ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This report was written by Cynthia Arnson, Associate Director of Americas Watch, and Robin Kirk, Andean Researcher for Americas Watch. It was edited by Americas Watch Executive Director Juan E. Méndez. The Report is based on three fact-finding trips to Colombia: in June and October 1992 by Kirk, and in February-March 1993 by Arnson and Kirk. Additional research and editorial assistance was provided by Stephen Goose, Washington Director of the Arms Project; Allyson Collins, Human Rights Watch Research Associate; Vanessa Jiménez, Americas Watch Associate; and Stephen Crandall, Americas Watch intern.

We would like to extend a special and heartfelt thanks to the individuals and groups that helped us gather information and review our findings. They include Reinaldo Botero, Gustavo Gallón, and other members of the Comisión Andina de Juristas-Seccional Colombiana; Diego Pérez and the Human Rights team at the Centro de Investigación y Educación Popular; the Colectivo de Abogados "José Alvear Restrepo;" Father Javier Giraldo and Juan Carlos Gutiérrez of the Comisión Intercongregacional de Justicia y Paz; the Comité Cívico del Meta; the Instituto Latinoamericano de Servicios Legales Alternativos; the Comité Regional para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos; Carlos Vicente de Roux, Presidential Counselor for Human Rights; Jorge Orlando Melo, former Presidential Counselor for Human Rights; the office of the Defensor del Pueblo; and Hernando Valencia and the Oficina de Investigaciones Especiales of the Procuraduría General de la Nacion.

Finally, we wish to thank all the Colombians who spoke with us on condition of anonymity. Their names are marked in this text with an asterisk (*).