterian News Service about the Avilez case and about the pressure faced by the church.

"Mauricio is free ... but he's not safe," said his brother, Moises Avilez, another student lawyer who has been working on his brother's case. "He is very much at risk."

One of Avilez's cellmates, Alfredo Correa De Andreis - a university professor and human rights advocate who was also released on appeal - is already dead. Correa was gunned down in the street by a gunman riding on the back of a motorcycle. His bodyguard also died in the assassination attack.

So Avilez stays hidden. He writes letters and poetry. He talks with his lawyer. And he finds ways to let his mother know that he's OK. He is sadly aware that his family had to go into hiding themselves for a few days to avoid the armed groups who want him dead. Cars with darkened windows - shielding the identities of the occupants - passed by the house. His brother reportedly received threatening calls. A motorcyclist followed Sister Crisanta Cordero - a nun who visited Avilez in prison almost daily - in her car. After months of surveillance and harassment, Avilez's mother is having heart palpitations.

"I'm very worried about my family," Avilez said. But the difficult ordeal has only solidified his resolve to continue working for the human rights of others.

He will most likely have to do this from the safety of another country, because he knows his assassination is inevitable if he remains in Colombia's deadly, polarized political world - even if the allegations against him are dropped.

Although inmates are usually notified by noon on the day of their impending release and are processed out by 8 p.m., Avilez learned that he was to be freed at 8 p.m., and by 8:20 he was standing outside the prison.

In his letter Avilez described his feelings at that moment:

"I woke up from a nightmare. ... It was just like they woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me I was free. I could not believe it. It was finally happening, what I had longed for - with the signing of a few papers. I had thought of so many things I would do in this instant. Yet, in the moment, I did not know what to do. I did not know if I should hug or kiss or yell.

"In the meantime, tears ran down my cheeks. My tears were free, too. And I freely let them roll."

Mejia told the Presbyterian News Service that the church is celebrating Avilez's release, enjoying the moment. But they know the troubles not yet over.

"On the one hand, it shows us that everything they said about Mauricio was a lie," Mejia said. "On the other hand, we know that we have to find ways to protect ourselves, that they can launch an investigation against us at any time.

"But," he said, "for the moment we are content."

Mejia said the PCC will continue its work with the displaced. It has also learned the importance of international solidarity. He said the pressure applied by the U.S. church helped in this case - from letters received to previously unheard of back-to-back visits by PC(USA) General Assembly moderators Susan Andrews and Rick Ufford-Chase.

The sample letter:

Dear Vice President Santos,

I am deeply troubled about the ongoing investigation of Mauricio Avilez and the continuing harassment of members of his family in Barranquilla.

As you know, Avilez is a volunteer human rights worker for the Presbyterian Church of Colombia, which is headquartered in Barranquilla. He has recently been released from jail after being detained for 130 days - but the investigation into the allegations lodged against him is still ongoing.

It is a biblical imperative for the church - anywhere in the world - to serve the poor. To feed the hungry. To clothe the naked. To visit the imprisoned. But it is becoming increasingly dangerous for church workers to do their work in your country and that is a matter of critical importance to the worldwide Body of Christ. Such harassment continues even though non-violence is core to the church's teaching and it is bound to work within the law to care for the weak and vulnerable.

Since the Fiscalia has determined that there is no evidence to support holding Avilez in jail any longer, I am eager to see all of the charges dropped, or, the investigation brought to a swift close.

I urge you to protect church workers as they go about their ministries and to put a stop to the vicious intimidation of their families, who, like the Avilez family, are bystanders in a political crisis that is not of their making. Protection is also needed for CEDERHNOS - the human rights organization where Avilez worked - and its volunteers.

My prayers are with you as you seek to bring peace to Colombia.

Sincerely,

This letter may be faxed to Vice President Francisco Santos at 011-57-1-334-1138; or sent to Carlos Franco, director of the Presidential Human Rights Program at pefranco@presidencia.gov.co; and Fiscal Luis Camilo Osorio, attorney general, contacto@fiscalia.gov.co; and Elba Beatriz Silva, director of the Human Rights Program of the Justice Department, elbabesilva@fiscalia.gov.co.

Presbyterian News Service