From: Colombian Labor Monitor <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2001 13:21:03 -0500 (CDT)
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: CLM: Butcher of Uraba set free
________________________________________________________________
COLOMBIAN LABOR MONITOR
www.prairienet.org/clm
Monday, 6 August 2001
[NOTE: Outrageous, but not at all surprising! The general, a
graduate of the infamous School of the Americas run by the U.S.
military, is the beneficiary of the standard treatment reserved
for Colombian war criminals: impunity. -DG]
********************
* BUTCHER OF URABA *
********************
1. AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE -- Monday, 6 August 2001
Colombian ex-general with right-wing links freed
2. ASSOCIATED PRESS -- Sunday, 5 August 2001
Colombian Authorities Free General
3. ASSOCIATED PRESS -- Sunday, 5 August 2001
Colombian judge frees general accused of backing outlaw army
By Michael Easterbrook
4. ASSOCIATED PRESS -- Friday, 3 August 2001
Colombia officials resign after criticism over general's arrest
5. ASSOCIATED PRESS -- Thursday, 26 July 2001
General's Arrest a Test for Colombia
By Jared Kotler
________________________________________________________________
****************************************************************
* 1 *
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
Monday, 6 August 2001
Colombian ex-general with
right-wing links freed
-------------------------
BOGOTA -- A Colombian retired general accused of supporting right-wing
paramilitary groups was freed Sunday after authorities concluded
investigators had committed procedural violations while dealing with his
case.
Rito Alejo Del Rio was set free by a court order after a judge ruled
habeus corpus rules had been violated in the case and the investigation
had been frought with other "irregularities."
The retired general was arrested north of here last month on charges of
colluding with the paramilitaries between 1995 and 1997, when he commanded
an army brigade stationed in the northwestern Uraba region, near the
border with Panama.
Human rights groups have said grave abuses were committed during the
brigade's anti-guerrilla operations.
But Del Rio denied any improper behavior, arguing that charges against him
had been inspired by the leftist rebels.
The government of President Andres Pastrana has denounced the
paramilitaries for attacks on civilians they suspect are members or
supporters of leftist anti-government guerrilla groups.
The United States has declared the main paramilitary group, the United
Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, a terrorist organization.
The group was responsible for 804 assassinations, 203 kidnappings, and 75
massacres with 507 victims during the first 10 months of 2000, the US
State Department said.
In a separate development, at least 11 villagers were kidnapped Sunday by
unidentified gunmen in Sucre, in northern Colombia, civilian and military
officials said.
But authorities said they were not certain whether the abductors belonged
to the paramilitaries or leftist guerrillas operating in the region.
Copyright 2001 Agence France Presse
________________________________________________________________
****************************************************************
* 2 *
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sunday, 5 August 2001
Colombian Authorities Free General
----------------------------------
BOGOTA -- Colombian authorities on Sunday freed a retired general with
alleged links to right-wing death squads after a court found legal flaws
in the investigation and his arrest.
Former Gen. Rito Alejo del Rio was at his home in the capital, Bogota,
after being released from the army base where he was being held, said
Orlando Perdomo, the general's lawyer.
A Bogota district court judge on Saturday ordered authorities to release
the general after finding that prosecutors violated legal procedures
during their investigation and subsequent arrest, said Perdomo. The judge
could not be immediately reached for comment.
The ruling, however, would not prevent the legal process against del Rio
from continuing, said Perdomo, who said his client is innocent.
Del Rio would be the first general tried before a civilian court for links
to the right-wing paramilitary army an outlaw group waging a brutal war
against leftist rebels.
His arrest by heavily armed agents from the public prosecutor's office on
July 23 was criticized by many who called the show of force excessive. Two
top aides to the chief prosecutor resigned last week over the flap.
The rival armed groups and the government are entangled in a 37-year civil
conflict that kills at least 3,000 people every year.
Meanwhile Sunday, soldiers were searching for 12 people abducted by gunmen
from their homes in northern Sucre department, army Col. Carlos Arevalo
said.
The kidnappers seized the hostages on Saturday throughout Sucre township,
290 miles from the capital Bogota. It wasn't clear which of the country's
armed factions carried out the kidnappings.
Copyright 2001 Associated Press
________________________________________________________________
****************************************************************
* 3 *
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sunday, 5 August 2001
Colombian judge frees general
accused of backing outlaw army
------------------------------
By Michael Easterbrook
BOGOTA -- Authorities on Sunday freed a retired general with alleged links
to right-wing death squads after a court found legal flaws in the
investigation and his arrest.
