State-sponsored slaughter in Colombia
Drugs and civil war have been the calling cards of the South American state of Colombia in the international arena, but for the population of the South America country, the main issue is the violence carried out by the state forces and their paramilitary death squads, which protected by the establisment carry out their attacks with impunity. Their victims are not members of the guerrilla groups, but political and community activists, peasants, human rights workers and all those who threaten the ruling elite.
On 16 May 1998, in Barrancabermeja, Colombia, a popular festival was taking place. Then, three lorries carrying 30 to 40 paramilitaries arrived and opened fire, shooting dead seven people and kidnapping 25 others. All this took place 200 yards and 150 yards, respectively, from two different military bases. Today, the 25 people kidnapped remain disappeared. The government, under pressure after these events, set up a Truth Commission in order to find the whereabouts of the disappeared. That Commission was a total failure and one year on, the case still remains unresolved. Miguel Puerto is the legal representative of the families of the disappeared in Barrancabermeja. He has a long history of defending human rights and for that reason he had to leave Colombia for a period of time. His family is still living outside the country.
Phoblacht: Would you tell us about the general human rights situation in Colombia?
Miguel Puerto: Talk about human rights is Colombia is very complicated because there are many aspects to deal with. To begin with, we can take a look to some statistics gathered by human rights organisations dealing with a six-month period, from October 1998 to March 1999. In Colombia, 11 people are killed every day as a result of the sociopolitical violence in the country. Seven of those people are victims of socio-political assassinations, that is extrajudicial executions. One person disappears every day and generally these people are presumed dead as they are never seen again. Three people are killed each day as a result of the conflict between the guerrillas and the Colombian army. And one person a week is killed in Colombia as a result of what people call ``social cleansing'' (for example, the killing of homeless people). The most serious thing in this situation is the immunity from prosecution that exists in the country. In terms of human rights and in terms of what we call crimes against humanity, immunity for perpetrators is 100 per cent.
AP: How does this immunity work?
MP: Army personnel and paramilitaries dress as civilians in order to carry out these acts. Also, the tacit or explicit cooperation of the army is needed in order to give the order that a particular person or group of people be disappeared, and for that order to be implemented. This is why it is possible for all crimes against humanity in Colombia to remain unresolved. Another thing in Colombia is the failure to classify actions in violation of people's human rights as crimes. For example, the disappearence of 25 people in the Barrancabermeja case is not a crime under Colombian law. On five occasions, proposals were put to parliament to recognise the disappearance of people as a crime in Colombia. Once, such a bill was pased, but the president refused to sign it into law. This president was César Gabiria, who is now the president of the Organisation of American States and also the head od the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
other factor is the military justice system. What happens when one of these investigations begins is that the military courts demand jurisdiction, and then they claim that the actions were committed by the military as part of their service as state employees. In many instances, the military officers who act as judges in these tribunals are also the same officers who gave the order for the action to be carried out on the first place. In this way, they guarantee that the accused is acquitted and faces no further legal procedings. In some cases, where military personnel and civilians are involved, the military personnel are tried by court martial and the civilians are then tried by the ordinary system. We even have cases where civilians have been condemned to 60 years imprisonment and with the exact same evidence, the military have been acquitted.
AP: Is this why you decided to set up International Tribunals of Opinion to look into the Barrancabermeja case?
MP: The Colombian people have lost all faith in the justice system. This is one of the reasons why we decided to set up International Tribunals of Opinion. These tribunals have had a national and international impact. And they came to the same conclusion, condemning the Colombian state for its role in the disappearance of 25 people and the killing of seven others.
We are trying to push forward two other tribunals which will show clearly the responsibility of the Colombian state for other violations of human rights. One of these case is the case of Santo Domingo, in the Department of Arauca and it is a very complicated case because not only do we have the Colombian armed forces taking part, but we also have the United States army implicated in the massacre. The U.S. government gives military aid to Colombia in the fight against drugs. The Colombian army uses this military aid against the Colombian people in violation of human rights. What they did with these helicopters was kill 24 people among them 14 minors between the ages of four and ten. Some North American NGOs have proposed to us that we hold another International Tribunal of Opinion into the events in Santo Domingo in Chicago in April 2000. The idea for these tribunals is to create a demand in the U.S. for the military aid be stopped or that it not be used in any form against the civilian population.
AP: Has there been any proposal for the establishment of a Tribunal in Europe?
MP: People from Sweden have proposed an international tribunal in the Nordic Countries, but this time into the polítical genocide of the Unión Patriótica(UP). The UP is known internationally as an opposition left wing organisation in Colombia. Its two presidential candidates, its senators, its congressmen, and more than 4,000 members of the party were assassinated. The few who escaped are in exile in Europe. All of the cases remain untried except for one, in which there is a possibility of a conviction against an army general and two subordinates.
Medical Nobel
The medical aid group, Médecins sans Frontiéres (Doctors without Borders) has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1999. Set up in 1971 by French doctors, the organisation has a policy of establishing its presence near people in danger and of condemning human rights violations. Based in Brussels, it has 27 offices around the world and sends about 2,500 volunteers to carry out medical work in troubled countries every year.
Indigenous rights
Indigenous leaders last week occupied government buildings in Costa Rica demonstrating against government policy refusing to recognise their ownership of the land they have inhabited for centuries.
Stuff your IMF
Thousands of students, trade unionists, peasants and women's and other social groups have taken part in a series of demonstrations across Central and South America to demonstrate against the economic and social interference of the International Monetary Fund and the United States in the region. Their demands were encapsulated un the slogan Work, Justice and Life.
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