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Dear Friends: We received this urgent message tonight from our colleagues in Bolivia. Please act now to demand the immediate release of Oscar Olivera and other detainees. Steve Steven Staples Issue Campaigns Coordinator Coordinadora de Defensa del Agua y de la Vida Coalition for the Defense of Water and Life Cochabamba, Bolivia Action AlertOscar Olivera, leader in the struggle against World Bank-Bechtel water privatization, illegaly detained by police; whereabouts unknown.Your Faxes Needed; See BelowClose to 1,000 heavily armed members of Bolivian security forces dispersed peaceful marchers with tear gas, beating them, and confiscated their personal possessions around three p. m. today April 12. Over 60 were illegally detained, and Minister of Government Guillermo Fortún announced that there was one arrest: unionist Oscar Olivera, a key leader of the movement to reverse water privatization by San Francisco-based Bechtel Corporation in Cochabamba in April 2000. The march to La Paz, called the “March for Life and the Sovereignty of Our People”, left Cochabamba 9 April, to demand attention to a series of demands, some of them unfilled promises from April of 2000. Led by Olivera and others, the march was made up of over 600 peasants, workers, coca growers, and others, organized in a coalition called the Comunal. Marchers not detained have vowed to continue towards La Paz. Today, the fourth day of the March, the Bolivian government violently interrupted the march in the highland village of Pongo. Facing tear gassings and beatings, the marchers fled to the mountains, while some 60 to 70 others were detained. At present (9:00pm) the whereabouts of the illegally detained marchers is still unknown. Father Luis Sanchez of the Cochabamba chapter of the Bolivian Permanent Human Rights Assembly has denounced the government action as illegal, insisting that it was an “illegal forced transport” and “illegal detention” of marchers. He and other human rights observers are beginning to speak of Olivera and other illegally detained marchers as “disappeared.” Minister of Government Guillermo Fortún claimed at 8:30pm tonight that the only marcher arrested is Olivera, on charges of subversion and attempted murder. The subversion charge is for comments made by Olivera that he would like to see President Banzer leave office before his term expires in 2002 - a widely shared sentiment in Bolivia. The attempted murder charge stems from an incident yesterday,11 April, when marchers happened upon plainclothes police monitoring the march. Lying, the police first identified themselves as journalists, then part of a human rights delegation. Their vacillation caused suspicion among the marchers, and a scuffle ensued. According to eyewitnesses from various local media, Olivera intervened to put a stop to the scuffle. Marchers seized weapons, cellular phones, and a copy of Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler, which were turned over to human rights observers. Today, Minister Fortún characterized Olivera as responsible for the scuffle, which is now being called a “massacre” of the police and “attempted murder.” At the time of this writing the whereabouts of Olivera are unknown. Minister Fortún admits he is in government custody, but church leaders, human rights workers and press in Cochabmaba have been stonewalled by police and government officials, and Olivera has not been seen. Action RequestWe are asking for letters and faxes to President Banzer of Bolivia, and Minister of Government Guillermo Fortún. EVEN IF OSCAR AND OTHER MARCHERS ARE RELEASED, IT IS IMPERATIVE THIS REPRESSION NOT GO UNCHALLENGED. Please adapt and send the following letter to the faxes noted below. Dear President Banzer: I am writing to express my concern and outrage regarding the treatment of the civilian marchers in the “March for Life and the Sovereignty of Our People”, illegally detained 12 April, and among them Mr. Oscar Olivera. The manner in which they were detained and dispersed is both illegal and unconscionable. At present we understand that Mr. Olivera’s and the marcher’s whereabouts are unknown. We demand an immediate clarification, and guarantees for the safety and human rights of all the marchers and Mr. Olivera, and that Bolivian and international law be respected. We demand that all illegal detainees be immediately released. We denounce the obviously absurd charges against Mr. Olivera, contradicted by many press eyewitnesses. We expect such violations to cease immediately. We will be monitoring the situation closely. Sincerely Please send faxes to: Presidente Hugo Banzer Suárez
Min. de Gobierno Guillermo Fortún
In Canada: Embassy of Bolivia in Canada
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