Three leading human rights groups called on President Bill Clinton to make protecting human rights the priority when he meets with leaders in Colombia on August 30.
This is especially important since Clinton effectively erased human rights conditions when he signed a national security interest waiver on August 22, allowing aid to be sent without human rights conditions included in legislation.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) released a 43-page document demonstrating how Colombia failed to meet a single human rights condition contained in a $1.3 billion aid package. The groups disputed the single certification issued by the State Department, characterizing it as complying "only partially" with U.S. law.
In their document, the groups provide detailed benchmarks to measure future compliance. The State Department is already discussing the FY '01 human rights certification needed to continue sending aid to Colombia.
The document contains specific cases that should be used to measure progress on the protection of human rights. Among them are pending investigations of 12 active-duty and retired members of Colombia's military credibly alleged to have committed human rights violations or to have aided and abetted atrocities committed by paramilitary groups. In addition, the document lists eight well-known paramilitary leaders and dozens of specific human rights violations perpetrated against individuals, organizations, and communities.
The groups noted that the human rights certification required for next year's allotment of aid is far from certain. Already, several U.S. senators and representatives who supported human rights conditions have criticized President Clinton for signing the waiver.
These benchmarks were provided to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright last week during a consultation mandated by U.S. law. Along with other human rights groups, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and WOLA were unanimous in their recommendation that Secretary Albright not certify Colombia.
The document can be viewed here
