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NEWS & LETTERS, December 2002
Plan Colombia, human rights and death squads
The Colombian government and armed forces have failed to
meet any of the human rights conditions imposed by U.S. law in order to obtain
military aid, and have seriously undermined crucial investigations of major
human rights cases, according to a Human Rights Watch report released on Nov. 8. The report titled "A Wrong Turn: The Record of the
Colombian Attorney General’s Office," documents the failure of progress
on critical human rights cases by the Colombian Attorney General Luis Camilo
Osorio. During his 15 months as Attorney General, at least nine
prosecutors and investigators working on important human rights cases were fired
and 15 others were forced to resign or pressured to do so. "Colombia’s struggle to uphold the rule of law
begins with its Attorney General," said José Miguel Vivanco, Executive
Director of the America’s Division at Human Rights Watch. Since July
2001, when Attorney General Osorio took office, "five Colombian prosecutors
and investigators have been killed in the line of duty," Vivanco continued.
"Colombian prosecutors risk their lives to uphold the rule of law, they
shouldn’t have to risk their jobs too." "To claim that Colombia has met human rights
conditions makes a mockery of the law," said Eric Olson, the Americas
Advocacy Director of Amnesty International. Amnesty International, Human Rights
Watch and the Washington Office on Latin America all denounced the human rights
certification made on Sept. 9 by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
The certification released another $70 million to the Colombian military, which
has one of the worst human rights records in the Western hemisphere. Serious shifts in U.S. involvement under Plan Colombia have
taken place since the U.S. declared its international War on Terrorism. On
Feb. 20, 2002, under pressure from the U.S., then President Andres Pastrana
declared an end to peace negotiations with the FARC and ordered an invasion of
the 16,000 square mile area in Colombia’s South that had been given to the
FARC as part of the peace dialogues. Rather than give the 48 hours agreed upon
by the government and the FARC, Pastrana on Feb. 21 gave guerrillas and innocent
civilians less than three hours to evacuate. Soon after, Bush signed an anti-terrorist package allowing
military aid under Plan Colombia to be used directly against the Colombian
insurgents. This shift was strongly supported by then President-Elect Uribe. In August, President Uribe declared a state of emergency,
allowing the government to impose extended curfews, censoring the news media and
proposing a million-strong civilian police force and bounties for the capturing
of FARC and ELN leaders. The Colombian government formally entered the
International Criminal Court allowing for atrocities by guerrillas,
paramilitaries, drug traffickers or military personnel to be judged and punished
by this independent tribunal. Only days after, U.S. Undersecretary of
State for Public Affairs Marc Grossman asked Uribe to sign a document shielding
U.S. military trainers from prosecution by the court for human rights abuses.
Uribe was obliged to sign, or U.S. military aid would have
been cut off according to the legislation signed by Bush. The U.S. government is
participating in the escalating conflict in Colombia. Turning a blind eye will
result in increased violence and undermine those who have dedicated themselves
to peace and justice. --Raquel * * * Chicago--Luis Adolpho Cardona, a Colombian trade unionist
seeking refuge in the U.S. because of an attempt on his life in his home
country, visited Chicago in November. Luis is enrolled in an AFL-CIO program to
train international union activists and came to Chicago as part of a campaign to
draw attention to the Coca-Cola Company's use of paramilitary forces as private
security in its Colombian operations. Luis told the story of management's harassing the union at
the Coca-Cola bottling plant at which he was a worker and union member. This
climaxed in December of last year with paramilitary death squads assassinating
the plant's union leader. Luis escaped after being kidnapped and fled the
country amid death threats. He was forced to leave his family behind in
Colombia. "Companies are carrying out a policy of exterminating
trade union leadership and leaders of social movements," Luis said.
"It's well known that the paramilitaries are another arm of the
government." Luis described efforts to publicize the collusion between
Coca-Cola and the paramilitaries, including an international series of public
hearings to shed light on the relationship. He was also enthusiastic about a
decision made at the University of California Berkeley under pressure from
student activists to stop serving Coke on the campus until the problem is
solved. --Kevin Michaels |
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