· In a press statement, human rights NGOs from Antioquia denounce the increase in the number of children forcibly recruited by paramilitaries in the Comuna 13 in Medellin. In the statement, they urge the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights to provide provisional protection measures to the children in the area, adding that the mission of the Organisation of American States present in the city to monitor the demobilisation of the paramilitary groups has largely ignored their concerns.
· Colombian senators and congressmen not only snort cocaine, but are able to buy the drug in the country's Congress building, vice-president of the Senate Edgar Artunduaga has claimed. The accusations were made in a speech drawing attention to lax security on the premises of Congress. "Coming into this Congress we have pastry salesmen, shoe salesmen, astrologists and dealers of marijuana and cocaine”, said Senator Artunduaga. Mr Artunduaga's allegations are likely to lower the image of Congress still further in the eyes of ordinary Colombians. Many see it as a den of corruption following revelations that both drug traffickers and extreme rightwing paramilitaries have managed to buy off large numbers of politicians, The Guardian reports.
· The National Movement of Victims of State-sponsored Crime declare their support for the initiatives to negotiate an exchange of prisoners between the Colombian government and the FARC group.
Sat 27 – Drug pin demobilises as paramilitary commander; Uribe calls for justice in HR cases.
· 300 members from the Pacific bloc of the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC) hand over their arms in Ralito. Among the group was Gabriel Galindo (a. Gordolindo) a well-known drug-trafficker charged by the US judicial authorities and wanted in extradition by the United States, Efe reports.
· In an unusual move, during a regular weekly Community Council session in Cartagena, President Uribe urges the Colombian armed forces to collaborate with the Attorney General’s office in the full investigation of gross human rights violations committed by army and police officers in past years. Among the cases named by the President were Mapiripan, Santodomingo, Cajamarca and San Jose de Apartado. According to reports, the speech was clearly responding to the international community’s concern expressed in recent weeks as a result of the impunity in these and many other cases, El Tiempo reports.
· Mamos from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Taitas from the indigenous communities in Putumayo, grand-parents from the Amazon communities and the most important indigenous authorities in Colombia are gathering in the city of Bogota to share their experiences and practice their ancient ceremonies. The meeting will constitute a unique opportunity to listen to the elders of the indigenous tribes in their daily struggles, Semana magazine reports.
Sun 28 – Police assume control of Ralito; paramilitaries complain about role of OAS & NGOs.
· Colombian police have taken control of the haven of Santa Fe de Ralito (Cordoba), home of the United Self Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC) commanders since May 2004. Some 300 paramilitaries who had acted as the personal bodyguards of several AUC leaders have turned in their weapons. Around 9,000 right-wing paramilitaries have now surrendered their weapons. Another 4,000 are expected to do the same before the end of the year. Yet nobody is celebrating. The popular perception in Colombia is that the government's peace and justice bill passed in July has allowed brutal paramilitaries to literally get away with murder. Neither peace nor justice has been served by the controversial legislation, say critics. As part of the de-mobilisation, the AUC leadership does not have to surrender its political, economic and drug-trafficking structures. This means more men can easily be hired should the need arise, BBC reports.
· In a demobilisation ceremony, the commanders of the AUC complain that the OAS mission in Colombia and ‘certain international NGOs’ and the media have been inappropriately investigating the judicial status of certain people: ‘It occurred in Nariño, Choco and Cordoba’, -paramilitary leader Ernesto Baez said- ‘and the OAS has not been authorised to do that’, El Tiempo reports.
Mon 29 – Another journalist leaves Colombia under threat; FARC seen near Santa Fe de Ralito.
· The Foundation for the Freedom of Press (FLIP) reports that Colombian journalist Alfredo Serrano has left the country. He was formally working for the Radio One station in the city of Barrancabermeja, and moved from the city under threat after denouncing the links between paramilitaries and local officials from the city. FLIP also observes that these threats are nothing new in Barrancabermeja, where various other journalists have been threatened and killed, adding that the oil city is one of the most dangerous places in Colombia for journalists.
· President Uribe personally confirms the latest incursion of the FARC group in the rural area of Valencia (Cordoba), formally a paramilitary controlled area. Initial reports by the communities affected were dismissed by Police General Jorge Daniel Castro who denied the presence of the FARC. The community reports the disappearances of four peasants and the displacement of 400 others by this armed group, El Tiempo reports.
· The security of more than 12 million airline users in Colombia has been jeopardised as a result of the lack of investment and the favouritism of the Civil Aeronautical Agency, Colombian Senator Samuel Moreno Rojas reports. Lack of investment, long journeys for the pilots and personnel, and failure in the inspection and poor maintenance of the airlines were among the reasons alleged by the Senator as endangering travellers. He also criticises the authorities for the ‘permissive treatment’ shown towards West Caribbean air line. 170 people have been killed in the last three weeks as a result of two air crashes, El Espectador reports.
Tues 30 – UN commemorates international day for disappeared; five killed in combats.
