Even as the administration of President Ernesto Samper has taken limited steps to curb violence and address impunity, the human rights situation in Colombia has deteriorated sharply. Political violence was particularly intense in areas contested by guerrillas and by paramilitaries operating with the acquiescence or active support of the Colombian army. All parties routinely attacked "enemies" within the civilian population, meaning that noncombatants remained Colombia's most frequent victims. Human rights defenders continued to be the targets of attack and threats. Thousands of Colombians have been forcibly displaced; in one instance, more than 13,000 people fled violence in the northwest department of Chocó in 1997. Meanwhile, the Colombian government is dragging its feet on many pending human rights investigations, including the 1997 Mapiripán and Miraflores paramilitary massacres, which took place with the apparent complicity of the Colombian security forces in areas where U.S. antinarcotics and military personnel are present.
"Even as the security forces have incorporated human rights into their public statements, words have yet to translate into effective, sustained action," said José Miguel Vivanco, executive director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch.
In 1997, the Clinton administration and the U.S. Congress made human rights an important part of U.S.-Colombia relations. The so-called Leahy amendment prohibits the use of funds for foreign security forces if the Secretary of State believes they have committed gross violations of human rights. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has chosen to apply the spirit of Leahy to all antinarcotics aid, a decision we strongly support. In March, two units of the Colombian army were cleared to receive U.S. aid conditioned by the Leahy amendment. But the Administration has not disclosed the mechanism it used to review the army's compliance with Leahy, or the names of the two cleared units.
"Until the U.S. government has clear and public guidelines for how to apply Leahy, including revealing the names of the military units approved for security assistance, no aid should be disbursed," said Vivanco.
Despite a Constitutional Court decision ordering that cases involving officers implicated in human rights violations be sent to civilian courts for investigation and trial, military officers in Colombia continue to be tried within the military justice system. In the military system officers who commit heinous crimes, like massacres and torture, are routinely investigated, acquitted, then promoted and showered with awards.
Questions for President Ernesto Samper: Why has your administration failed to promote the passage of a bill reforming the military justice system, which continues to give impunity to officers who commit serious human rights crimes? Since the military has yet to transfer any pending cases to the civilian courts, as mandated by a 1997 ruling, why haven't you ordered the commander of the armed forces to do so immediately? Besides verbal orders, what concrete measures have you taken to investigate and punish cases of cooperation between the Colombian army and the paramilitaries?