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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. Embassy Prepares
Report on NGO Human Rights StatisticsThe Colombian news
magazine Semana reported last week
that the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá has prepared a report examining the reasons for
discrepancies between Colombian NGOs and government statistics about human rights
violations.The report will now be
handed over to Congress and the U.S. State Department. Although the report acknowledges that human
rights continue to be regularly violated in Colombia, it asserts that NGOs have ignored the progress made
by the government.The government and
NGOs arrive at different conclusions, because NGOs use different definitions
and methodologies than the government in gathering statistics.While the Embassy report notes that government
dependence on official reports undoubtedly results in underestimates of human
rights violations, it also claims that NGO statistics exaggerate the
violations.The Semana article is available online at:.
·U.S. Congress
Approves Colombia Aid for 2004On December 8, the House of Representatives approved a $328 billion
omnibus bill that provides for over $700 million in aid to Colombia for 2004 under Foreign Operations.The Senate has delayed taking action on the
bill until late January, but if passed, it will then go to President Bush for
final approval.Of the $731 million
allotted for the Andean Counterdrug Initiative, $463 million is intended for Colombia, while an additional $110 million will be provided
under Foreign Military Financing.As in
years past, the aid is dependent upon Colombia’s compliance with human rights standards and places
limits upon fumigation efforts.More
information is available in online at:
and .
·U.S. Raises Reward for Capture of Kidnappers to $5
MillionU.S. Ambassador William Wood announced on December 4
that the U.S. government has raised the reward for information leading to the
arrest of the kidnappers of three American military contractors in Colombia to
$5 million.Prior to this statement, the
reward had been $340,000 and the possibility of obtaining a U.S. visa.In conjunction
with the reward, the Embassy has also launched a local media campaign to
encourage those with information about the kidnappings to come forward.The three Americans were captured by FARC
guerrillas when their plane crashed in February.More information is available online at: .
·Rep. Hyde Suggests Chicago Area Police Meet With
Colombian Anti-Drug AuthoritiesOn December 4, Representative Henry Hyde (R-IL),
chairman of the House International Affairs Committee, suggested to Drug
Enforcement Agency (DEA) Administrator Karen Tandy that Chicago area law
enforcement officials visit with Colombian National Police and DEA agents there
to learn how to better combat the drug trade.The purpose of the meeting would be to discuss strategies to stop the
“poisonous flow” of heroine, as the Chicago area leads the United States in heroine related deaths.More information is available online at: .
·U.S. Insists on
Extraditions of Paramilitary LeadersAmbassador
William Wood announced on Sunday that the U.S. government will continue to demand the extraditions
of right-wing AUC paramilitary leaders Carlos Castaño and Salvatore
Mancuso.The extradition orders, which
were issued in 2002, have not been addressed at the dialogue table of the
paramilitary peace process, begun in December of 2002.More information is available in Spanish
online at:.
Upcoming Events and Seminars in the U.S.
·Ecumenical Advocacy Days for Global Justice with PeaceEcumenical Advocacy Days for Global Justice with Peace will take place in WashingtonDCMarch 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 .
NOTE: There will be no InfoBrief for the
next four weeks due to the holidays.The
InfoBrief will resume January 12.We
apologize for any inconvenience.
Colombia This Week is reproduced with the kind
permission of the ABColombia Group in London
Colombia This Week editing date:12/08/03
Fri 28 – Colombia could use $100-$500 m of reserves; 2 policemen
charged on drug trafficking.
Brushing
aside an IMF warning and Wall Street concerns, the Colombian government
says it may use between $100 million and $500 million of its foreign
reserves to prepay debt. "We have identified the range which the
Central Bank could use for this operation, without compromising its
capacity to prevent and face extreme volatility in the financial market,
which is between $100 million and $500 million," Finance Minister
Alberto Carrasquilla told reporters.
Two
police officers are charged by the Attorney General’s Office after they
were caught transporting 84 kilos of cocaine in a vehicle in La Dorada
(Caldas), El Tiempo reports.
ELN
rebels who kidnapped seven foreign backpackers in September, violating
International Humanitarian Law, hail it as a propaganda victory and say
they aim to free the remaining five young hostages soon.
Sat 29 – 69 patrol policemen fired in Bogota ;Venezuela temporarily closes border
69
Colombian highway patrol policemen are fired for "problems of
discipline, immorality and dishonesty," according to Gen. Jorge
Castro, chief of the Colombian National Police. No details were given.