· Commemorating the UN international awareness day for the forcibly disappeared, the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) describes the Colombian law on justice and peace as an "implicit amnesty" that would result in "impunity". It also expressed alarm over "the lack of reporting of cases of disappearances at national and international levels," which is "largely due to the fear of reprisals by paramilitary armed groups." The WGEID endeavours to establish a channel of communication between the families and the governments concerned, to ensure that individual cases which families have brought to the Group’s attention are investigated with the objective of clarifying the whereabouts of disappeared persons.
· Authorities report combats in the departments of Bolivar, Arauca, Norte de Santander, Antioquia, Sucre and Guainia this week. Army officials said an ELN rebel was killed in combat near the city of Saravena (Arauca). Two FARC members were also killed in a rural area of Tibu (Norte de Santander) and another one in Puerto Inirida (Guainia). Finally a member of a militia faction of the paramilitaries present in Alto de Rosario (Bolivar) was also killed, El Tiempo reports.
· The Colombian Prosecutor’s office (Procurador) authorises the extradition of drug trafficker and paramilitary commander Diego Fernandez Murillo (alias Don Berna) to the United States. He is reportedly under the custody of the INPEC (Colombian penitentiary authorities) in a rural area of Valencia (Cordoba). He is also under investigation, accused of the killing of Congressman Orlando Benitez and two other people in the department of Cordoba in April this year, El Colombiano reports.
Weds 31- MINGA: disappearance of 30 people in Catatumbo; concerns over economy’s growth.
· Bogota-based NGO MINGA (Association for Alternative Social Promotion) reports the disappearance of 30 people in the rural area of El Carmen (Norte de Santander). According to the reports, paramilitaries from the Northern bloc, commanded by Jorge 40, (a negotiator in the talks between the Government and the AUC) carried out an incursion into the area, kidnapping a group of up to 30 people and moving them to the Pailitas municipality in Cesar. Several peasants were killed. Subsequently, some of the group were liberated, but many are still missing. No reports have been made by the authorities in the area. MINGA calls upon the Colombian authorities to find, free and protect the civilians who have been ‘disappeared’.
· An editorial in El Tiempo reports concern about Colombia's economic growth rate after the government released the latest figures. The current 4% growth does not match with the levels of growth in the rest of the Andean region, particularly at a ‘bonanza moment’. Experts have said that with less than 6% growth it will be very difficult for any government to reduce poverty or un-employment levels or to focus on reducing levels of social injustice as the way to promote growth.
· Colombia experiences a daily rate of more than 1,300 cases of violence against children. In a new campaign launched last month to raise awareness of this problem, a counting-watch has been installed in the city of Bogota. 7,496 sexual abuses, 5,406 ill-treatment, 510 killings and 102 suicides have been reported since last 22nd of August 2005, Caracol radio reports.
· The sentence imposed by a judge on the paramilitary commander from the Centauros Bloc, Jesus Emilio Pereira, has been contested by the Attorney General’s office. According to this organism, the judge from Yopal (Casanare) omitted various killings from the process, among them the killing of Congressman Octavio Sarmiento Bohorquez in this department earlier this year, Colprensa reports.
Thurs 01 - AI: Justice and Peace Law grants impunity; NGOs meet with OAS Secretary Insulza.
· In a report called: "Colombia-the Paramilitaries in Medellin: Demobilisation or Legalisation?, Amnesty International documents the "demobilisation" of the Bloque Cacique Nutibara - one of the AUC groups- in Medellin, which began to disarm in November 2003. The report found that the "paramilitaries continue to operate as a military force, to kill and threaten human rights defenders and local community activists, to recruit and to act jointly with the security forces." It also noted that "thousands of possible human rights abusers have already benefited from de facto amnesties under the law, while those responsible for backing and funding paramilitarism, including members of the security forces, are unlikely ever to be exposed and brought to justice." But the law asks the paramilitaries for nothing in return - those who refuse to tell the whole truth about human rights violations they have committed are still likely to enjoy all the benefits under the law."
· Members of NGOs met with the Secretary General of the OAS (Organisation of American States), Jose Insulza in the city of Medellin. He was informed about the increasing numbers of intra-urban displacement, forced recruitment and the violation of the cease-fire by paramilitary groups present in the city. According to the NGOs, ‘it is a worrying signal that the only problem he sees is the lack of resources in the field, what we think is that it is the lack of independence of the OAS mission and the failure to respect the victims’, said a member of the lawyer’s collective Corporacion Juridica Libertad.
· In a letter sent to Minister Carolina Barco, the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights has ordered the Colombian Foreign Ministry to provide in two weeks a full report about the protection measures implemented by the Colombian government to guarantee the safety of civilians (particularly children) in Comuna 13 in Medellin. The letter expresses concern about the amount of complaints received by local NGOs in which individuals acting on behalf of reportedly demobilised paramilitary groups are actively recruiting children as informants, street vigilantes or prostitutes, El Colombiano reports.
Colombia This Week is a news summary produced and distributed by ABColombia Group. Sources include daily Colombian, US, European and Latin American newspapers, and reports from non-governmental organisations and the UN System. The content does not necessarily reflect the views of the ABColombia Group.
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