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Friends,
There is no easy way to deliver this news.
On March 22, Bernardo Rios, of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó in Colombia, was gunned down by a group of men known locally as paramilitaries, less than a mile from a military checkpoint. The same day, in different Colombian towns, two community leaders working to reclaim their stolen lands were also killed by alleged paramilitaries.
Bernardo was 27 years old, and leaves behind a partner and young children.
Take action now and tell Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to help protect the Peace Community and end the cycle of impunity in Colombia:
http://forusa.org/bernardo
Since the Peace Community's founding in 1997, there have been 195 people in the community murdered by paramilitaries -- yet just two low-ranking officials have been convicted.
"Those who sow death have tried to do away with us during these fourteen years. Our stubborn struggle for life means we don't give in to them," the Peace Community declared in a statement after Bernardo's murder.
"With fear, powerlessness, fury at such impunity and complacency by the State in the face of so much horror, we take the position of building a different life now and in our community," they said. "As we celebrate fourteen years of civil resistance at Bernardo's funeral, his memory and those of so many others who have been murdered will give us the light that will help us continue on a path of hope."
Your signature will be hand-delivered to the State Department this Thursday, April 7. Please take action now, and invite your friends to join you:
http://forusa.org/bernardo
Shortly before Bernardo was killed, Peace Community co-founder Jesús Emilio Tuberquia was approached and threatened by the same paramilitaries. When they saw that Jesús Emilio was accompanied by international activists, they withdrew -- and it was then that Bernardo, coming unaccompanied from a meeting with Jesús Emilio moments before, was attacked.
The Fellowship of Reconciliation has been working with the Peace Community in Colombia for nearly a decade, accompanying community members as they put their lives on the line in a nonviolent struggle for peace.
 Please consider helping support our continuing work in Colombia. Quite simply, the more financial support we have for accompaniment, the more community members we can help protect.
In hope and struggle for a brighter, more peaceful future.
Mark C. Johnson, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Fellowship of Reconciliation
P.S. Because we want to deliver the petition signatures on Thursday, time is of the essence. Please sign the petition today, and invite your friends to do the same.
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