Gen. Rito Alejo del Rio was released Sunday morning on orders from a
district court judge who ruled that prosecutors violated legal procedures,
said the former general's lawyer, Orlando Perdomo.
But the ruling on Saturday was unlikely to prevent the legal process
against Del Rio from continuing. The 57-year-old general could become the
highest ranking former officer ever tried in civilian court on charges of
supporting the rightist paramilitary army.
''The accusations are audacious,'' Del Rio told The Associated Press
shortly after his release. ''After a long career like mine, one has a lot
of enemies.''
Heavily armed agents from the chief prosecutor's office arrested Del Rio
on July 23 at his home in the capital, Bogota. The arrest drew criticism
from many who called the show of force excessive. Two top aides to the
chief prosecutor resigned last week over the flap.
Speaking from his home, Del Rio said he has never avoided an interview
with investigators and was caught off guard by the high-profile arrest.
''When they call me in, I show up an hour before because I don't want to
give the least doubt that I'm not complying,'' said Del Rio.
President Andres Pastrana forced Del Rio into early retirement in 1999
amid accusations that he was aiding a right-wing paramilitary army during
his 1995-1997 tenure as general in northwest Antioquia province.
The paramilitaries are waging a brutal massacre campaign against rival
leftist rebels. The two armed groups and the government are entangled in a
37-year civil conflict that kills at least 3,000 people a year, most of
them unarmed civilians.
Even though human rights groups view Del Rio as part of a shady alliance
between the military and paramilitary groups, others credit Del Rio with
taming a violent region controlled by leftist rebels. A top army general
on Sunday applauded authorities for freeing him.
The retired general characterized the paramilitaries as a criminal network
thriving off the drug trade and responsible for ''barbaric'' atrocities.
He said he has fought them with as much rigor as he has battled leftist
rebels.
''I have confronted every class of bandit during my military career,''
said Del Rio.
The rightist Self Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, has grown from a
small group of fighters in the early 1990's into a 8,500 strong force with
a terrifying presence throughout the country.
Meanwhile Sunday, soldiers were searching for 12 people abducted by gunmen
from their homes in northern Sucre department, army Col. Carlos Arevalo
said.
The kidnappers seized the hostages on Saturday throughout Sucre township,
290 miles (466 kilometers) from Bogota. It wasn't clear which of the
country's armed factions carried out the kidnappings.
Copyright 2001 Associated Press
________________________________________________________________
****************************************************************
* 4 *
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Friday, 3 August 2001
Colombia officials resign after
criticism over general's arrest
-------------------------------
BOGOTA -- Two top aides to Colombia's chief prosecutor have resigned
following friction with their new boss about the jailing of a retired
general on human rights grounds, an official confirmed Friday.
Carolina Sanchez, the federal prosecutor's spokeswoman in Bogota,
confirmed local media reports that deputy chief prosecutor Pablo Gonzalez
and chief human rights prosecutor Pedro Diaz stepped down late Thursday.
She said the shake-up was due to differences with chief prosecutor Luis
Osorio about an order issued this week keeping retired Gen. Rito Alejo del
Rio in custody while an investigation continues into his alleged links to
right-wing paramilitary death squads.
Del Rio was arrested July 23 in Bogota in what human rights groups called
progress toward cleaning up Colombia's U.S.-backed military. He allegedly
sponsored paramilitary squads while an active-duty army commander in the
mid-1990s.
Osorio who was named chief prosecutor last month and formally assumed his
post this week has complained that he was not informed of an order issued
on the eve of his taking office that keeps Del Rio under arrest
indefinitely.
Osorio ''wanted to keep evaluating the evidence because we are talking
about a general. He wanted to be sure that everything was being done
correctly,'' Sanchez said.
Sanchez said Osorio could not reverse the order.
Attempts to reach Gonzalez and Diaz for comment were unsuccessful. Human
rights activists suggested they were pushed out to mollify conservatives
and disgruntled military officers angry about Del Rio's arrest.
The paramilitaries are responsible for widespread massacres of suspected
guerrilla sympathizers in Colombia's 37-year war.
