David Ravelo Crespo

Human rights defender, Mr David Ravelo Crespo, Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Corporación Regional para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos – CREDHOS (Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights), was arrested on 14 September 2010 by members of the Cuerpo Técnico de Investigación de la Fiscalía – CTI (Technical Investigation Division of the District Attorney's office).

Further Information

CREDHOS is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to the protection and promotion of human rights in Colombia. The human rights defender is also a member of the Magdelena Medio branch of the Movimiento de Víctimas de Crímenes de Estado – MOVICE (Movement of Victims of State Crimes). It is believed that there were death threats against David Ravelo Crespo and other members of CREDHOS on June 2010 and February 2008.

On 14 September, at 3:05 pm, David Ravelo Crespo was arrested by agents of the CTI in the city of Barrancabermeja, before then being brought under a heavy police guard to the airport and transferred to the city of Bogotá. He is currently being held under the orders of District Attorney's office number 22 of the National Antiterrorism Unit on charges of conspiracy to commit a crime and aggravated murder. The charges have been brought about as a result of accusations that have been made against him by a member of the paramilitary group Autodefensas Unidas de Santander y Cesar- AUSAC, Mario Jaimes Mejía.

In March 1999 the provincial courts found Mario Jaimes Mejía guilty for his involvement in two paramilitary massacres which took place in Barrancabermeja on 16 May 1998 and 28 February 1999. Under the Justice and Peace Law (JPL) 975 of 2005 former paramilitaries can get reduced prison sentences in exchange for full confessions regarding their participation in paramilitary actions. Invoking this law in an attempt to reduce his 40 year sentence Mario Jaimes Mejía has accused David Ravelo Crespo of instigating the murder of the Secretary for Public Works of Barrancabermeja David Nuñez Cala. During the trial David Rabelo Crespo's lawyers gave evidence that these claims were false and were the result of a sustained attempt to stigmatise the human rights defender. The penal investigation was being carried out in Barrancabermeja until the end of April 2009 when it was reassigned to office 22 of the Antiterrorism Unit.

Front Line believes that the detention of David Ravelo Crespo is directly related to his nonviolent work in defence of human rights. Front Line is concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of the aforementioned human rights defender whilst in detention. Given the fact that Colombia continues to record some of the highest levels of attacks on human rights defenders, including killings, Front Line reiterates that immediate measures must be taken to protect those who remain at risk as a result of their work in defence of human rights.

Please the previous Front Line Urgent Appeal of 9 June 2010 on the case.