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
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U.S.
Current Affairs & Media
·
U.S. State Department Describes Colombia’s Human
Rights Record in 2003 as “Poor” On February 25, Secretary of State Colin Powell and
Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Lorne Craner held a special briefing to announce the release of
the State Department’s Country Reports on
Human Rights Practices for the Year 2003.
Overall, the report finds that the Colombian “government’s human rights
record remained poor,” although “there were significant improvements in some
areas.” Colombia’s deficient rating is due to continued political and
drug-related violence, including murders, forced disappearances and
kidnappings, arbitrary arrest and detention, mistreatment of detainees and
displacement. The illegal armed groups
were not the only actors guilty of such violations, given that “some members of
the security forces continued to commit serious abuses, including unlawful and
extrajudicial killings.” The report did
state that the number of kidnappings, killings and forced displacements
declined as the government captured guerrilla leaders, and several former
military commanders were convicted of human rights abuses. Governmental initiatives to pursue peace
negotiations with illegal armed groups were also viewed favorably in the
report. The Colombia country report for 2003 can be found online at: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2003/27891.htm.
·
CIA Director Tenet Reports on Colombia Before
Senate Intelligence Committee
CIA Director George Tenet testified before the Senate
Intelligence Committee’s annual national security session on February 24, along
with FBI Director Robert Mueller and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Vice
Adm. Lowell Jacoby. In his discussion of
“pivotal states,” Tenet noted that Colombia is making considerable military and economic
progress, as the Colombian government makes inroads against illegal armed
groups. But Tenet went on to comment
that “some of [President] Uribe’s hardest work awaits
him,” in that he must maintain control by building the state presence of
schools, police stations, clinics and roads in areas where such infrastructure
has not existed previously. The
transcript of Tenet’s remarks (see page 22 for Colombia) is available online at: http://intelligence.senate.gov/0402hrg/040224/tenet.pdf.
·
Colombians in Washington for Twice Yearly
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Hearings Dozens
of Colombians began to arrive in Washington D.C. February 28-29 for the twice
yearly Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) hearings on the human
rights situation in the Americas, which take place this week. Colombian human rights leaders will present
cases to the commissioners, and this year, representatives from leading women’s
organizations will also present on the situation of women’s rights in Colombia. Bringing
cases before the Commission may result in the issuance of specific IACHR
recommendations and/or precautionary measures and may prompt IACHR visits.
·
U.S. General Issues Warning, Message of Hope During Colombia Visit Marine General Peter Pace, vice chairmen of the U.S. Joint
Chiefs of Staff, was both cautious and hopeful about the situation in Colombia during a two day visit to the country last week. Speaking to reporters at the U.S. Embassy,
Pace warned that the leftist FARC guerrillas may launch a new offensive in
response to recent combat deaths, as the guerrillas “recognize that elected
officials are getting stronger and stronger in the war against terrorism.” Pace, who served as the U.S. military commander for Latin America and the Caribbean from 2000
to 2001, found Colombia much improved since his last visit two years ago,
remarking that “in the long term, peace and prosperity will in fact prevail here
and the terrorists’ days are numbered.”
More information is available online at: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-colombia-usa.html.
·
United Nations, U.S. State
Department Criticize Colombia for
Journalists’ Deaths On February 28, after touring Colombia for a week, the top UN official specializing in
freedom of expression, Ambeyi Ligabo,
criticized Colombian authorities for failing to identify and prosecute
criminals and corrupt officials who kill journalists. Ligabo reported that
7 journalists were murdered last year, and no suspect was arrested in any
case. The U.S. State Department also
noted the plight of journalists in Colombia in its 2003 Country Report, mentioning the deaths of
a number of journalists and the fact that “journalists continued to work in an
atmosphere of threats and intimidation,” which was exacerbated by the impunity
granted to perpetrators.
Upcoming Events and Seminars in the U.S.
·
Ecumenical Advocacy Days for Global Justice with Peace Ecumenical Advocacy Days for Global Justice with Peace will take place in Washington, DC March 5-8, 2004. People of
faith from across the nation will gather to learn and take action together for
peace and justice in Colombia and throughout the world. The
event will include dynamic speakers, workshops, advocacy training, and time for
sharing and networking with gathered advocates.
More information is available online at www.advocacydays.org.
Colombia This Week is reproduced with the
kind permission of the ABColombia Group in London
Colombia This Week editing date: 03/01/04
Fri 20 -
Union Leader detained in Bogota; Colombian NGOs
supported by US Congressmen.
- The
"Joel Sierra Regional Human Rights Committee" from Arauca reports that trade union leader Luz Perly Cordoba has been detained by DAS secret police
in Bogotá. Luz is the leader of the Arauca
Peasant Association (ACA). Authorities also raided the organisation’s
offices in Arauquita. Additionally, Luz’s
bodyguard Enrique Amarillo has been detained by DAS. Luz’s incarceration
brings to 75 the number of trade unionists from the agricultural sectors
that are currently being held in jail.
