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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 ¾ 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.
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