PBI-Colombia expresses “deep concern and solidarity” following break-in and theft at the Nydia Érika Bautista Foundation

Still from video of the break-in.

Infobae reports:

“[The Nydia Érika Bautista Foundation] denounced that in the early hours of last Sunday [June 5] a man entered the headquarters of the foundation in Bogotá where he stole information linked to a meeting [on June 1] with the president of the Truth Commission, the Jesuit priest Francisco de Roux, and photographs of the victims represented, members of the work team and the families that are accompanied by the foundation.”

This follows the tweet from the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation stating:

“The @nydia_erika foundation denounced that in the early hours of June 5 a man forced his way into its facilities and stole information on acts of forced disappearance that had been delivered to the @ComisionVerdadC [Truth Commission].”

The Foundation also says:

“These acts of intimidation of our defense of victims of forced disappearance, sexual violence and victims during the National Strike, now occur in the context of the recent delivery of Recommendations to the Truth Commission, legal actions and memory.”

And it denounced that:

“The repeated theft of information and resources from the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation and its directives in the last 9 months are not isolated events, they affect more than 400 victims in territories and could derive from intelligence and intimidation actions.”

In response, PBI-Colombia has tweeted:

“Deep concern and solidarity with @nydia_erika for direct attack, theft of sensitive information and #illegal intelligence that exposes them to high risk as well as victims #Forced Disappearance to those who defend! Effective investigations are urgently needed to avoid #Impunity.”

It also tweeted:

“Comprehensive system in rejection of attacks against @nydia_erika that exposes the organization, accompanied by PBI, and the victims to high risk #Forced Disappearance @JEP_Colombia [Special Jurisdiction for Peace] @ComisionVerdadC [Truth Commission] @UBPDcolombia [Missing Persons Search Unit] urge authorities to carry out effective investigations.”

The joint statement from the JEP, the Commission and the UBPD can be read in full here. That letter concludes: “The Integral System urges the competent authorities to carry out an effective investigation to recover the stolen information and take actions that can prevent future attacks against the organization.”

PBI-Canada joins with the concern expressed by PBI-Colombia and other entities calling for an investigation and recovery of the stolen information.