- In
a press conference held in Bogotá, US Rep. Jim McGovern releases to the press a
bipartisan letter from 74 members of the U.S. House of Representatives to
Colombian President Uribe Velez. The letter
voices congressional concern for members of Colombian human rights and
civil society groups who are at great risk because of their work, for
which they are intimidated, threatened, exiled and even killed. The
signatories urge President Uribe to "take
actions that will underscore the legitimacy of human rights defenders and
other civil society actors and enable them to continue in safety”. Rep.
McGovern traveled to Colombia as part of a delegation arranged by the
Washington Office on Latin
America.
- The
UN-sponsored Equator Prize 2004 Jury selects the Nasa
project as one of this year’ winners. This project takes is rooted in a
community of Colombia's indigenous Paez
people. Together, they sustainably manage a
territory of 49,000 hectares, partially located within the Nevada del Huila Biosphere Reserve on the Colombia-Ecuador
border. Activities include environmental education and the promotion of
traditional medicinal and agro forestry techniques. "Nasa", a Paez word
meaning 'living being', also describes the language of the people.
- Spanish
police reports the arrest of an alleged member of Colombia's defunct Cali cartel wanted by the US for money laundering. A police spokesperson said
Fernando Antonio G.C., had been in charge of a financial network that
laundered a trillion dollars for the Cali cartel between 1982 and 1995, AP reports.
Sat 21 –
Freedom call for Ingrid Betancourt; NGO reports 7 children killed each day in
conflict.
- Marking
the two-year anniversary of her abduction by FARC, supporters of
presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt prayed for her release in an
emotional ceremony in Bogota. Relatives demanded a prisoner swap with the
rebels, criticizing the government for inaction. Hundreds of supporters --
including Rome's mayor Walter Veltroni
- left a painted star on a Bogota sidewalk in Betancourt's honour.
In Paris, a giant portrait of Betancourt was draped down
the facade of city hall. Supporters planned a Sunday march in her honour.
- According
to a report released by Watchlist on
Children and Armed Conflict, children caught up in Colombia’s armed conflict are dying violently at a rate
of about seven per day. “We are outraged that the international community
is standing by so silently," said Watchlist
Coordinator Julia Freedson. "Countless
children are losing their families, their homes, their communities, and
even their lives to the ongoing conflict," she said adding that the
network of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is urging the 15-member
UN Security Council to include the Colombian conflict on its agenda. The
network includes Care International, the Norwegian Refugee Council, Save
the Children Alliance, World Vision and the Coalition to Stop the Use of
Child Soldiers.
- A
study published by El Tiempo reports that
there are three million people living below the poverty line in Bogota, many of them as a result of the internal
displacement caused by armed groups and the conflict. The study also
reports that the wealthiest people in the capital earn 56 times more money
than poorest people.
Sun 22 –
Clashes leave 17 FARC members killed; Pais Libre: six people kidnapped everyday.
- BBC's
Jeremy McDermott reports that the Colombian army has launched a new
offence against the FARC as President Alvaro Uribe
seeks to reassure Colombians that he is winning the 40-year civil
conflict. According to the authorities 17 fighters from the FARC group
were killed in clashes near Llano Grande, (Antioquia).
Four soldiers were injured in those clashes El Colombiano
reports.
- The number of abductions in Colombia fell to 2,201 in 2003, down by 785 from 2002,
but the country retains the dubious distinction of being the world's
kidnapping capital. The report by the Bogotá-based foundation Pais Libre said that, of
last year's kidnapping victims, 922 were freed after ransom was paid and
587 people remain in captivity. According to the report, the State
security forces rescued 400 kidnapping victims. Seventy-one kidnapped
people died in captivity, and 37 escaped. The rest were unaccounted for, El
Tiempo reports.
- Omar
Lopez Robayo, founder of Colombia's Centauros
soccer team and former mayor of the city of Villavicencio, (Meta) is shot and killed while watching a soccer
game, police report. His bodyguard and a security guard at the stadium in Villavicencio were also killed. There was no immediate
indication of why Lopez was killed or who was behind the attack, CNN
reports.
Mon 23 –
Army: 66 killed in Colombian military offensive; Spain to sell tanks to
Colombian army.
- At
least 66 people have been killed in Colombia as the military launched a new offensive against
armed groups. Soldiers killed 22 members of a faction of the United Self-Defence Forces, (AUC) near Villanueva (Casanare) said Gen. Martin Orlando Carreño,
preventing this armed group from carrying out a massacre in a village that
had allegedly been cooperating with a rival paramilitary group "The
village had been sacked and its residents were about to be massacred, but
we arrived in time". He also reports that 10 soldiers also died in
the fighting. In a separate offensive another eight rebels from the ELN,
one FARC and one paramilitary fighter were also killed in gunfights in
various locations around the country over the weekend, El Tiempo reports
- Colombian
Defence Minister Jorge Alberto Uribe confirms that Colombia will buy “between 32 and 46” AMX-30 artillery
tanks from Spain in a deal worth around US $6 million. According
to the reports, the Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar
made the agreement during a weekend visit. Uribe
denied rumours that the tanks would be deployed
to boost security along Colombia's border with Venezuela, saying they will be used to “safeguard highways
from guerrilla attacks” the government reports.
