Take Action - Send a letter to GU to oppose the hiring of state terrorist and Colombian ex-President Alvaro Uribe

Please join in solidarity and memory with all the victims of human rights abuses under Uribe's Presidency in Colombia. Georgetown University appointed former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe as a "distinguished scholar in the practice of global leadership," and Uribe has been giving seminars at the university's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS). Uribe has said it is a “great honor” for him, and that his “greatest wish and happiness is to contribute in the continuous emergence of future leaders.” In one of his classes, Uribe declared that "no one from the social opposition has been killed or displaced" in Colombia.

His appointment is an outrage and an insult to the victims.

Please help us in denouncing Uribe's presence at Georgetown and send him back to Colombia where he must undergo the criminal investigation that is needed for justice.

Carta al presidente de la Universidad de Georgetown

In writing a letter to Georgetown president Mr. John J. DeGioia, it is always better to customize your own message if possible! SEND A FAX by entering your information in the form below...OR hand write a letter to the address below.

**Remember to sign your name and to hit the "send" button at the bottom** Share

Subject:

Your Letter:

Mr. DeGioia,

As a person concerned with human rights, I believe that it is not only unacceptable but also completely unethical for Georgetown University to give Colombia’s ex-president Álvaro Uribe the title of “distinguished scholar in the practice of global leadership.” This sends the message that Georgetown University is not committed to upholding human rights or its own professed Jesuit values. I demand that Georgetown sides with the victims of human rights abuses and not with the perpetrators. Uribe is a criminal, and therefore not suitable to teach at a prestigious university such as Georgetown.

Uribe’s eight-year tenure in Colombia was rife with corruption, human rights violations and widespread impunity. In a letter in June 2009 to the White House, the NGO Human Rights Watch expressed “serious concerns” about the Uribe administration's record on and commitment to human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. Uribe’s accusations against union leaders, teachers, and members of the Supreme Court, which have seriously threatened their lives and caused multiple human rights abuses. Along with his cooperation in anti-opposition attacks, he is suspected to be involved in multiple scandals in which more than 70 of his allies in the Colombian Congress were under criminal investigation for links to paramilitary groups and corruption.

Charges by human rights organizations against Uribe include, but are not limited to, collaboration with paramilitary groups in the “false positives” scandal, which entailed luring 3,000 or more poor young men to their deaths, posing them as guerrilla fighters and paying bonuses to the soldiers responsible. His legacy also includes extensive illegal phone tapping, email interception, and surveillance of critics of his administration. Not only was Uribe a destabilizing force in the region, but under Uribe’s presidency, there was also a significant rise in extrajudicial killings of civilians, and specific targeting of labor leaders, attributed to the Colombian Army, well as millions displaced from Colombians and other bordering nations. In addition, under Uribe’s administration the Colombian government violated international humanitarian law by wrongly using the Red Cross emblem in a hostage situation.

We urge you to rethink your decision about hiring Uribe as a member of your staff, and instead insist that Uribe stand trial and undergo an investigation for the human rights abuses that took place under his presidency. Unless you believe that corruption, violence and scandals are valuable tools for your students, as the President of Georgetown University, it is imperative that you take a stance on the side of justice and denounce Uribe’s human rights violations by terminating his connection with your university. Uribe should not be honored by Georgetown’s academic prestige, but should instead pay for the crimes that he committed.

Sincerely,