January 2004
Colombia leads the Western hemisphere in reported human rights and international humanitarian law violations. In 2003, the government claimed as a success a decrease in the worst categories of political violence. These decreases are genuine; yet a close inspection reveals that they are due to many factors, among them the consolidation of control by illegal paramilitaries in some regions. So far, President Álvaro Uribe has failed to break continuing ties between units of the security forces and paramilitaries and has failed to ensure that the perpetrators of crimes against humanity and serious human rights violations are brought to justice.
- Anti-Terror Measures
- Human Rights Defenders
- Military-Paramilitary Links
- Impunity
- Negotiations with Paramilitaries
- Child Recruitment
- Key International Actors
Anti-Terror Measures
New legislation approved in December 2003 gives the military the power to arrest, tap telephones, and carry out searches without warrants or any previous judicial order, taking Colombia a significant step backwards. It directly contravenes Colombia's international commitments as well as repeated recommendations made by the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Related efforts to stem acts of terror have abrogated rights even as they have failed to achieve promised security. In May 2003, for example, the Public Advocate and Procuraduría released a joint report that concluded that the two "rehabilitation zones" established by the government to regain state control in eastern Colombia have not only failed to achieve the promised results, but have resulted in a worsening of the situation.
Also questioned was the increasingly common tactic of mass arrests. This tactic is defended by the government as legal; however, Human Rights Watch has received credible reports of abuses by the security forces and judicial authorities, especially the Attorney General's office, which has in some cases failed to enforce proper procedures for authorizing detentions. In addition, authorities have based arrests on poor or manipulated information, some provided by secret informants, leading to charges that the government is manipulating evidence to persecute its critics.
Human Rights Defenders
In the past, the security forces have considered the defense of human rights a criminal act and have targeted human rights groups for their legal work. Fears of increased persecution of defenders were fueled in September 2003 when President Uribe gave a speech claiming that some defenders were in fact doing the work of terrorists. His sentiments echoed those of military leaders, who continue to try to link legitimate human rights work to support for guerrillas. In 2003, thirteen human rights defenders were murdered, and many more left the country under threat.
Government programs meant to help defenders, trade unionists, and even witnesses to human rights crimes were overwhelmed and plagued with internal problems as well as serious questions about their security. Overall, both witnesses and the prosecutors who investigate human rights cases reported continuing threats against them.
Military-Paramilitary Links
Human Rights Watch continues to document links between paramilitary groups and units of the Colombian armed forces. Some government commanders promote, encourage, and protect paramilitaries, share intelligence, coordinate military operations, and even share fighters with them.
Although the Colombian government describes these ties as the result of the acts of individuals and not a matter of policy or even tolerance, the range of abuses clearly depend on the approval, collusion, and tolerance of high-ranking officers. As yet, the Uribe Administration has yet to arrest paramilitary leaders or high-ranking members of the Armed Forces credibly alleged to collaborate with paramilitary groups.
Impunity
Under the leadership of Attorney General Luis Camilo Osorio, the ability of the Attorney General's office to investigate and prosecute human rights abuses has deteriorated significantly. This deterioration is the product of several factors under the attorney general's control: a lack of support for prosecutors working on difficult human rights cases; a failure to provide adequate and timely measures to protect justice officials whose lives are threatened; and the dismissal and forced resignation of veteran prosecutors and judicial investigators.
As a result, major human rights investigations that had gathered momentum during his predecessor's term have been severely undermined. The attorney general's handling of these cases is likely to encourage the common perception among military and paramilitary forces that human rights abuses are an acceptable form of warfare.
Negotiations with Paramilitaries
Colombian President Álvaro Uribe also presented a bill to Congress that would allow paramilitary leaders who have committed atrocities to agree to very light conditions in return for a virtual impunity. Among those who would qualify are men who have ordered and carried out the killings of thousands of Colombian civilians.
There are no provisions in the bill to ensure impartial investigations or serious prosecutions. It contains no incentives that would compel the accused to tell the truth about crimes, particularly if government officials or military officers still on active duty are implicated. In November, hundreds of low-level individuals began to demobilize, claiming they were paramilitaries, but there was no way to independently verify their identities or possible involvement in serious crimes.
Paramilitary commander Carlos Castaño is among those who would benefit from the proposed legislation. Currently, he has been sentenced to over 100 years in prison for several massacres and murders, and has at least thirty-five pending criminal cases against him. They include some of the most heinous crimes ever committed in Colombia.
Child Recruitment
At least one of every four irregular combatants in Colombia is under eighteen years of age. Of these, several thousand are under the age of fifteen, the minimum recruitment age permitted under the Geneva Conventions. Eighty percent of the children under arms belong to one of two guerrilla groups, the FARC-EP or the National Liberation Army (ELN). The remainder fights for paramilitaries.
Many join up for food or physical protection, to escape domestic violence, or because of promises of money. A few are coerced to join at gunpoint, or join out of fear. Others are street children with nowhere to go. Children as young as thirteen, or even younger, are trained to use assault rifles, grenades, and mortars.
Key International Actors
The United States continues to be the most influential country in Colombia, and in 2003 provided over $750 in mostly military aid. Although 25 percent of the security assistance included in this package is formally subject to human rights conditions, the conditions have not been enforced. The full amount of aid continues to flow to Colombia, even though the Colombian government has failed to break ties between the military and paramilitary groups.
In August 2003, U.S.-Colombian interdiction flights resumed. (The flights had been suspended since April 2001 because a Peruvian fighter jet, part of a U.S.-Peru drug interdiction program, had mistaken a missionary plane for that of a drug-trafficker and shot it down, killing two passengers.) The flights immediately ran into problems when a Colombian jet forced down a civilian plane and strafed it on the ground without U.S. clearance.
In July 2003, donor countries, including the United States, met in London to draft a document that committed Colombia to implementing twenty-four recommendations made by the Bogotá-based office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. Although Colombia's vice president signed the final document, the defense minister later disavowed it, claiming that the vice president had failed to consult with the government before signing.
The U.N. office currently operates in the capital, Bogotá, and in the cities of Medellín and Cali. Relations between the office and the government remain difficult given Colombia's failure to implement human rights recommendations and its open flouting of the office's opinions regarding antiterror legislation.
Related Material
More on Human Rights in Colombia
Country Page
HRW World Report 2004
Report, January 26, 2004