Tues 24-
Indigenous court charges army officer; US report: failure of coca
fumigation strategy.
- 6000 Nasas (Cauca’s largest indigenous group, known in
Spanish as the Paez) holds an assembly in Caloto (Cauca) to demand justice in indigenous
law for the murder of a member of their indigenous community. Col. José
Vicente Trujillo, commander of the 8th Infantry Battalion, is
accused of the fatal shooting of Olmedo Ul Secué, a resident of a Nasa reservation, in a
roadblock near his community on 31st December last year .The
defendant was found guilty in absentia. Nasa members demand that all of the armed
parties in the country’s conflict respect indigenous territory and
culture, Actualidad Etnica
reports.
- The Washington-based Latin America Working Group (LAWG)
releases a report analysing the Andean Counterdrug Initiative. The report identifies human
and environmental effects of aerial sprying, the
increase of coca cultivation in other regions and the failure of the
policy to meet its main stated goal: reducing cocaine availability in the US. The report also reveals an
anti-democratic trend in Colombian governance associated with the spraying
program, strongly criticising the new plans to
fumigate Colombia’s National Parks, US newswire reports.
- In
its bulletin “Pertinentes” the Peace Programme for the Magdalena Medio
region (PDPMM) reports that members of the FARC retained a member of this organisation working in the area of Alto Cañaveral (Bolivar). He was released two days later
after protests from the communities and talks with the director of the programme. The bulletin also denounces the blockade
made by paramilitaries in the municipality of San Pablo, affecting the communities living in the Serrania San Lucas; it calls on all
armed groups in the region to respect the rights of civilians.
- Bancolombia reports its net profits soar 123% during 2003 to 469bn pesos
(US$174n), the Colombian bank said in a statement. Net profits in the
fourth quarter of last year were up 24% at 146bn pesos.
Weds 25 -
FARC attack Neiva: 12 soldiers killed and
four kidnapped; Bomb kills soldier in Ipiales.
- FARC
members attack the town of Santa Maria, (Huila). At least
twelve soldiers and four guerrillas were killed in the fighting, which
began late Tuesday. On the same day, police foil an attempted mass
kidnapping by suspected FARC rebels disguised as army commandos in the
nearby city of Neiva, (Huila), police said.
The rebels raided an upscale apartment building with plans to abduct up to
20 residents, but only made off with four after being spotted by a police
patrol. As they fled, the rebels tossed a grenade at the patrol, injuring
two officers and a civilian, BBC reports.
- Authorities
report one soldier killed and other injured in Ipiales
(Nariño) after a bomb exploded near a military
base, El Tiempo reports.
- Colombian
government reports the first payment of 627 m pesos (US$ 237,392) to 753 families
working under the Familia Guardabosques programme.
The families were authorised by the UN office
against drugs based in Colombia, and the government want to expand the programme to other regions in the country, SNE
reports.
- Responding to an article published in the Wall Street
Journal by US journalist Mary O’Grady, the
Colombian Commission of Jurists (CCJ) denounces the article for reporting
falsehoods and exaggerations in reference to the work of Colombian NGOs
who criticise the government of Uribe Velez for arbitrary mass detentions of
civilians. The letter notes that the Colombian government’s own Inspector
General objects to the mass detentions. “The least we can ask,” it adds,
“is that you publish these corrections to partially reduce the harm these
unbalanced insinuations may cause those who work for human rights in Colombia”. The Journal has not published the
letter.
Thurs 26 - Uribe sacks officers after FARC attack in Neiva; French journalist
kidnapped by paras.
- President
Uribe Velez sacks six army and secret police
officers after rebels kill 12 soldiers and kidnap four civilians. The
announcement follows an emergency meeting of the government's security council prompted by a battle with FARC in the Huila department. Twelve soldiers from the 9th Brigade
and four guerrillas died in fighting in Santa Maria, (Huila). In nearby Neiva, rebels blew up an apartment building entrance
and kidnap four businessmen, AFP reports.
- Members
of the paramilitary group AUC have kidnapped French citizen, Julien Fouchet, who
reportedly went missing in the Sierra Nevada
de Santa Marta on 15th January. France Press reports that he
was working freelance for a French radio station, trying to make contact
with members of the guerrilla group National Liberation Army (ELN) when
members of the Self-Defence forces of Colombia,
-currently under negotiations with the Colombian government- kidnapped
him, El Espectador reports.
- In a statement published in their website, the
Central Bolivar Bloc -a paramilitary faction currently under peace
negotiations with the government- strongly denounces the Bishop of Barrancabermeja, Mon. Jaime Prieto
for criticising the peace process with these
groups, accusing the Bishop of favouring contact
with other armed groups and calling him for a “meeting” to discuss their
differences, El Colombiano reports.
- Colombia's Occidental, a unit of Los Angeles-based oil
and gas production company Occidental Petroleum Corp. reports its 2003 net
profits were 250.40 billion pesos, up 15.5 percent from 2002. Profits in
2002 were 216.76 billion pesos, it said. Occidental Colombia operates the Cano Limon oil field in Arauca, Reuters 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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