InfoBrief – March 21, 2005

InfoBrief is a weekly news summary of events in the U.S. and Colombia produced and distributed by the U.S. Office on Colombia. Colombia This Week is reproduced with the kind permission of the ABColombia Group in London. Other sources include U.S. and Latin American newspapers, and reports from non-profit and grassroots groups. The content does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Office on Colombia. If you would like to receive InfoBrief please contact jess_hunter@usofficeoncolombia.org indicating why you would be interested in this weekly news service. Previous editions of the InfoBrief can be found at www.usofficeoncolombia.org

U.S. Current Affairs and Media

• NGO’s Condemn Massacre, Call for Investigations In a letter sent to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a group of 28 U.S.-based NGOs called on the U.S. State Department to refrain from certifying Colombia’s human rights compliance and thereby partially freeze U.S. funding until the Colombian government “has conducted a transparent, impartial, effective investigation into the [San Jose de Apartado community] massacre and is proceeding to prosecute those responsible.” The groups expressed concern that allegations have connected the Colombian military to the massacres and advised that “in light of the allegations of involvement by members of the Colombian Armed Forces it is essential that the U.S. government send a strong signal by insisting that an effective investigation be conducted by civilian authorities.” The letter calls on the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá to release a statement condemning the attacks while calling on the Colombian government to protect the San Jose de Apartado Community. The letter points to repeated evidence of “collaboration between sectors of the armed forces and paramilitaries” as well as “evidence of human rights violations directly committed by members of the armed forces.” The massacre, which killed eight people in late February, has caused an international stir. The allegations suggesting military involvement in the massacre have been strongly denied by the Colombian government. On Sunday, President Uribe reaffirmed the government’s commitment to establish a permanent presence of security forces in the San Jose peace community, despite the community’s protests. Uribe also claimed that community leaders and supporters are connected to FARC guerillas and “use the community to protect this terrorist organization.” Community members, human rights organizations, and the international community condemned the statements saying they are baseless and put the community at further risk. Read the NGO letter to Condoleezza Rice at: http://www.usofficeoncolombia.org/signon/sjaletter.pdf.

• US Retracts Accusations of Bribery in Colombian Government U.S. Ambassador William Wood retracted allegations made by U.S. Federal Attorney Paul Perez accusing former Colombian President Ernesto Samper and other lawmakers of having accepted bribes from the Cali Cartel. In court filings, Perez claimed that the Cali Cartel had given $5 million in bribes to Samper and other Colombian officials in order to add a provision to a Colombian extradition law that prevents the extradition of criminals for crimes committed before December, 1997. The provision could have protected members of the Cali Cartel which was known for its control of cocaine trafficking during the mid-1990s. Much of that control was lost after many of its leaders were arrested in 1995. Suggestions that Colombia would halt further extraditions of criminals to the U.S. in response to Perez’s statement led Ambassador Wood to hold a late-night press conference to clarify the U.S. position. Wood assured Bogotá that the accusations made by Perez in the original court filing had had been removed and that “the new document makes no mention of the supposed bribe.” Wood stated that there had been some “confusion” but insisted that the U.S. would continue to comply with Colombia’s extradition laws. An unnamed Colombian official reportedly told Reuters that “Colombia will continue with extraditions to the United States.” Samper denied the accusations made by Perez last week. Colombian president Alvaro Uribe, a strong U.S. ally who has extradited more than 200 criminals to the U.S. in the past two years alone, did not comment on the matter.

• Relatives of Kidnapping Victims Plea with American, Colombian Governments Family members of Americans and Colombians held hostage by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) came together in Washington last week to draw attention to the more than 3,000 hostages being held by the FARC and asked the U.S. and Colombian governments to do more to ensure their release. The relatives suggested that they feel ignored by American and Colombian governments. At a news conference, family members called on the Colombian governments to take the necessary steps to pursue peace talks with the FARC. “Why do I have to fight? Why not the government? Because they don’t care,” said Jo Rosano, mother of U.S. Defense Department contractor Marc Gonsalves, who has been held hostage for over two years by the FARC. “They would rather see me go away so they wouldn’t hear about it anymore,” added Rosano. Colombian Angela Giraldo, sister of a former State Legislator held hostage by the FARC for three years, called on her government to seriously consider a humanitarian accord that would include prisoner exchanges between the Colombian government and the FARC. “Both President Uribe and the guerillas use the humanitarian accord for political gain,” said Giraldo. “They are playing with lives of the kidnapped and the feelings of the family members,” she added. Despite the mediation efforts of the Catholic Church, the government and the FARC appear to be at an impasse in their sporadic prisoner exchange negotiations.

