• Senators Urge State Department to Withhold Colombia’s Human Rights Certification In a letter addressed to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, twenty-one Senators called on the State Department to withhold Colombia’s human rights certification “until further progress is demonstrated” by the Colombian government in certain key human rights cases. Emphasizing the importance of certification and referring to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights’ recent report that said “there was an increase in allegations regarding extrajudicial executions and violations of due process,” Senators Russ Feingold, Christopher Dodd, and Patrick Leahy, along with eighteen others, said that there has simply been insufficient progress and urged the U.S to not recertify Colombia. Citing information from Amnesty International and the United Nations, the Senators emphasized that in order to make progress in Colombia, the relationship between the paramilitary forces and the military must be severed and the guerrilla forces must cease their “abhorrent practices of kidnapping for profit, extrajudicial executions, use of gas cylinder bombs and other actions showing blatant disregard for international humanitarian law.” The Senators also raised the issue of impunity and specifically cited the San Jose de Apartado massacre, which occurred on February 21, in which Colombian officials have made little progress in investigating the murder of eight residents. Lawmakers concluded that it is “time for the State Department to make clear to the Colombian government that further progress regarding its own security forces is necessary prior to certification.” Despite criticism from international human rights groups and the United Nations, Colombia has been certified every year except once, when the Clinton administration waived the conditions “in the interest of national security.” The State Department could have certified Colombia as early as March of this year, but has been unable to do so, thereby withholding millions of dollars in U.S. foreign assistance. Read the letter to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice: http://ciponline.org/colombia/050701sena.pdf

• U.S. Lawmakers Threaten to Withhold Aid to Colombia Angered by Colombia’s paramilitary demobilization law, members of the Senate Appropriations Committee recently approved language in the foreign aid bill which would withhold any U.S. funding for the paramilitary demobilization in Colombia until certain standards are met, including the complete dismantlement of the paramilitary forces, the option of extradition to the U.S., and the establishment of an international committee to monitor the progress of the cease-fire. Although Juan David Angel, a senior Colombian Interior Minister official, said that he “sees no problem with these conditions, because we have every intention of meeting them anyhow,” critics say that the current framework of the legislation, which Colombia’s Congress passed June 22, will do little to dismantle the underlying paramilitary structures and will not adequately punish leaders for their crimes. With Colombian officials estimating that it will take $8,000 per fighter, or up to $160 million, to demobilize the paramilitary forces, the lack of U.S. assistance to the demobilization could seriously hamper Uribe’s efforts to implement the Peace and Justice Law. “The issue is to send a message to the Colombian government, and our government, that we’re serious about wanting to fund something that’s going to be effective,” said a senior Republican aide in the U.S. Congress who works on Colombian policy. He added, “what’s been passed by the Colombian legislative body just won’t provide for an effective demobilization.” Reaffirming the Committee’s position, Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director of Human Rights Watch, said that the “intent is to reaffirm the standards, saying if you want help from Washington, here are the standards.” Read the Senate’s conditions and more about the foreign aid bill: http://ciponline.org/colombia/aid06.htm#Senate

• U.S. Officials: Paramilitary Leader Not Immune Under New Peace Deal Top paramilitary leader and negotiator, Diego Murillo, is still eligible for extradition despite the recent peace deal in Colombia, said U.S. Ambassador to Colombia William Wood. Under the paramilitary demobilization law, paramilitary leaders are eligible for lenient sentences if they fulfill certain requirements, including confessing all illegal activities committed while in the right-wing forces, returning any ill-gotten goods, and disarming their paramilitary forces. Yet, Ambassador Wood asserted that immunity only applies to crimes which Murillo committed during his brief tenure in the paramilitary forces, and that he can be tried “for crimes not covered under this law, of which there are many.” Murillo joined the paramilitary forces in 2003, shortly before the group began peace negotiations with the government, prompting critics to accuse Murillo of joining the paramilitaries for the sole reason of reaping the benefits of a peace deal and avoiding extradition to the U.S. Colombian authorities arrested Murillo last month and charged him with the murders of a state congressman and two companions, yet because of his involvement in the peace negotiations, Murillo was placed under house arrest in lieu of jail. This is not the first time that Murillo, “Don Berna,” has been in trouble with the law. U.S. prosecutors indicted Murillo in 2004 for importing cocaine into the U.S. , and officials also suspect that he is the former head of a team of assassins linked to the Medellin cocaine cartel.

