> >STOP NATO: �NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.COM > >http://www.motherjones.com/news_wire/paramilitaries.html >Mother Jones Magazine > > >Colombia's Death Squads > >The US is dishing out $1.3 billion to help Colombia's >military fight leftist rebels and drug growers -- but >in doing so, it may also be helping murderous >right-wing paramilitary groups. > >by Steven Dudley >Aug. 31, 2000 > >PUERTO ASIS, Colombia -- Just walk into District >Attorney German Martinez's office, and it becomes >obvious he's a watched man. From across the street in >the town's central square, hard-eyed men watch his >every movement. Inside the dark, steamy, one-story >building, two military officers wait to speak to him. > >Just a few feet away from the soldiers, the 31-year >old lawyer fiddles with his neatly stacked papers on >the corner of his desk. Martinez gets death threats >regularly, usually by telephone in this office. Two >heavily armed bodyguards accompany him everywhere. All >of this attention makes Martinez nervous; he shakes as >he speaks. > >"As public servants, we should have confidence in the >military," Martinez says softly, hunching over his >desk. "But we don't, because the ties between these >criminals and the armed forces are very clear." > >"These criminals" are the clandestine right-wing >paramilitaries which operate with impunity in Puerto >Asis, unofficial allies of the Colombian military in >its decades-long war against leftist guerillas. >Martinez lays the blame for over 100 murders last year >on the paramilitaries who are trying to violently >purge the area of left-wing guerrillas. > >Puerto Asis, a town of 18,000 in Putumayo province, is >ground zero for the US-backed military assault on >coca-growing areas in Colombia. Putumayo, located >along the Ecuadoran border, and its northern neighbor, >Caqueta province, are where most of Colombia's coca is >produced and refined before being smuggled out to the >US and Europe. An estimated 1,500 left-wing rebels >from the country's largest guerrilla group, the >Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), protect >some of these fields -- many of which lie just a few >miles from Puerto Asis -- and siphon a tax from the >growers and traffickers to finance their own war >against the state. > >The Colombian military -- which was barred from >getting US money for years because of past >human-rights abuses -- is now set to receive a record >$1.3 billion in US aid, most of it to be spent on >helicopters, intelligence equipment, and training, so >it can chase the leftist rebels out of this area. > >But Martinez's allegations -- which are backed up by >numerous other observers and international >human-rights groups -- point up important questions >about whether the US can aid this attack without >supporting the most brutal element of the war, the >right-wing paramilitaries. International human-rights >groups say the paramilitaries are responsible for over >70 percent of the estimated 3,000 extrajudicial >executions per year in Colombia. > >The legal safeguards that are supposed to prevent US >aid money from going to such human-rights abusers have >been easily sidestepped. On Aug. 22, President Clinton >signed a waiver that permits the aid to go to Colombia >despite the fact that State Department did not certify >the Colombian government for its human-rights record, >a stipulation built into the package. > >"This is the wrong policy and the wrong time," said >Jos� Miguel Vivanco, executive director of Human >Rights Watch's Americas Division. "The message is that >the bad apples in the armed forces shouldn't be >worried. Ultimately, the waiver defeats the purpose of >any policy meant to improve human rights." > >This year's State Department report noted the >Colombian military's human rights record has improved, >but said that parts of the armed forces maintained >ties with the right-wing groups. Critics within the >Colombian government say that allegations of the >Colombian military's wrongdoing have dropped because >they have simply passed off the dirty work to the >paramilitaries. > >Military units receiving aid must also abide by the >Leahy Amendment, which bars money from going to >foreign armed forces that are involved in human-rights >abuses. Putumayo's 24th Army Brigade is one of several >military units that has supposedly been cleared of >involvement in such crimes. But US officials seemed to >have overlooked strong evidence linking the brigade to >the paramilitary groups in the area, revealing just >how artificial this screening process is. > >Martinez, for instance, said he saw paramilitaries >take four peasant farmers past one of the brigade's >checkpoints last year. The farmers later turned up >dead. He has filed reports to the central office of >the Attorney General in Colombia's capital city of >Bogota but to little avail. > >US embassy officials in Colombia admitted that it is >hard to screen an entire brigade, which has several >hundred frequently rotated soldiers. But they said >that if there were specific incidents from credible >sources, the embassy would investigate. > >One incident the embassy might want to investigate is >a massacre in the small farming village of El Tigre, a >guerilla stronghold some 25 miles northwest of Puerto >Asis. The bumpy, partially paved road north from >Puerto Asis hits a fork after several miles; turn left >and you go to El Tigre, veer right and you run into >the 24th Brigade on the outskirts of the town of Santa >Ana. > >On the night of Jan. 9, 1999, government and >international investigators say that 150 >paramilitaries forced several Puerto Asis residents at >gunpoint to drive them to El Tigre along this road. >That night, paramilitaries slaughtered some two dozen >people in the village. Meanwhile, the 24th Brigade >established a check-point just above the fork in the >road and barred vehicles from going to Puerto Asis >from Santana. Witnesses told investigators that about >30 buses were stacked up in Santana for several hours. >The check-point made travel along the road between El >Tigre and Puerto Asis less congested and a getaway >with no witnesses easy. > >The current head of the 24th Brigade, Col. Gabriel >Diaz, said it was a routine checkpoint. And