• OAS Presents Report on Demobilization Process, Civil Society Groups Call for Legal Framework The Organization of American States (OAS) Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia reported that the paramilitary demobilization process has been successful and “deserves the continued support of the OAS.” In its fourth quarterly report released last week, head of the OAS Mission Sergio Caramagna reported that at least 4,000 members of the United Self Defense Force of Colombia (AUC) have disarmed in the last 4 months. In light of recent demobilization, Caramagna suggested the peace process is “breaking down little by little the enormous wall of violence that has submitted the Colombian people to one of the longest and most painful experiences of our continent.” Meanwhile, a March 18, 2005 joint statement by leading Colombian civil society organizations raised concerns about the ongoing process and called for an adequate legal framework for the demobilizations. The 11-point statement, endorsed by a broad cross-section of Colombian society, including labor unions, human rights groups, the Catholic church and business associations, calls on the Colombian Congress to create a legal framework for the paramilitary demobilization which puts Colombia on “a path to peace and justice which will decisively contribute to the end of the armed conflict” while fostering truth, justice, reparations and non-repetition. The OAS report can be found at: http://scm.oas.org/doc_public/ENGLISH/HIST_05/CP14031E07.DOC The civil society statement can be found at: http://www.usofficeoncolombia.org/documents/demobconsensus.pdf

Upcoming Events and Seminars in the U.S.  

The Washington Office on Latin America will host three presentations on U.S. drug policy in Latin America between March 30 and April 1 in Chicago. Contributing authors Kimberly Stanton and John Walsh, along with invited guests, including U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, will discuss WOLA’s new book, Drugs and Democracy in Latin America: The Impact of U.S. Policy. For more information, please contact Kristel Muciño at (202) 797-2171 or kmucino@WOLA.org.

Colombia This Week is reproduced with the kind permission of the ABColombia Group in London

Colombia This Week editing date 03/21/05

Fri 11 – US Congress urges investigation into massacre; 46 demobilised killed in Colombia.

• Thirty-two US lawmakers sign a letter to President Uribe Velez demanding a thorough investigation of the February 21 massacre of eight civilians in the peace community of San Jose de Apartado, a municipality in the province of Antioquia, El Tiempo reports.
• At least 46 former paramilitaries have been murdered in the cities of Medellin, Cali and Bogota since demobilisation began 16 months ago. According to Hernan Sandoval, Regional Ombudsman for the Valle del Cauca region, the main difficulty is ‘the monitoring system of the process, since there is not a single list of the people demobilised’, El Tiempo reports.
• In a statement posted on their website, the FARC group accuses the government of Ecuador of breaking an “agreement” by arresting guerrillas, a disclosure that contradicts President Lucio Gutierrez’s denials that he has had contact with foreign rebels, Reuters reports.
• The results of a recent poll made by Invamer-Gallup indicate that only 57% of Colombians in the four most important Colombian cities believe that President Uribe Velez has fulfilled his promises on social issues, Semana magazine reports. However, 73% consider he has done a good job of combating the FARC.

Sat 12 – Uribe accused of favouring paramilitaries; Ombudsman blames AUC for new massacre.

