Human Rights Activist Speaks

A Colombian human rights activist yesterday said in a speech at the Law School that the protection of human rights is fundamental to the survival of his embattled nation.

In a speech entitled "Human Rights in a Paper-Thin Democracy: The View from Medellin, Colombia," Dr. Pablo Emilio Angarita, director of the Instito Popular de Capacitacion, told a crowd of approximately 50 people how he has struggled to protect citizens while being harassed by the Colombian government.

Angarita, who was invited to speak by the Law School's Human Rights Program, said the government arrested him for his human rights work last year. At one point, he said, the police raided his organization and confiscated its documents.

The Colombian government wanted "to discount his human rights work as Communist movements" and was very suspicious of his activities, Angarita said, speaking through a translator.

But public pressure prompted the Colombian government to release Angarita and the government is less suspicious of his organization today, he said.

In the last minutes of his speech, Angarita focussed on the drug trafficking and guerilla warfare in Colombia. A member of the Colombian military present at the speech raised several questions regarding these subjects and debated with Angarita in Spanish for about 30 minutes.

Angarita's speech was preceded by a short film about the social conflicts existing in Colombia today. The film, also in Spanish, covered the acute social and political problems in Colombia, including land ownership struggles, high unemployment rates, drug trafficking and terrorist activities.

As the meeting ended, Angarita said he wished to continue the struggle for human rights in Colombia.