Venezuelan
authorities report the partially closure the frontier with Colombia. Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said the
measure was intended to stop electoral fraud by Venezuelans living in Colombia during the opposition campaign to gather
signatures for a vote, Efe reports.
Sun 30 – Colombian transport unions call
for strike; trade unionist killed in Barranquilla.
Colombian
Trade Workers Union (CUT) denounces the killing of trade unionist
Carlos de la Rosa Elles. He was the treasurer for the Transport Union in Barranquilla (Atlantico). The killing occurred on the same
day that Trade Unionists called for a strike across Colombia, demanding more security, better work conditions
and lower taxes.
The
Attorney General’s Office in Medellin precludes the investigation against confessed
paramilitaries Alberto Torres Alvarez and Juan Carlos Torres Cardona who
handed themselves in to the army last August. This was the first time that
the government has used the 'right of exemption' without judicial control
proposed by Decree 128 (2003); they were freed soon after without charges,
El Espectador reports.
Commander
and spokesman of the FARC, Raul Reyes warns that the U.S. military personnel aiding government troops will
face attack. He criticised the Americans for "training and aiding
government forces in counterinsurgency tactics and actions" in Colombia and as a result they are military targets for
the FARC.
Mon 01 – Six police officers killed in
ambush; NGO condemns FARC’s murder of kidnap victim.
A
police spokesman says officers received a telephone tip-off about a
killing in an area about 300 miles (500 km) north of the capital. Rebels,
positioned on both sides of the highway, fired at a police vehicle as it
drove to the crime scene. Eleven officers were on board, six were killed.
US
based NGO Colombia Support Network (CSN) condemns the murder of Japanese
citizen Chikao Muramatsu committed by members of the Farc group. The
statement calls on the FARC to desist from the practice of kidnapping,
which violates the norms of International Humanitarian Law.
The
Foundation for the Freedom of Press (FLIP) reports from Bogota that journalist from Vanguardia Liberal
Beatriz Elena Mantilla has been under intense pressure from the Commander
of the army in Barrancabermeja after she covered the report of an accidental
death of a soldier. The FLIP reminds the authorities that the Foundation’s
function in society is to produce independent information, El
Espectador reports.
President
Uribe Velez asks the Bank of the Republic to intervene in the Colombian
market to slow down the re- evaluation of the Colombian currency against
the dollar. Since January, the Colombian peso has been re-evaluated by 1,66%, El Espectador reports.
A
go-slow action by Colombian pilots is wreaking havoc on the nation's
flagship airline, Avianca, disrupting hundreds of flights and costing
more than $3 million in just over a week La Republica reports.
Tues 02 – 8 killed in combat; Government
suspends rewards for paramilitary commanders.
Authorities
report that eight reported members of the FARC group have been killed in
the municipality of Chita, Boyaca. Two pilots from the Colombian Army were
injured in a separate incident in Meta.
Colombia's government reports it has suspended cash
rewards for information leading to the capture of paramilitary leaders,
who are taking part in peace negotiations. “They are not on the (reward)
list because they are in negotiations with the government," Deputy
Defence Minister Andres Peñate told Reuters. "If they walk away from
talks, they're back on the list." Notably absent from the list are
paramilitary bosses like Carlos Castaño and Salvatore Mancuso, wanted in
the United States on drug charges and at home for war crimes. Human rights
groups insist paramilitary bosses should go to jail for assassinations and
massacres that have earned them a place on the U.S. terrorist list, Reuters reports.
Lawmakers
from Colombian Congress submit amendments during a joint session of
economic and budget committees that would raise 17.64 trillion pesos ($6.3
billion) instead of the 22 trillion pesos ($7.8 billion) the government is
seeking. Finance Minister Alberto Carrasquilla reports that "under
this scenario, not only internal and external markets will close their
doors, but multilateral agencies will not disburse the resources because
the condition to do so is fiscal stability".
Some
900 peasant women are set to make racy lingerie and sell it to French supermarket chain Carrefour under a
U.N.-backed program aimed at encouraging impoverished farmers and their
families to stop growing drug crops. "We thought it was a very
original idea. These are regions where there are drug crops and people
need legal jobs," said Thierry Rostan of the U.N. Office for Drug
Control and Crime Prevention in Bogota.
Weds 03 – EU envoy in Colombia rejects a new Donors Table; “Truth commissions”
proposed.
