Military-paramilitary links

There continue to be numerous and credible reports of joint military-paramilitary operations and the sharing of intelligence and propaganda. In areas like the Middle Magdalena, southern Colombia, and Urabá, paramilitaries reportedly move uniformed and armed troops unhindered past military installations or operate in mixed units with them. Compared to past years, the government reported more clashes between its troops and paramilitaries and more arrests of suspected paramilitaries. Yet paramilitaries appear more numerous and militarily stronger than ever. For more information, see: http://www.hrw.org/wr2k3/americas4.html

Human rights defenders

In 2002, seventeen defenders were reported killed, the worst year since 1997. In addition, the individuals responsible for over a decade’s worth of previous attacks remained largely unpunished. A two-year government effort to resolve outstanding cases, including the murders of human rights defenders, through a special interministerial committee had yet to deliver results. Increasingly, Colombian diplomats, high-level military officers, and individuals with close ties to the administration of President Uribe accuse human rights groups of maintaining links with guerrillas, a tactic used to dismiss their work. For more information, see: http://www.hrw.org/press/2003/04/colombia042103ltr.htm

Justice Denied

The criminal prosecution of the perpetrators of human rights crimes has deteriorated markedly as Attorney General Luis Camilo Osorio, who took office in mid-2001, has undermined or derailed key cases. His hostility to human rights investigations was evidenced, most notably, by his 2002 purge of prosecutors and investigators willing to pursue such cases. In its annual report, the UNHCHR office said that Osorio’s record raised “serious concerns about the prospects for strengthening the institution and its commitment to combating impunity [and]… the independence and autonomy of prosecutors in their investigations into human rights violations, particularly those involving paramilitary groups and public officials.” For more information, see: http://hrw.org/press/2002/11/colombia1108.htm.

Antiterror Measures

President Uribe is recruiting a planned one million civilian informants to provide information in exchange for cash. In addition, President Uribe authorized the army to recruit a force of 15,000 peasants to fight in their home regions with regular troops. Both strategies raised serious questions about the government’s ability to ensure that informants and new recruits were not drawn from paramilitary groups, whose forces were already working with some military troops but were seeking to “legalize” the relationship. It also threatened to repeat the tragic history of the 1980s, when similar laws combined with a lack of oversight led to egregious human rights violations. Also, several measures adopted to combat terrorist groups weakened the ability of state institutions to monitor and investigate alleged human rights violations, among them the declaration of special rehabilitation zones, where large areas are placed under military control with little civilian oversight. Currently, twenty-seven municipalities containing over one million people in the departments of Bolívar, Sucre, and Arauca are “rehabilitation and consolidation” zones. Most recently, the Uribe Administration reintroduced in the Colombian congress legislation that would allow the security forces to arrest and tap telephones without warrants in certain circumstances. For more information, see: http://www.hrw.org/un/chr59/colombia.htm

Guerrilla abuses

The FARC has escalated attacks on civilians, among them hundreds of mayors and other local officials. Targets included peace activists, religious, indigenous people, and trade unionists. For example, on January 16, forty gunmen identified by villagers as FARC killed seventeen civilians in and around the town of San Carlos, Antioquia. Presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, seized in February 2002, remains in FARC custody along with the governor of Antioquia; the former governor of Meta; a former defense minister; elected public officials; and hundreds of Colombians kept for ransom. Victims included children as young as three-years old, such as a girl kidnaped on July 18, 2002, in an effort to force her father, a mayor, to resign. In 2002, the FARC used gas cylinder bombs in over 40 attacks on cities and towns, causing mainly civilian casualties. For more information, see: http://hrw.org/press/2003/02/colombia020803.htm

Paramilitary peace talks