We, French and European parliamentarians, wish to express our outrage at the appointment of former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez as professor at the Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Metz (ENIM) as a part of a transaction to obtain lucrative contracts concluded between this educational institution and the Colombian state.

 

The European Union and France declare themselves as the upholders of human rights. This will only go to add a new inconsistency in the accomplishment of the policy objectives, and this appointment will be a disservice towards the education of young Europeans. We would like to refresh your memory concerning the mandates of Mr Uribe in terms of human rights:

 

* Mr. Uribe introduced a controversial policy called "democratic security" ostensibly to fight against insecurity and strengthen the rule of law. In the context of the armed conflict prevailing in Colombia for over 50 years, this policy promised soldiers, bonuses and benefits for each guerrilla killed in combat. This "policy of figures" is catastrophic and has had the effect of inciting soldiers to kill over 3,000 innocent civilians from poor neighborhoods in order to present them as "guerrillas killed in combat"

 

* Many cases of corruption, murder and revelations consequent to the implementation of the law "Justice and peace" have helped to highlight the strong links between the death squads (paramilitary) linked to the mafia and the political family of Mr. Uribe. More than 120 politicians close to his government have been indicted and dozens have already been sentenced for these criminal links. Mario Uribe, the former president’s cousin, who is also his political associate, has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for being his ally and for having used these criminal organizations to facilitate his election in the national parliament as well as for illegally appropriating large stretches of fertile land.

 

* At present Colombia is the second country (after Sudan) with the highest number of IDPs in the world. Although this phenomenon had begun before the arrival in power of Alvaro Uribe, it is estimated that about 2.4 million people were displaced during his tenure. There are also more than a thousand mass graves in Colombia. A burial ground of more than 2000 unidentified bodies, filled by the military since 2005, was recently uncovered in the department of Meta. Reports also mention the use of Crematoria to disappear the bodies.

 

* Many cases of corruption involving the government and the political family of Mr. Uribe have marked his tenure. For instance the former Minister for Agriculture was indicted for embezzling huge sums of money from their original purpose (help to small farmers) for the benefit of rich landowners and contributed indirectly to financing the re-election Mr. Uribe.

 

* Under Mr. Uribe’s presidency, the Colombian secret services (DAS) were used to spy on, persecute, threaten, attack and stigmatize human rights defenders, trade unionists, political opponents, journalists, and the Supreme Court of Justice; the recent discovery of internal documents of the DAS have even revealed their willingness to monitor and discredit the Human Rights Sub-Commission of the European Parliament, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the UN, and NGOs fighting for human rights. Among these organizations or persons, many have been explicitly designated by the former president as "intellectual showcases "of the FARC, thereby putting them in danger.

 

The appointment of Mr. Uribe to the post of "University Professor" in ENIM is not coincidental. It is a continuation after the award by the Colombian government while Mr Uribe was still the president, for the modernization of training centers in Colombia (SENA). Mr. Uribe had in fact already been named "Engineer Honoris Causa ENIM" on this occasion. Caught up in several serious cases in his own country, Mr Uribe had already attempted to obtain respectability by being appointed professor at Georgetown University (USA). But this attempt had generated a strong rejection from the academia and the civil society in the United States.

 

Today, we now call upon all citizens, French and European to do the same by denouncing the appointment of Mr Alvaro Uribe at ENIM, and we demand that this educational institution break off this shameful contract.

 

We believe that the European educational system cannot and should not be used to launder those who have committed violations of human rights, and that Mr. Uribe must answer for these accusations before the Colombian courts, or before the International Criminal Court .

 

Signatories:

 

Jürgen Klute, member of the European Parliament, Germany, Delegation of the European Parliament to the EuroLat Assembly.

 

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, member of the European Parliament, France, Vice president of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

 

Nikolaos Chountis, member of the European Parliament, Greece, Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.

 

Martine Billard, member of the French Parliament, Vice president of the France-Republic of Colombia Parliamentary Friendship Group.

 

Marie-Christine Vergiat, member of the European Parliament, France, Sub-Committee on Human Rights.

 

Cornelia Ernst, member of the European Parliament, Germany, Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home affairs.

 

Gabriele Zimmer, member of the European Parliament, Germany, Committee on Development.

 

Eva-Britt Svensson, member of the European Parliament, Sweden, President of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality

 

Georgios Toussas, member of the European Parliament, Greece Committee on Transport and Tourism

 

Charalampos Angourakis, member of the European Parliament, Greece Committee on Regional Development

 

Bairbre de Brún, member of the European Parliament, United Kingdom, Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.

 

Thomas Händel, member of the European Parliament, Germany, Committee on Employment and Social Affairs.

 

Willy Meyer, member of the European Parliament, Spain, Vice president of the Delegation of the European Parliament to the EuroLat Assembly.

 

Sabine Wils, member of the European Parliament, Germany, Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

 

Helmut Scholz, member of the European Parliament, Germany, Committee on International Trade.

 

Catherine Grèze, member of the European Parliament, France, Delegation of the European Parliament to the EuroLat Assembly.

 

Yves Cochet, member of the French Parliament, Secretary of the Committee on Sustainable Development, Town and Country Planning.

 

Sabine Losing, member of the European Parliament, Germany, Committee on Foreign Affairs

 

Miguel Portas, member of the European Parliament, Portugal, Special Committee on Financial, Economic and Social Crisis.

 

Jacky Henin, member of the European Parliament, France, Committee on Industry, Research and Energy

 

Raül Romeva i Rueda, member of the European Parliament, Spain, , Delegation of the European Parliament to the EuroLat Assembly.

 

Dominique Voynet, member of the French Parliament, Secretary of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces.

 

Noël Mamère, member of the French Parliament, Secretary of the Committee on Legal Affairs.

 

Francois de Rugy, member of the French Parliament, Secretary of the French National Assembly.

 

Jean Desessard, member of the French Parliament, Committee on Social Affairs.

 

Ivan Renar, member of the French Parliament, Vice president of the Committee on Culture, Education and Communication.

 

Marie-Christine Blandin, member of the French Parliament, Secretary of the Committee on Culture, Education and Communication.

 

Michel Billout, member of the French Parliament, Vice president of the on European Affairs.

 

Alima Boumediene-Thierry, member of the French Parliament, Committee on European Affairs.

 

Anny Poursinoff, member of the French Parliament, Committee on Economic Affairs.

 

Pascal Canfin, member of the European Parliament, France, Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.