The
European Commission’s envoy in Colombia, Nicola Bertolini reports in Medellin that there is no need for a new Donors table in Brussels next year. He also said that first of all the
Colombian State must fulfil the previous commitment made in London this
year, by complying with the UN recommendations on human rights, El
Colombiano reports.
The
leader of the paramilitaries, Carlos Castaño proposes in an interview in El
Tiempo the creation of regional truth commissions to investigate
massacres and other crimes. He said that the commissions could be
established once both paramilitaries and guerrillas have joined peace
talks, adding that members of his own faction who laid down their arms
should not be sent to jail.
The
Popular Women Organisation (OFP) reports the killing of teacher and
musical instructor Jesus Rojas Castañeda in the city of Barrancabermeja. They also report that despite the presence of
large numbers of security forces, paramilitary forces have the control of
entire areas of the city, calling the authorities to protect the citizens.
A nation-wide truckers' strike in Colombia enters its third day. The
Agriculture Ministry says the effects on food supplies are being minimised
as non-unionised drivers of small trucks replace the 18-wheelers and other
large vehicles. Drivers of up to 90% of Colombia's 156,000 heavy trucks, led by
the Association of Colombian Truckers, or ACC, began the indefinite work
stoppage to protest rising gasoline prices and toll charges, Dowe Jones
reports.
Reporting
on the paramilitary demobilisation, the Chicago Tribune reports that
during last week's proceedings the government played videotaped greetings
from three of the top paramilitary leaders,-a move that may have seemed
like a mass absolution and can hardly be expected to close matters for the
victims' families.
ELN
spokesperson Ramiro Vargas announces that this armed group will not
observe a Christmas cease-fire as in previous years, because the
traditional cease-fires had meant losses for the organisation by giving
the army and the police an opportunity to make territorial gains. He also
said the ELN still supported a negotiated solution to the conflict.
Colombian
Inspector General (Procurador) Edgardo Maya criticises the law proposal
that congressmen are debating to change the control over the contracts
made by the Congress, reporting that if the law is approved there will be
no control by other state bodies.
Thurs 04 - 13 peasants killed in massacre;
European NGOs protest amnesty without justice.
Thirteen
people are killed in a new massacre in the rural area of Llorente, in the
Barbacoas municipality in Tolima. Carlos Mayo, the regional representative
of the human rights ombudsman’s office says armed men carried out the
attack. It is unclear who is responsible, as both paramilitaries and
guerrillas operate in the region, RCN radio reports.
In a statement released to the press entitled “No
Amnesty without Justice in Colombia!” 40 European organisations and
individuals oppose the government-sponsored impunity for crimes committed
by state agents and paramilitary forces in Colombia. According to the statement,
the 'right of exemption' without judicial control proposed by the Decree
128 (2003), and the secretive way the Decree is being applied today in
Colombia, violates the right to justice, and does damage to Colombian
society.
In
a debate in Congress, Congressmen report that paramilitary groups have
accumulated US $ 6,000 m from narcotrafficking outside Colombia. In other developments, Peace Commissioner Luis
Carlos Restrepo reports that the government has no plans to negotiate the
freedom of the kidnapped people in a humanitarian agreement with FARC or
ELN, despite the wishes of the relatives of those kidnapped. Restrepo
dismissed any possibility of establishing a new demilitarized zone in Colombia to start peace negotiations.
Colombian
tax plans are in jeopardy. Economists report that a package of tax rises
is in danger of being rejected by the Colombian Congress, placing the
country on a potentially unstable fiscal path. President Uribe has until
December 16 to persuade legislators to approve a series of tax increases
that are essential if the government is to rein in the budget deficit,
Financial Times reports.
The
General Secretary for the Organisation for American States (OEA) and
member of the Liberal party, Carlos Gaviria reports that he is planning to
return to Colombia next year. Magazine Cambio suggests that
he will be the next leader of the Liberal party.
Inspector
General (Procurador) Edgardo Maya sends a letter to President
Uribe, urging him to present to the Congress a list of three possible
candidates for the election of the new Ombudsman (Defensor del Pueblo) in Colombia. Vólmar Pérez has been the interim responsible
for more than two months, following the resignation of Eduardo Cifuentes.
The
United
States offers up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest of
the kidnappers of three American military contractors in Colombia, U.S. Ambassador William B. Wood reports.
Colombia This Week is a news summary produced
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European and Latin American newspapers, and reports from non-governmental
organisations and the UN System. The content does not necessarily reflect the
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