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| Bill Hikes Military's Power in Colombia |
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Posted by FoM on June 16, 2001 at 07:34:08 PT By Ibon Villelabeitia Source: Boston Globe 
Colombia's Congress has approved a bill that would give broad new powers to the country's military, allowing it to detain civilians, conduct raids, and carry out autopsies in war zones. The government-backed bill, which was passed late Thursday and now must be reconciled with a similar bill cleared in the Senate, would also allow the president to grant special powers to military commanders over civilian authorities during war operations. Critics of the bill, which they refer to as ''war legislation,'' say it would undermine human rights in Colombia. Rights groups say Colombia's military has one of the worst human rights records in the hemisphere. ''This erases civilian authority, and we think the government has to strengthen civilian authority to improve its human rights record,'' said Robin Kirk, from Human Rights Watch. Last month, two US representatives - William Delahunt, a Massachusetts Democrat on the House International Relations Committee ,and Sam Farr, Democrat of California - wrote a letter to Colombian legislators saying the law would ''turn back the clock'' on Colombia's progress in human rights safeguards. The letter also said the law could ''unnecessarily complicate ongoing reviews in Washington of proposals for renewed aid to Colombia.'' The United States is pouring $1 billion in mostly military aid meant to wipe out drug trafficking in Colombia, where much of the coca production is controlled by leftist rebels. Supporters of the law, among them top military commanders, say it is needed to combat powerful Marxist guerrillas and outlawed right-wing paramilitaries fighting in the country's increasingly brutal 37-year-old war. About 40,000 civilians have been killed in the last decade. Under the current law, the military can only detain civilians and conduct raids in conjunction with an accompanying team of prosecutors from the attorney general's office. The law passed by Congress stipulates that when there are ''well-founded reasons'' that prosecutors cannot accompany the armed forces, the attorney general can ''temporarily'' grant judicial powers to the military. It also hands responsibility to the military to perform forensic investigations of fighters and civilians. Rights groups say the army has been known to taint evidence. This story ran on page A9 of the Boston Globe on 6/16/2001. Source: Boston Globe (MA) Related Articles & Web Site: Colombia Drug War News Americans Blamed in Colombia Raid CannabisNews Articles - Colombia Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #1 posted by MikeEEEEE on June 16, 2001 at 08:18:24 PT |
| Thanks to the US lead drug war human rights loses again. [ Post Comment ] |
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