cannabisnews.com: U.S.: Colombian Abuses Continue 





U.S.: Colombian Abuses Continue 
Posted by FoM on January 21, 2001 at 12:05:52 PT
By Karen DeYoung, Washington Post Staff Writer
Source: Washington Post
The Clinton administration has concluded that Colombia's security forces have not fully complied with human rights conditions Congress placed on a $1.3 billion emergency aid package last summer. But the administration also said it is under no legal obligation to certify compliance before disbursing the remainder of the aid.In one of President Clinton's final official acts yesterday, he signed a letter to be sent to Congress today along with a "progress report" on human rights in Colombia. 
The report says that "despite positive developments," the administration is not satisfied that Colombia's military has severed its ties with right-wing paramilitary groups.Congress conditioned the aid on certification by the secretary of state that Colombia had taken specific steps to improve the military's human rights performance. But the legislation also allowed a presidential waiver on U.S. national security grounds. Clinton waived compliance last August, before the bulk of the money, all but about $35 million that technically fell under the fiscal 2001 budget, was released.The State Department told the White House this month that Colombia was not in compliance. It recommended that another waiver be issued.But under an interpretation by the White House legal staff, the legislative restrictions applied only to the bulk of the money passed as a supplemental appropriation and disbursed last year, rather than to the small amount in the 2001 budget. Therefore, the lawyers said, no new certification was required.The legislation also requires the State Department to consult with "internationally recognized human rights organizations regarding . . . Colombia's progress." After meeting with department officials, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Washington Office on Latin America charged last week that the rights situation in Colombia had "deteriorated" since the waiver last August, and they called on Clinton to withhold the rest of the aid.Referring to specific legislative requirements, the organizations charged that Colombian President Andres Pastrana had not issued a directive requiring civilian jurisdiction over military human rights cases. They also said the military had refused to suspend officers facing credible allegations. And they said paramilitary groups -- which both the Colombian and U.S. governments hold responsible for the vast majority of civilian massacres -- continue to operate unhindered, "often in collusion with security force personnel."A senior administration official yesterday described the human rights report to Congress as a voluntary document not required by the legislation. It notes positive developments, including the establishment of a Colombian equivalent of the independent U.S. military's Judge Advocate General Corps. It also notes a series of dismissals and investigations of military officials. But overall, it says, "the administration does not believe that the government of Colombia has made sufficient progress in vigorously prosecuting in the civilian courts the leaders and members of paramilitary groups and Colombian Armed Forces personnel who are aiding and abetting these groups."Source: Washington Post (DC) Author: Karen DeYoung, Washington Post Staff WriterPublished: Saturday, January 20, 2001 ; Page A21Address: 1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20071Copyright: 2001 The Washington Post Company Contact: letterstoed washpost.comWebsite: http://www.washingtonpost.com/Feedback: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm Amnesty Internationalhttp://www.amnesty.org/Human Rights Watchhttp://www.hrw.org/CannabisNews Articles - Plan Colombiahttp://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=Plan+Colombia
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