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US Should Block Military Aid to Colombia, Say Rights Groups-Global Policy Forum- NGOs US Should Block Military Aid to Colombia, Say Rights Groups
By Jim Lobe
One World
September 5, 2002
Three major human rights groups said Wednesday that the United States should withhold at least US$41 million in military aid to Colombia as a result of a failure by its armed forces to meet congressionally imposed conditions on delivery of the aid.
In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell the groups--Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch (HRW), and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)--said that the Colombian military had failed to suspend officers responsible for serious rights abuses or cooperate with civilian authorities in prosecuting or punishing them. They also charged that the military had not moved seriously to end its support of right-wing paramilitary groups.
In order to continue supplying military aid to Colombia, Powell must certify that all three of these conditions are being met. "Our conclusion is stark," the letter said. "Not only has Colombia, once again, failed to meet even the minimum standard necessary to satisfy the human rights conditions, but its level of compliance has deteriorated markedly. We urge you to deny the human rights certification to Colombia and instead insist that it make convincing and demonstrable reforms before receiving any additional funds."
The letter comes amid moves by Colombia's new president, Alvaro Uribe, to prepare the ground for an intensified counter-insurgency campaign against left-wing rebels who have also escalated the 35-year-old conflict over the past month.
In mid-August, Uribe, who received a strong popular mandate in last May's elections, declared a "state of domestic commotion" that confers on the government greater powers to make arrests without a warrant, exert control over electronic media, and levy new taxes to cover the costs of a major military build-up, including plans to expand the intelligence network and an initiative to arm thousands of rural peasants. In addition, the government has backed an effort by Attorney General Luis Camilo to dismiss pending investigations and prosecutions of military officers accused of serious human rights abuses.
Uribe has also disclosed that Colombia, in ratifying the Rome Protocol for the creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) early last month, included a previously secret declaration denying the ICC jurisdiction over war crimes committed in Colombia for a period of seven years. The declaration was devised by outgoing President Andres Pastrana with Uribe's apparent backing.
In a separate statement Thursday, HRW denounced the declaration, saying that it was a "prelude to impunity." "At the moment," said HRW Americas director Jose Miguel Vivanco, "peace has never seemed further off, and this dispensation will only encourage more horrific abuses against civilians to occur. President Uribe can reverse the declaration at any time, and he should do so now."
Wednesday's letter was sent to Powell after briefings by state department officials last week to human rights groups, including the three signers. The briefings, which are intended to inform department officials about the groups' concerns before it makes a decision about certification, are mandated under the same law that includes the aid conditions. But the groups came away from the latest briefings convinced that the administration had already made up its mind to certify the three conditions as having been met. "It was clear to us that what we said was irrelevant," said HRW's Colombia specialist, Robin Kirk, who predicted the certifications would likely be announced within the coming week.
Washington is providing Colombia with almost $400 million in military aid this fiscal year, of which only about $104 million was subject to the three conditions. In a controversial decision that was delayed three months, the state department certified that the conditions were met last May in order to disburse about $63 million of the total. The pending certification will provide the armed forces with another $41.6 million, according to the state department.
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