Colombia's armed forces were complying with human rights
Execution reports may delay U.S. aid to Colombia
By Pablo Bachetet, Miami Herald
Friday, October 19, 2007
Accusations of civilian deaths by Colombian military forces cast a shadow over U.S. aid to Colombia and a pending free-trade agreement.
WASHINGTON --A spike in deaths blamed by human rights groups on the Colombian armed forces is threatening millions of dollars in U.S. military aid and may raise further questions over a pending free-trade agreement.
The increase puts the State Department in an awkward position. The department in March certified that Colombia's armed forces were complying with human rights requirements for U.S. aid disbursements, despite prior warnings about such extrajudicial executions by rights groups and the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
A coalition of 187 Colombian human rights groups will present this week a report on the killings before a rights panel of the Organization of American States, the State Department and U.S. lawmakers. The document cites 955 killings of innocent civilians between July 2002 and June 2007, plus 235 instances of forced disappearances, where the victims are presumed dead.
AGGRESSIVE APPROACH
The higher death toll coincides with the presidency of U.S. ally Alvaro Uribe, who has aggressively expanded military operations against illegal armed groups. In the 1997-02 period, there were 577 extrajudicial killings by state security forces, according to the report.
Activists partly attribute the killings to more military presence in places where disbanded right-wing paramilitary groups used to commit atrocities. They say only two convictions have occurred and the military justice often stonewalls investigations.
They want U.S. military aid suspended and passage of the free-trade agreement delayed until the Colombian government takes steps to stop the killings. Agustín Jiménez, of the Bogotá-based Political Prisoners Solidarity Committee, said U.S.-backed units are involved, including the army's 4th and 11th Brigades, which operate in the Antioquia province, and the 16th brigade, in Casanare.
''Free-trade agreements can't solidify injustices,'' he said.
Uribe is a popular president credited with reducing Colombia's once-rampant violence. But Democrats in Congress are skeptical of a trade deal and are threatening to cut up to 10 percent of the $600 million Colombia receives annually from the United States.
Rights organizations say victims are often detained at their homes and taken to military bases, where they were tortured and executed. They were then clad in military fatigues to make it seem like they belonged to the left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC by its Spanish acronym.
Colombia's Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos, who is in Washington to lobby for military aid, said Thursday the government has taken steps to ensure more respect of human rights, including putting the military justice under greater civilian control.
''All this was having good results when, all of a sudden, the numbers of alleged extrajudicial deaths rose,'' he said, adding the data was ``puzzling.''
He cautioned that the FARC would attack security forces in civilian clothes and then pass off the deaths as civilian killings.
In June, Santos created a special government task force to look into the matter.
Last March, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice certified the release of the $55.2 million in military funds to Colombia.
BLOCKING FUNDS
In April, Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy blocked the disbursement over human rights concerns and his office has sent questions to State Department.
''One of the central issues he has addressed in those questions is extrajudicial executions,'' Leahy spokesman David Carle said. Leahy will continue to block the funds until ``this issue is being vigorously and effectively addressed.''
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch both issued statements Thursday backing Leahy's position, noting that the State Department's 56-page document justifying the March certification had only one paragraph on extrajudicial executions.
The State Department said it is looking into the matter.
''Colombia has made important strides in protecting and providing human rights. We've worked closely with all relevant Colombian institutions, including the military, to reduce violence, promote justice and [fight] impunity,'' a State Department spokeswoman said. The extrajudicial killings ``are not consistent with long term trends and therefore deserve close attention.''
