Dear friends :
I am pleased to invite those who receive this message to support the march and vigils plan for March 6, 2008 in support of the victims of paramilitary violence and of abuses by the Colombian Army and Police. Paramilitary violence, often supported by agents of the Colombian state, has taken thousands of lives and left millions of rural Colombians displaced in recent years. While a series of public demonstrations in Colombia and elsewhere on February 4th called attention to the human rights violations of the FARC guerrillas--- including massacres, selective killings and kidnapping--- the suffering of the victims of paramilitary violence and of abuses by the Colombian state security forces have not received the same broad public attention.
Now , however the Movements of Crimes of the State ( MOVICE) and other social and human rights organizations in Colombia are planning to bring the plight of the victims of the paramilitaries and the Colombian state to public attention in Colombia and abroad through a series of events in remembrance of them. These events are being promoted by the Colombia Support Network (CSN), to whose Advisory Council I belong. Please contact CSN for more details. Sincerely
Howard Zinn, February 10, 2008