• Colombian Indicted in U.S. on Terrorism and Drug Charges U.S. officials in Miami indicted Colombian Hector Rodriguez-Acevedo on drug and terrorism charges on July 5. Rodriguez-Acevedo was charged with conspiring to import cocaine into the U.S. and to distribute it, as well as conspiring to use firearms and destructive devices in material support of the AUC, a State Department designated terrorist group. He was arrested in Colombia June 29 and U.S. officials have already announced that they will seek his extradition. Alexander Acosta, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, said “those who would trade arms for drugs threaten the welfare of our community and the security of our nation. This office will continue to aggressively pursue and prosecute these kinds of crimes to the full extent of the law.” If convicted, Rodriguez-Acevedo could face life in prison.

• Colombian Drug Trafficker Pleads Guilty A Colombian drug trafficker pleaded guilty to importing millions of dollars worth of cocaine into the U.S. since 1988. Jose Maria Henao Mejia admitted to leading a drug ring that operated in Spain and the U.S., specifically in Miami, Chicago, New York, and New Jersey. Henao Mejia faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum of ten years. He was arrested by Colombian police on September 9, 2002 and extradited to New York in 2004.

Upcoming Events and Seminars in the U.S.

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

Fri 01 – Uribe’s accusations may endanger journalists; rising tension with Ecuador over border.

• The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed at the comments made by President Uribe in Putumayo, in the aftermath of the FARC’s attack last week, ‘as these comments could even endanger journalists in Colombia’. Hollman Morris, one of the accused journalists, said that Uribe's statements put him in danger and that he had to cut his visit to Putumayo short for fear of retaliation. He said that Uribe's press release worried him because the President apologised for making a mistake regarding the dates, without addressing the core of the allegations. "The government of President Uribe should be doing everything it can to ensure the safety of journalists such as Hollman Morris, not further jeopardising their security by issuing these kinds of reckless comments," CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper said. Colombian journalists have been threatened, attacked, and murdered for their perceived ties with government security forces, paramilitary groups, or leftist guerrillas. Reporting on drugs, the activities of armed groups, and local corruption has placed reporters at great risk. Morris, who is recognised for his investigative reporting on Colombia's civil war, received a burial wreath in May with a card expressing "sincere condolences."
• Colombian President Uribe accuses Ecuador of not doing enough to help fight Marxist rebels on the border, racketing up diplomatic tensions between both countries. President Uribe said that Ecuador should do more to support his effort at smashing the rebels. "You cannot be neutral when terrorists are attacking a democratic state," Uribe told local radio. But Ecuador's new government has taken a more neutral stance. "We are not going to get involved in the problem," Foreign Minister Antonio Parra said. "We are going to limit ourselves to defending our own sovereignty, and we ask Colombia to do the same”, Reuters reports.
• After discussing the tense situation along the border with Carolina Barco, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez reports they won't allow Colombian troops to hunt down leftist rebels hiding out in its territory, but pledged to boost military cooperation to curb the flow of guerrillas, arms and drugs across the two nations' porous border, Associated Press reports.

Sat 02 – Prosecutor rules against re-election; Colombia continues to fail internal refugees.