• President Uribe is facing complaints that he is trying to create a loophole so that right-wing paramilitaries wanted in the US for drug trafficking could avoid extradition. The legislative proposal includes a section that, according to some critics, links charges of drug trafficking and paramilitary activities in a way that could provide an escape hatch for paramilitaries indicted in US courts for charges such as drug trafficking, money laundering and obstruction of justice. Senator Rodrigo Rivera complained last week that the proposal would not differentiate between "political-military actors in the armed conflict, and drug traffickers who are camouflaged as paramilitary commanders." At least four members of the high command of the AUC paramilitary group are wanted on US drug trafficking charges, El Tiempo reports.
• Although local police have so far been ‘unable’ to determine the authors, regional Ombudsman for the Magdalena Medio region Jorge Gomez Lizarazu blames the paramilitary group of the Central Bolivar Bloc for yesterday’s killing of four people from the same family in the settlement of El Llanito, near the city of Barrancabermeja. Lizarazu also reports that 34 people have been killed in Barrancabermeja alone this year, El Tiempo reports.
• Brazil’s ruling party, the Workers Party dismisses allegations made by a Brazilian magazine in which it was reported that the Colombian FARC group donated US $5 m to its 2002 candidates, Reuters reports.

Sun 13 - Doubts surround Army’s denial of massacre; UN drugs report confirms record figures.

• In an interview published in El Tiempo, Army Gen. Reynaldo Castellanos insists the military had nothing to do with the February 21 massacre of eight civilians in the peace community of San Jose de Apartado, (Antioquia). However, evidence suggests at least one Army unit was not far from the scene. Meanwhile a US State Department official indicated that the US is pushing the Colombian government to quickly investigate and prosecute the guilty parties. "We have urged the government to...swiftly bring to justice those responsible for this crime," the official said on condition of anonymity, El Tiempo reports.
• The global drug trade is booming, fuelled by the demand from more than 200 million people worldwide that used illegal narcotics last year. According to an as-yet-unpublished UN report, despite multi-billion-pound anti-drug measures that have restricted some supplies, the market is as insatiable as ever. 'We have shown that drugs control policies can work in terms of supply - but demand is a very different matter,' a spokesperson from the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime said, the Observer reports.
• An editorial in El Espectador argues that although the Colombian government is right to argue that its security forces should be present in all of the country’s territory, the Defence Ministry was wrong to choose this week to call into question peace communities’ exclusion of all armed groups, including the military, from their midst. In the wake of last month’s massacre of eight members of a peace community in Antioquia, the focus should instead be on clarifying the circumstances of these horrendous killings.
• In an interview in El Tiempo, Colombian Prosecutor General Eduardo Maya demands a public explanation from Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo, after a loophole was discovered in the legislation presented to Congress and rumours have emerged that the government made a secret pact with paramilitary leaders to avoid extradition to the United Sates.

Mon 14 – UN report: human rights abuses continue; discovered: another narco living in Ralito.

• A newly released United Nations report on the situation of human rights in Colombia indicates that while there have been some improvements, high levels of human rights abuses in Colombia continue. The report points out that while "achievements and advances were observed in the field of human rights and international humanitarian law" in 2004, the situation "continued to be critical." The report notes an increase in cases of extrajudicial executions attributed to members of the security forces and "continuing links between public officials and the illegal armed groups, particularly paramilitaries." The report also states that "the paramilitary groups, despite their declared cessation of hostilities...continued their expansion and consolidation." The report strongly condemns the actions of the guerrilla groups, noting that "the FARC-EP and the ELN carried out a series of attacks against the civilian population, including several massacres of civilians and kidnappings."
• A new narcotraficker has been reportedly ‘discovered’ living in the paramilitary haven of Santa Fe de Ralito. Nestor Caro Chaparro, a retired sergeant from the Colombian Army and wanted in extradition by the US authorities for narcotrafficking and money laundering, is negotiating with the government. Caro reportedly bought for US $3m a ‘franchise’ of a paramilitary group that belonged to assassinated paramilitary negotiator Miguel Arroyave, Colprensa reports.

Tues 15 - Extradition complicates process with AUC leaders; UN predicts rise in cocaine prices.

