The Colombian government has sunk to the level of China, Burma and Iran by jailing political prisoners without trial, campaigners told the Colombian ambassador to Britain this week. More than 50 protesters, including union leaders and MPs, demonstrated outside the Colombian Embassy in London to demand the freeing of Liliany Obando, who has been in prison since August 2008. More than 1,000 other political prisoners are estimated to be held in Colombia.
A letter from pressure group Justice for Colombia handed to ambassador Mauricio Rodríguez said: “No evidence against Ms Obando has been made public and she is simply accused of ‘rebellion’. Colombia’s continuing policy of jailing people for political reasons without convicting them of any crime can only be compared to the situation in countries such as Burma, China and Iran.”
TUC deputy general secretary Frances O’Grady told Tribune the Government needed to “raise its voice” against systematic abuses.
The Foreign Office has criticised Colombia’s law of “rebellion”, with which Ms Obando was charged, as apparently breaching human rights.
