Clinton's Colombia Waiver "a Grave Mistake"

(08/23/00) -- President Clinton's decision to waive human rights conditions on the $1.3 billion military aid package to Colombia will encourage violent abuses, Human Rights Watch said today. On August 23, Clinton signed a waiver allowing the United States to ignore human rights conditions included in the military aid package. In granting the waiver, Clinton not only makes America complicit in ongoing abuses but risks converting a failed drug war into a disastrous human rights policy.

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"This is the wrong policy and the wrong time," said Jos?Miguel Vivanco, Executive Director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch. "The message is that the bad apples with the armed forces shouldn't be worried. Ultimately, the waiver defeats the purpose of any policy meant to improve human rights."  
 
Human Rights Watch was among several leading human rights groups who took part in a two-day consultation with the State Department required by law before any certification. During those meetings, all of the human rights groups present, including Human Rights Watch, unanimously opposed Colombia's certification to receive military aid and called on President Clinton not to issue a waiver.