Copyright 2001 Associated Press
________________________________________________________________
****************************************************************
* 5 *
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Thursday, 26 July 2001
General's Arrest a Test for Colombia
------------------------------------
By Jared Kotler
BOGOTA -- A retired general's arrest this week for collaborating with
right-wing death squads will test whether Colombia can break a tradition
of impunity for military members accused of human rights abuses.
But already, the case is providing a measure of vindication for a former
army colonel who was forced out of the military in 1996 when he tried to
expose his boss, Gen. Rito Alejo del Rio.
``I always knew I was telling the truth and that one day I would be proven
right,'' said Carlos Velasquez, who now teaches at a Bogota university.
The truth, according to Velasquez, is that Gen. Del Rio - arrested by
federal agents Monday at his Bogota home - was an instrumental player in
the rise of the paramilitary squads waging a brutal massacre campaign
against suspected leftist rebels in Colombia's 37-year war.
Del Rio was dismissed from the army two years ago by President Andres
Pastrana.
Then, under a cloud of suspicion created by Velasquez' and others'
accusations, he had his U.S. visa revoked. U.S. military aid for
drug-fighting in the South American country is conditioned on government
progress in severing army ties to the paramilitaries.
Del Rio is expected to be the highest ranking former officer ever tried in
a civilian court in a human rights case. The country's military justice
system has largely shielded active-duty generals from punishment - in some
cases turning against whistleblowers.
The former general faces charges of sponsoring paramilitary activities.
Del Rio, through his lawyer Orlando Perdomo, has denied his guilt. In a
brief phone conversation Wednesday, Perdomo accused Velasquez of being a
guerrilla sympathizer who at one point even funneled arms to the rebels -
a charge Velasquez called ridiculous.
Velasquez was a highly-decorated U.S.-trained officer who headed an elite
unit that worked with the CIA to track down the leaders of the Cali
cocaine cartel. In mid-1995, he was transferred into Uraba, a steamy
region of ranching and banana-growing lowlands near the border with Panama
that was a battleground between guerrillas and right-wing paramilitaries.
Six months after Velasquez arrived, Del Rio was sent to command his unit,
the army's 17th Brigade. Soon after, Velasquez says, troops were shifted
away from operations against paramilitaries and devoted exclusively to
actions against the guerrillas. Soldiers saying they were acting on Del
Rio's orders pressured local businessmen to make financial contributions
to the militias, the retired colonel charges.
``It was clear to me at the time that Del Rio was working closely with the
paramilitaries,'' Velasquez said in an interview at Bogota's La Sabana
University.
In May of 1996, Velasquez delivered a 10-page memo to senior generals in
Bogota accusing Del Rio of tolerance and complicity with the
paramilitaries. An internal investigation was opened, but it turned
against Velasquez. By December, he had been forced into early retirement
with a reprimand for disloyalty.
Velasquez held onto his army pension, but became a persona non grata
within the military. For a soldier's son who had always dreamed of making
general, it was a rude end to what had been a promising 30-year military
career.
``People began saying I had gone crazy or that I was a guerrilla
infiltrator,'' Velasquez recalled. ``It was tough, because there were the
people who had been my comrades in arms for so many years.''
Meanwhile, Del Rio remained in Uraba which was eventually rid of guerrilla
activity amid a fierce paramilitary campaign. He took on hero status in
the military and the nickname ``The Pacifier of Uraba,'' receiving several
promotions before Pastrana forced his early retirement in 1999.
Despite his own bitter experience, Velasquez is encouraged by Del Rio's
arrest and other recent government moves against paramilitaries and their
supporters. U.S. leverage, as a result of $1.3 billion aid package
approved last year, is helping bring a change in attitude about protecting
human rights, he said.
Besides teaching, Velasquez is dabbling in politics as a campaign adviser
for an independent who plans to run for president next year. Velasquez
said he wants to reform from the outside a military that he could not
change from within.
Copyright 2001 Associated Press
________________________________________________________________
****************************************************************
* CLM-NEWS is brought to you by the COLOMBIAN LABOR MONITOR at *
* http://www.prairienet.org/clm *
* and the CHICAGO COLOMBIA COMMITTEE *
* Email us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or *
* Dennis Grammenos at [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
****************************************************************
* To unsubscribe send request to [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
* unsubscribe clm-news *
****************************************************************
_________________________________________________
KOMINFORM
P.O. Box 66
00841 Helsinki
Phone +358-40-7177941
Fax +358-9-7591081
http://www.kominf.pp.fi
General class struggle news:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Geopolitical news:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
__________________________________________________