• Colombia’s Inspector G eneral (Procurador) Edgardo Maya has recommended the Constitutional Court rule against changing the constitution to allow President Uribe to run for a second consecutive term. Maya's recommendation is non-binding but raises issues over the legality of Congress' treatment of the bill. The court has 90 days from now to rule on the re-election, El Tiempo reports.
• Colombia is spending only a fifth of what it says it needs to provide food, housing and education to its growing population of internal refugees, but even this small budget marks an improvement. Luis Alfonso Hoyos, head of the government's Social Solidarity Network says the $426 million dedicated to those programmes in 2004-2005 is equal to that spent in the past 10 years. In all, the network has registered 1.6 million people displaced by the violence, but Hoyos admits the real number could be nearly twice as many. The government's refugee budget jumped after a 2004 court ruling saying that it was not providing services sufficient to guarantee the constitutional rights of Colombia's refugees. "Displacement is serious but the tendency is decreasing," Hoyos told Reuters.

Sun 03 – Colombian government woos UK investors; further concerns over demobilisation.

• At a conference organised by the British and Colombian Chamber of Commerce in London on 29 June, Interior and Justice Minister Sabas Pretelt and Industry and Tourist Minister Jorge Humberto Botero presented a rosy picture of their country to attract foreign investors, pointing to the ‘excellent investment climate’ in Colombia. Botero said that the failure of Latin American countries to reduce poverty was due ‘to the insufficient application of market oriented economic policies’. T he numbers presented by the Minister showed a decline of investment flows from the UK in recent years and were contested by former Ambassador Tom Duggin, Emerging Markets reports.
• US magazine Newsweek reports on the current demobilisation process with Colombia’s paramilitaries. The article says that the demobilisations are a change in packaging, not product. Fresher shock troops remain in the field to protect drug traffickers and landowners from guerrilla attacks. Meanwhile, the AUC is penetrating deep into the fabric of Colombian life. At least six AUC warlords who face cocaine-trafficking charges in the US are eligible for a special status that could block their extradition to an American courtroom. Even some traditional allies of the Uribe government are crying foul. "This will give benefits and impunity to perpetrators of the worst crimes," says Congresswoman Gina Parody, Newsweek reports.

Mon 04-Prosecutor rules against re-election; Justice and peace law: Colombia’s capitulation.

• The "Justice and Peace Law” just passed in Colombia should be called the "Impunity for Mass Murderers, Terrorists and Major Cocaine Traffickers Law", according to the New York Times . Paramilitaries have massacred thousands of people and control 40 percent of Colombia's cocaine exports and many paramilitary leaders are wanted for extradition to the US. The State Department considers the paramilitaries terrorists. The new law, which reflects the paramilitaries' considerable political power, will block the extradition of paramilitary leaders wanted for trafficking to the United States and allow them to continue their drug dealing, extortion, land theft and other criminal activities undisturbed, New York Times reports.
• The Colombian army reports they have captured a FARC member who engineered the smuggling of drugs to the US. Ferney Torres, 38, was arrested after being wounded by soldiers as he tried to escape an army checkpoint in Caqueta. "This was a very important capture because he was in charge of the logistics and finances of the Southern Bloc of the FARC" army General Carlos Fracica told Reuters.

Tues 05 - US charges politician in S. Marta for links with AUC; CSN reports on mission to S. Jose.

• The US Department of Justice reports that Hector Rodriguez-Acevedo has been charged in a four-count indictment with conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation in violation of US law. Rodriguez-Acevedo was arrested in Colombia on 29 th June and US authorities say they will request his extradition to the United States. The indictment charges Rodriguez-Acevedo with conspiring to import cocaine into the US and conspiring to provide hundreds of assault rifles, grenades and ammunition to the AUC.
• The Colombia Support Network (CSN) releases the results of an investigation carried out by a fact-finding delegation from San Jose de Apartado’s sister community of Dane County in Wisconsin. The delegation investigated the massacre of 21 st February 2005, in which Peace Community leader Luis Eduardo Guerra and 7 other persons were murdered. The evidence collected clearly identified the Colombian Army as responsible for the massacre, acting in collaboration with illegal paramilitary forces of the AUC. CSN condemns the fact that the Uribe Administration has just pushed through the Colombian Congress a measure giving effective immunity to these paramilitary forces which are to be ‘reinserted’ into civilian society, calling on all their supporters to act against such measures.
• The Colombian government reports 12,836 fighters have demobilised under Uribe. In all, during President Uribe's administration 7,551 people, including guerrillas and paramilitaries, have demobilised individually. With regard to collective demobilisations, the figure totals 5,285. Of the 274 people who surrendered individually to the authorities in June, 112 belonged to the AUC, 97 were from the FARC, 60 belonged to the ELN, and five were members of dissident groups. There were 62 minors and 38 women in this group. The greatest number of desertions occurred in Antioquia Department with 59 cases, followed by Santander with 35, Caqueta with 23, Casanare with 21, and Boyaca and Meta with 17 each, SNE reports.

