Colin Powell Certifies Colombia's Progress

Secretary of State Colin Powell has certified Colombia's progress on human rights which means the nation will receive $34 million in aid for its security forces.

Human Rights Watch objects and rightfully so:

Human Rights Watch has compiled abundant evidence to show that Colombia has not complied with the U.S. government’s conditions.

One case involves an army officer, Colonel Víctor Matamoros, who the State Department reported had been detained for alleged paramilitary ties in 2001. Government investigators have evidence that Matamoros worked with paramilitaries, including leader Salvatore Mancuso, and helped arrange a series of massacres in and around the town of La Gabarra, Norte de Santander, in 1999. However, Matamoros was later freed after the military failed to transfer their investigation to civilian investigators by the legal deadline, thus forcing its closure for technical reasons.

“Again and again, we see that when military officers are charged with corruption or drug trafficking, or even cowardice, they are dealt with immediately,” said Vivanco. “But when officers are linked to human rights crimes, they get promotions and pay raises.”

Under U.S. law, Congress can suspend the State Department’s new power to allocate funds toward counterterrorism operations; funds were formerly restricted to anti-drug efforts only. A suspension is possible if the Secretary of State has credible evidence that the Colombian Armed Forces are not conducting vigorous operations to restore government authority and respect for human rights in areas under paramilitary or guerrilla control.

Human Rights Watch has compiled credible evidence showing that U.S.-backed operations in Colombia are not effectively reducing paramilitary control over territory. In fact, some areas formerly controlled by guerrillas have passed into the hands of paramilitaries, who act with the tacit support of local security forces.

“In effect, paramilitaries are allowed to win, so they become the de facto authorities,” Vivanco said.

These are the same paramilitaries that are extorting land as I noted earlier this week.

Meanwhile, the EU has promised that President Uribe will receive tough questions when he goes there next month:

A top European Union official warned Colombian President Alvaro Uribe that he faces a barrage of questions about his government's respect for the rule of law when he visits Europe next month to win backing for his tough, U.S-backed security policies.

EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten made the comments Thursday at the end of a two-day visit during which he angered government leaders with thinly veiled criticism of Colombia's new anti-terrorism laws.

The legislation, adopted by Congress last month, gives the armed forces sweeping judicial powers to detain suspects without warrants, tap phones and search homes as part of Uribe's campaign to crush a four-decade leftist insurgency.

Human rights groups, however, warned the bill could lead government forces to commit abuses, while the United Nations said it was incompatible with international law.

"Many people will want to discuss with him (Uribe) the recommendations of the United Nations," Patten said at a news conference in Bogota. "The improvement in civil liberties and human rights can and must go hand-in-hand with the overcoming of violence."

So Colombia's new laws are incompatible with international law and we certified their progress on human rights to give them more aid. When I read about matters like this and consider the Maher Arar case among numerous other questionable acts including a policy of sending people to countries with a history of torture to be "interrogated" and then read that George Bush said "No President has ever done more for human rights than I have," I honestly don't know whether to cry or vomit.

Comments

[Nell Lancaster]

It's time -- long past time -- to give up the charade of 'certification.' Human rights supporters, in an effort to score any win in Congress, however tiny and meaningless, let Congress off the hook for funding counterinsurgency war as long as the U.S. govt certifies that the ruling army is making human rights progress.

They'll always certify; the process has no relationship to reality. As demonstrated in El Salvador, over and over again; the Truth Commission gave the lie to every administration declaration of improvement.