Diaz >insisted the stories surrounding the massacre are >false. > >"This is what the FARC does," Diaz said. "They want to >discredit the military." > >However, another more recent massacre revealed a >similar pattern. On Nov. 7, 1999, paramilitaries >killed 12 people in the town of El Placer, according >to Amnesty International. Witnesses told investigators >that the 24th Brigade was in El Placer just days >before the massacre, and arrived again just hours >after the 50 armed men had finished pulling locals out >of their houses and shooting them in the barren fields >surrounding the town. > >Colombian human-rights observers say both the El Tigre >and the El Placer cases are typical of the way in >which the Colombian military collaborates with the >paramilitaries: providing protection, then >auspiciously timing their arrivals so as not to >confront the right-wing groups. > >"In some cases, witnesses have testified to direct >coordination and participation in massacres," said >Winifred Tate, a fellow at the Washington Office on >Latin America. "In other cases, local armed forces >have stood by while paramilitary forces occupied towns >for several days, killing inhabitants, and did not >come to the aid of the people despite pleas from local >government officials, or even prevented assistance or >the possibility of escape." > >Puerto Asis Mayor Manuel Alzalte said he's informed >the armed forces on several occasions that >paramilitaries ride in their four-by-fours with their >guns hanging out of their windows in the middle of the >city -- to no avail. > >"If the army and the police don't do anything, what >more can I do?" Alzalte said. > >In Puerto Asis, everyone but the 24th Brigade seems to >know where to find the estimated 500 right-wing >paramilitaries that operate in the area. Locals said >they run their operations from a ranch a few miles >outside the city. The region's right-wing militia >leader, known as Commander Yair, told Reuters that the >paramilitaries backed the government's plan to clear >guerrillas from this area when the news agency found >him at this same farmhouse. > >Rights groups say the 24th Brigade colludes in a >counter-insurgency strategy that relies on the >paramilitaries. In February, Human Rights Watch >reported that half of the army's 18 brigades maintain >systematic ties to the right-wing militias. The United >Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human >Rights in Colombia came to a similar conclusion in >April. > >"The continued existence of direct links between some >members of the securirty forces and paramilitary >groups ... is a cause of great concern," the report >says. "This office has received testimony from some >high military officials saying that the paramilitaries >do not violate the constitution and therefore it is >not a function of the military to fight them." > >Although the military admits there are "some bad >apples" in its units, they say they are doing what >they can to fight the paramilitaries. > >"The Armed Forces takes human rights seriously," >insisted Colombian Defense Minister Luis Fernando >Ramirez. > >"We are having more and more combat with the >self-defense groups all the time," Ramirez said. >"Maybe there were links between some members of the >military and the paramilitaries in the past, but today >the message is clear that this type of activity will >not be tolerated." > >Human-rights monitors, however, say that the reports >of the military's actions against paramilitaries are >greatly exaggerated. > >"Most arrests claimed by the security forces are of >low-ranking paramilitaries, not leaders," WOLA, Human >Rights Watch and Amnesty International wrote in a >statement issued on August 28. "In the few cases where >top leaders have been arrested, several have been able >to leave prison unhampered." > >The government has also yet to sanction top military >officials for their alleged collaboration with >paramilitaries. Last year, Colombian President Andres >Pastrana forced four generals to retire for failing to >fight paramilitary groups in their jurisdictions. The >Colombian military also says it's planning a purge of >abusive officers. But Ramirez admitted that no more >than 100 officers would be forced to leave the >service, and -- like their counterparts whom Pastrana >forced to retire -- none would face criminal >prosecution. > >High Colombian government officials admit that it is >difficult to attack the military's apparent collusion >with paramilitaries because they have such popular >support. In addition, powerful news outlets have given >the paramilitaries sympathetic coverage. Caracol >Television -- which is owned by the most powerful >business conglomerate in Colombia, the Grupo Santo >Domingo -- broadcast a two-hour interview with >paramilitary leader Carlos Castano during which he >acknowledged that his men had killed dozens of people >in the villages of Ovejas and El Salado last February, >but calmly justified the incident by claiming the >victims were guerrilla collaborators. > >This type of impunity has public officials like >District Attorney German Martinez walking the streets >afraid for his and his new wife's lives. Many people >in Martinez's jurisdiction of Puerto Asis, including >Mayor Alzalte, say they're surprised he's still alive. >The lawyer is looking for political asylum. > >"I feel very alone," Martinez says wiping the sweat >from his brow, "because there's no clear strategy to >fight the paramilitaries." What do you think? > >Steven Dudley is a journalist living in Bogota. He >reports regularly for The Washington Post and National >Public Radio. > > >__________________________________________________ >Do You Yahoo!? >Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere! >http://mail.yahoo.com/ > > >______________________________________________________________________ >To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Online training from Headlight.com can improve your team's skills, >and keep your business on the cutting edge! Act today and save $30. >Prices starting at $12 Choose from 1,500 courses ranging from >business to IT. Click here to save > >http://on.linkexchange.com/?ATID=27&AID=1578 _______________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________
