ON A SOBER estimate, once every two days somebody disappears in Colombia. And this is leaving aside thousands of cases of false arrest, imprisonment and intimidation.
Most of the victims are peasants, workers and trade unionists in the bad books of security forces given free rein by the government's "dirty war "terrorism. Most of the abductions occur in areas under strict military and police control.
The Colombian Committee for Human Rights, based in London, is attempting to draw attention to this rising wave of terror -backed up by tightening controls Among cases it is highlighting are tose or rearo vullo movild who disappeared on May 13 in the Colombian capital Bogota, and trade union activists Pedro Julio, Efrain Gomez Moncada and Efrain Gomez who have also disappeared.
Members of Human Rights Group, who question what is happening are also targets, among them Alirio de Jesus Pedraza, who disappeared three years ago. No such rigour is apgations into the dirty war and drug trafficking - the pretext for much of the repression.
The Committee can be contacted at Fenner Brockway House, 37-39 Great Guildford Street, London SE1 OES: tel: 071401 2225; fax: 071 620 1103.