Weds 06- Attorney orders army captures for Cajamarca case; paramilitary groups set to disarm.

• A member of the Attorney General’s office in Bogota orders the capture of one officer and five soldiers from the Colombian army for the killing of a group of peasants in the rural area of Cajamarca (Tolima) back in April 2004. The decision overturns a ruling from the military judge, which had avoided ordering the detention of the investigated soldiers. Five people, including a 20 month old baby, were killed in the shooting, CM& reports.
• A 600-strong militia blamed for killing dozens of civilians will become the first paramilitary faction to demobilise after a peace deal was adopted, granting reduced punishments to fighters who voluntarily disarm, authorities report. The ‘Heroes of Montes de Maria’ faction of the United Self-defence Forces, AUC, will surrender their weapons in mid-July at a ceremony in Maria La Baja, ( Sucre ), the Peace Commissioner’s office reports.
• "Reinserted members of paramilitary groups could police the country's roads", suggests President Uribe. The President said that National Police Director Gen Jorge Daniel Castro has already carried out the trials with positive results and they are now considering the possibility of implementing this strategy on a mass scale on all the country's roads. Rights groups in Colombia and abroad have named their fears that this will further recycle combatants from paramilitary groups into legalised structures within the state, Caracol radio reports.

Thurs 07 – Displacement in Caqueta after heavy fighting; FARC attacks Caldono in Cauca.

• Heavy fighting between the FARC and the Colombian army has driven scores of people across the border into Ecuador , sparking diplomatic friction between the two countries. Dozens of Colombian peasant farmers, including over 100 indigenous people, have fled to Ecuador to avoid getting caught in the middle of the war, according to the National Indigenous Organisation of Colombia (ONIC). In the meantime, FARC spokesman Raul Reyes denied that members of his group had sought refuge in Ecuador, because "we have always respected its sovereignty." He accused Uribe of cooking up these allegations to get Ecuador involved in the Colombian conflict. He refuted the Colombian government's claim that the guerrillas who attacked the military base in Teteye had set out from Ecuador, and added that 50 government soldiers and five guerrillas were killed in the action, contrary to the official figures provided by the army, IPS reports.
• A new displacement of civilians from the municipality of Caldono has been reported by the indigenous authorities in Cauca after the FARC group attacked this municipality for the second time in 48 hours. At least 20 houses were destroyed by the rebels' gas-cylinder bombs, and two people were injured. Last week the United Nations expressed concern over the fate of thousands of people in southern Colombia because of the clashes between the government and guerrilla forces, El Nuevo Siglo reports.
• Colombia’s Prosecutor’s office (Procuraduria) has sacked two police officers for corruption by diverting money from Plan Colombia. According to the charges, Jose Leonidas Molina Triana and Yamile Sarmiento Gomez who were in charge of the Fondo Rotatorio of the Colombian Police are accused of diverting US $50,000, Colprensa reports.
• The Indigenous Regional Council of Cauca (CRIC) and the Association of Indigenous Authorities of Northern Cauca (ACIN) strongly condemn the irresponsible accusations made by Commander of the III brigade, General Hernando Perez Molina. He accused the indigenous authorities of diverting money from European aid programmes to the FARC group. The Nasa indigenous project condemns the accusation, pointing out that it responds to a well-planned campaign from the government and the army that aims to undermine the traditional authorities in the region, El Liberal reports.

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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