Colombia: Despierta Colombia, including its political status, organization, and its leadership and whether it has been the target of extortion and kidnappings by guerrillas (1990 to October 2002)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 28 October 2002 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | COL40257.E |
| Reference | 2 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Colombia: Despierta Colombia, including its political status, organization, and its leadership and whether it has been the target of extortion and kidnappings by guerrillas (1990 to October 2002), 28 October 2002, COL40257.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3f7d4d790.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The following information was provided by the Conservative Senator for the department of Tolima in a 24 October 2002 telephone interview. He has been a Senator since 1996.
Despierta Colombia is a political movement within the Conservative Party of Colombia (Partido Conservador Colombiano). Its activities range from organizing campaigns of Conservative Party candidates during elections to drafting bills that could be introduced in the Colombian Congress. The group has coordinators in the different departments where the party has representation; it has no national leadership. The Senator was aware of 2 or 3 individuals who had been active in Despierta Colombia and were kidnapped by either a guerrilla group or paramilitaries. One activist from Despierta Colombia had been kidnapped by the guerrillas but was liberated by the army last year. The Senator was unable to provide additional information on these kidnappings.
Additional and/or corroborating information on Despierta Colombia could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
Reference
Senator, Secretaría del Senado de Colombia, Bogotá. 24 October 2002. Telephone interview.
Additional Sources Consulted
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. 1999-2001
IRB Databases
LEXIS/NEXIS
World News Connection (WNC)
Internet sites, including:
Actualidad Colombiana [Bogotá]
Amnesty International
BBC
Colombia Analítica [Bogotá]
El Espectador [Bogotá]
Human Rights Watch
Procesodepaz.com
Secretaría del Senado de Colombia
El Tiempo [Bogotá]
Search Engines:
Alltheweb.com
Metacrawler