• Declarations made to the international press by Interior and Justice Minister Sabas Pretelt stir the political confrontation in the Colombian Congress. Sabas Pretelt said that the extradition of drug traffickers to the United States is not under discussion in the peace process that is being carried out with the paramilitaries. The judicial framework for the demobilisation of armed groups is being discussed in Congress, where polarisation is increasing. Representative Gustavo Petro argued that extradition is precisely at stake because Mancuso, leader of the AUC has not been extradited while other members of armed groups have, El Colombiano reports.
• A top United Nations anti-drug official predicts cocaine prices in the US and Europe will rise next year. "Considering Colombia supplies 80 percent of the world cocaine market, we think prices are going to rise starting in 2006," said Sandro Calvani, director of the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime in Colombia, Associated Press reports.
• The commanders of the United Self-Defence forces of Colombia (AUC) reject the government-backed legislation setting up a legal framework for paramilitary demobilisation. In a statement posted on its website, the AUC said the bill would not help dismantle the paramilitary groups or move the country towards “peace and reconciliation.” However, two Congressional panels rejected the AUC demand to be included in debates over the bill, France Press reports.

Weds 16 – Four killed in FARC ambush in Tolima; Vice Santos attacked with red paint in Bristol.

• Authorities report the killing of three police officers and one civilian after the FARC group ambushes them in a road bloc near the municipality of Coello (Tolima). According to the Police, the patrol was called to assist in the explosion of an artefact in the main road between Ibague and Armenia when they were ambushed by the rebels, Efe agency reports.
• Colombian Vice-President Francisco Santos is attacked with red paint after taking part in a university debate. Protesters gathered outside Bristol University where Francisco Santos was giving a talk on ‘terrorism’. The Colombia Solidarity Campaign, which was protesting against the Colombian government’s right wing policies on the steps of Bristol University’s physics building, distanced itself from the attack, The Scotsman reports.
• The family of economist Juan Carlos Vives Menotti, appointed last month to oversee government expropriation of drug traffickers’ properties, includes at least two men jailed in the United States on drug trafficking convictions, Colprensa reports.
• The National Liberation Army (ELN) wants President Uribe Velez to free ELN prisoners held in Colombian jails and negotiate a bilateral cease-fire. President Uribe says that the ELN, which funds itself by kidnapping, must unilaterally disarm if talks are to take place. This guerrilla group has removed landmines over the last three months in the area of Microahumado (Sur de Bolivar). Leon Valencia, a former member of the ELN's high command and now a Bogota-based political analyst, called the mine removal "a good first step, a kind of pilot programme. But there are other tough issues ahead, such as liberating the ELN's kidnap victims and reaching a cease-fire agreement”, Reuters reports.

Thurs 17 – Church calls government for truth and reparation; Congress work stuck in single bill.

• A public statement sent by the authorities of the Catholic Church and the National Commission for Conciliation urges the Colombian government and members of Congress to include truth and reparation imperatives into the legislative framework that is under discussion this week. The statement also calls upon both sides in the negotiations to consolidate their commitment to peace, Caracol radio reports.
• An editorial in El Tiempo criticises the Uribe administration for improvising the legislative process of the Justice and Peace bill. The article reports that asking Congress to work in extraordinary sessions was a mistake, as the government was deeply divided in its proposals. The editorial calls for the resignations of those responsible, as most of the legislative work in Congress has been postponed, suggesting they are more interested in the re-election than in legislating on more than 15 proposals pending discussions.
• Speaking in the 61 st Session of the UN Commission of Human Rights in Geneva, Vice-president Francisco Santos praises the report submitted by the UN Human Rights office in Colombia office, “for containing the most complete description of the barbarity of the FARC group”, AP reports.
• A new attack against a medical mission is reported in Arauca. According to local authorities, Jose Diodes Subita, a health promoter in the region was gunned down by a group of reportedly FARC members, Vanguardia Liberal reports.
• The UK-based Colombia Solidarity Campaign wishes to make it clear to the Colombian Embassy, Vice-President Santos, members of Bristol University, representatives of human rights organisations and to the media that they are emphatically NOT responsible for the actions of the person(s) who threw paint at the Colombian Vice President after his talk at Bristol University on 15 March 2005. They have investigated the incident and can confirm that this action was not organised or carried out by anyone involved with or linked to the Campaign.

Colombia This Week is a news summary produced and distributed by ABColombia Group. Sources include daily Colombian, US, European and Latin American newspapers, and reports from non-governmental organisations and the UN System. The content does not necessarily reflect the views of the ABColombia Group.

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