The Colombian government has not complied with the human rights conditions contained in the recently-passed $1.3 billion aid package signed by President Clinton.
The organization called upon President Clinton, who travels to Colombia on August 30, to urge Colombian authorities to take swift and effective action to satisfy the law's human rights conditions.
In several hours of discussions with State Department officials undertaken on August 17 and 18 as part of the aid package's consultation requirement, Human Rights Watch and other leading human rights groups detailed, provision by provision, the Colombian government's failure to meet the human rights conditions of the package.
"Not a single one of the five human rights provisions contained in the legislation has been satisfied," said Jos?Miguel Vivanco, executive director of the Americas division of Human Rights Watch. "It would be inconceivable, given Colombia's glaring human rights failings, for the State Department to grant certification. From my discussions with them, I believe they understand this."
One of the key conditions is the enforcement of the 1997 Constitutional Court ruling that armed forces personnel alleged to have committed human rights violations be prosecuted in civilian courts. The military court system, notorious for shielding military perpetrators of abuse from justice, poses a crucial obstacle to the effective prosecution of human rights crimes. As Human Rights Watch pointed out in its meetings with the State Department, military officers who have committed serious abuses are routinely acquitted and dozens of prominent human rights cases remain in impunity. Meanwhile, high-ranking officers who maintain close ties to paramilitary killers remain in command of troops.
To date, Colombian President Pastrana has not even issued a directive to the military to obey the Constitutional Court, another specific requirement of the U.S. legislation.
If the State Department denies human rights rights certification, President Clinton can only grant the aid if he invokes the law's "national security interest" waiver. Human Rights Watch believes that the use of such a waiver would be a grave error.
"A waiver that ignores Colombia's dismal human rights situation would send a clear message to the Colombian government and its security forces that U.S. commitment to human rights does not go beyond rhetoric," warned Vivanco. "After all of the debate in Congress over human rights, it would be downright irresponsible."
Human Rights Watch believes that the Clinton Administration's goal, instead of granting the aid, should be to work with the Colombian authorities to satisfy the conditions in the legislation. If the United States sends aid without conditions, it risks becoming complicit in on-going violations.
