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AFP Thursday May 2, 12:41 PM US says Colombian military meets human rights standards, frees aid The United States has certified the Colombian military was complying with human rights requirements and released more than 60 million dollars in assistance for the country's armed forces, the State Department said. However, spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States remained deeply concerned about the human rights climate in Colombia and would continue to press the government to do more in the area. Secretary of State Colin Powell Tuesday determined the Colombian military was cooperating with civilian authorities in prosecuting soldiers who commit human rights abuses and moving to end collusion with right-wing paramilitaries, Boucher said. "Secretary Powell determined and certified to the appropriate congressional committees that the Colombia armed forces are meeting the statutory criteria related to human rights and ties to paramilitary groups," he told reporters. "The secretary's determination was based on a thorough and careful evaluation of the conditions in that section and the relevant actions and policies of the Colombian military," Boucher said. He stressed that the review process was not intended to be an overview of the human rights situation in the entire country and elaborated on the continuing US concern. "Despite some real progress on these specific areas, both we and the government of Colombia recognize the protection of human rights in Colombia needs improvement," Boucher said. "A secure, prosperous and democratic Colombia cannot be achieved if human rights abuses and impunity for human rights abusers is allowed," he said. However, human rights groups slammed the US decision, stating that Colombia had failed to make the improvements recommended by US officials. "The State Department's decision was made despite abundant evidence demonstrating that little progress had been made in improving Colombia's dire human rights record," said Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Washington Office on Latin America in a statement. "Despite the suspension of some low-ranking officers, the Colombian armed forces have refused to act on notorious cases such as that of General Rodrigo Quinones," the three said. Conceding that "some progress" may have been made in military cooperation with civilian prosecutors and judicial authorities, the groups criticized Colombia's Attorney General's office for firing human rights prosecutors, and accused it of obstructing investigations of high-ranking armed forces members. Under US law, the release of 60 percent of the 104 million dollars allocated for assistance to the Colombian military could not be made until the State Department certified that Colombia's military was meeting requirements. The remaining 40 percent cannot be released until a second certification, due by June 1 at the earliest, is completed. A number of US-funded drug-eradication programs conducted by the Colombian military in the south of the country were suspended while the certification process was underway, a senior State Department official said. The official said the second certification was to ensure that efforts to punish human rights violators and clamp down on collusion with the paramilitaries were "ongoing and progressive." The military has so far met three specific requirements, according to Wednesday's decision, suspending soldiers who commit abuses or have links to the paramilitaries, and transferring cases to civilian authorities as well as cooperating with prosecutions. It has also severed command-level ties between officers and the paramilitaries, according to Washington. The official gave details backing up the certification, which lawmakers had demanded due to grave concerns about the conduct of the Colombian military -- faced with threats from two major left-wing insurgencies and the right-wing paramilitaries. Colombia has been embroiled in civil war for nearly four decades, at a cost of more than 200,000 lives and President George W. Bush has decided to expand existing US anti-drug programs in the country to include elements of counter-insurgency training. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
