B. Communication Mo. 287/1988. O.H.C. v. Colombia (decision of 1 November 1991. adopted at the forty-third session) Submitted by: O.H.C. (name deleted) Alleged victims; The author and his brother State party; Colombia Date of communication; 18 February 1988 (date of initial letter) The Human Rights Committee, established under article 28 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Bights, Meeting on 1 Kovember 1991, Adopts the following; Decision on admissibiljty 1. The author of the communication (initial submission dated 18 February 1988) is O . H . C , a Colombian citizen born in 1954 in Medellin, Colombia, and currently residing in London. He submits the communication on his own behalf and that of his brother, J.O.C., who is unable to himself submit a complaint. It is submitted that both are victims of violations by Colombia of articles 6, 7, 17 and 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Fapts as submitted bv the author 2.1 The author was a student and union activist in Colombia prior to his departure for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, where he requested refugee status on 2 September 1988. Until September 1987, he had served as vice-president of the National Association of Civil Servants in the National University (Vice Presidente Nacional de la Asociacion de Empleados Publicos de la Universiaaa Nacional). He claims that in 1987 and 1988, he and his brother were repeatedly threatened by paramilitary groups in Medellin, such as the group "Amor por Medellin". Several of his and his brother's friends, all of whom were, like the author, engaged in some form of union activities, were assassinated in the course of 1987. 2.2 On 5 September 1987, on the occasion of the eleventh National Congress of the National Federation of Civil Servants, the author's apartment was ransacked by armed men in uniform, allegedly members of a paramilitary group whom the author suspects to have had links with the Colombian armed forces; subsequently, he received death threats by telephone both at his home and office. 2.3 On 5 February 1988, the author's brother disappeared. Two days later, he was found in a paddock, unconscious and suffering from a cerebral concussion, with signs of having been subjected to torture. He was admitted to a hospital in Antioquia where he was treated, but he never recovered. The author states that his brother has remained mute and semiparalysed as a result of the -334-