PUBLIC DENUNCIATION AND URGENT ACTION

POLITICAL PRISONER KEVIN DAVID GARCIA MOSQUERA WAS TAKEN FROM THE BUNKER OF THE PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE IN NEIVA AND TRANSFERRED TO AN UNKNOWN LOCATION.

June 3, 2022

 

The “José Alvear Restrepo” Laywers Collective Corporation -CAJAR-, non-governmental organization defender of Human Rights, affiliate of the International Federation for Human Rights -FIDH- and of the World Organization Against Torture -OMCT-, with consultative status before the Organization of American States -OAS- and the United Nations -UN-, issues PUBLIC DENUNCIATION AND URGENT ACTION for the violation of human rights of the political prisoner KEVIN DAVID GARCIA MOSQUERA, according to the following: 

 

FACTS

• On April 27, 2022, in the city of Neoiva, the Colombian citizen KEVIN GARCIA MOSQUERA, 23 years old, was captured with 7 other people, by orders of the Sixth Sectional Prosecutor’s Office of Neiva, accused of belonging to the First Line Group, considered by the prosecution as an Organized Criminal Group, against whom a macro-indictment for serious crimes such as terrorism, criminal conspiracy, kidnapping and others, in events related to the social protest developed during the year 2021 in that city.

 

• During the development of the preliminary hearings, the political prisoner KEVIN GARCIA MOSQUERA remained deprived of his liberty in the CAI Bogotá of the city of Neiva, where he was the victim of intimidation, threats and attempted aggression to his personal integrity, circumstances that were denounced by the defense in writing and at the hearings before the prosecutor and the judge hearing the case.

 

• On May 6, 2022, the Third Municipal Criminal Judge with Function of Control of Guarantees of Neiva, in a decision that the defense bench considered arbitrary, ordered the preventive detention of several of the accused in a detention center, a decision that was appealed; However, the political prisoner KEVIN GARCIA MOSQUERA was held in the BUNKER of the Prosecutor’s Office based in the city of Neiva, where he suffered health problems and restrictions on family visits, so we made a request to the Attorney General of the Nation to ensure the effective protection of fundamental rights, in accordance with the condition of special subjection ordered by the aforementioned Judge.

 

• Today, June 3, 2022, in the early hours of the morning, the mother and father of the political prisoner KEVIN GARCIA MOSQUERA, informed the defense attorneys assigned to our corporation that they had received a phone call in which they were informed that, at three (3) in the morning, their son had been taken from the headquarters of the BUNKER of the Neiva Prosecutor’s Office and transferred to an unknown location.

 

• In the morning hours of the same day, we sent formal and written communication to the new delegated Prosecutor for the case, the 4th Specialized Prosecutor of Neiva, warning about the possible arbitrary transfer and the urgency of protection of fundamental rights of the political prisoner KEVIN GARCIA MOSQUERA, according to articles 1, 2, 11, 13, 40 and 42 of the Political Constitution; however, we have not received a response by any means and the relatives of the prisoner are in a situation of uncertainty and anxiety.

 

HUMAN RIGHTS CONSIDERATIONS 

The Colombian State is obliged to comply with international standards regarding treatment and respect for the human rights of the population deprived of liberty, as a consequence of their special condition of subjection and subordination and in compliance with the Constitutional Block. 

Thus, the Minimum Rules and Principles for the Protection and Treatment of Persons Deprived of Liberty (1955), the American Convention on Human Rights (1972), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976), the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1987), the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment (1988), the Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners (1990), the Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty (2008), the Political Constitution, national jurisprudence, the criminal and criminal procedure law in force, oblige the State to respect and guarantee human dignity, personal integrity, access to information, family contact and contact with the outside world, due separation of accused and convicted persons, due process and confinement in the place where the proceedings are being held and the procedural guarantees of all persons deprived of their liberty; However, in the treatment of the political prisoner KEVIN GARCIA MOSQUERA, this obligation has been breached by the Attorney General’s Office, represented by FRANCISCO BARBOSA DELGADO, by not allowing family visits, the contact of the prisoner with the outside world, by not providing information or immediate response to the defense of the detainee about his current situation and place of confinement, keeping in a state of uncertainty and anxiety both the political prisoner and his family and defense.

In view of this evident violation and future risk to human rights, we publicly present to the Colombian State, the following:

 

REQUESTS

1. That the NATIONAL ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE, represented by Mr. FRANCISCO BARBOSA DELGADO, report urgently:
2. The place where political prisoner KEVIN GARCIA MOSQUERA is being held.
3.  In the event that he has been transferred, inform him of the reasons for the transfer and the incommunicado detention of political prisoner KEVIN GARCIA MOSQUERA and the absence of information and notification of his defense. 
4.  Immediately transfer the political prisoner KEVIN GARCIA MOSQUERA to the “La Rivera” Prison Establishment, located in the place where the criminal proceeding is in progress and where the detainee’s family resides, in guarantee of human dignity and human rights enshrined in international treaties and current regulations referred to in the considerations of this complaint.
5. That the OMBUDSMAN’S ADVOCATE, represented by Mr. CARLOS CAMARGO ASIS, as a matter of urgency:
6.  Conduct an IMMEDIATE VISIT to the BUNKER of the Fiacalía based in Neiva to verify the human rights situation of the political prisoner KEVIN GARCIA MOSQUERA.
7.  Coadjut in its entirety the present complaint and its petitions and, consequently, immediately send the official letters to the competent authorities. 

CALL FOR SOLIDARITY 

We request that you DIFFUSE this complaint and send LETTERS to the Colombian State requesting information on the whereabouts of political prisoner KEVIN GARCIA MOSQUERA and to cooperate with this request.