Colombia This Week
08/12/2006
Fri 01 – Paramilitary leaders transferred to high security prison; 17 soldiers killed in guerrilla attack
· On Friday, President Uribe ordered the transfer of 59 paramilitary leaders from a former holiday camp in la Ceja , Antioquia, to a maximum-security prison. "The security measures are minimal and there have been persistent rumours of escape, and we have to avoid this at all costs," said Interior Minister Carlos Holguin. In a speech on Thursday, President Uribe threatened that if the killings of two demobilized commanders were ordered from La Ceja he would revoke the benefits leaders enjoy under the peace process, including suspension of extradition to the United States for drug trafficking charges. Associated Press reports.
· Guerrillas attacked an army patrol in north-eastern Colombia, killing 17 soldiers and injuring four, the army said on Friday. The attack by the Gabriel Galvis unit of the FARC occurred late on Thursday near the town of Abrego, Norte de Santander. The army and rebels were still fighting on Friday, said local Governor, Luis Miguel Moreli, Associated Press reports.
Sat 2 – Speculation on reasons for paramilitary transfer; Foreign Minister survives congressional debate
· Many Colombians believe the transfer of paramilitary leaders was to isolate them and prevent them revealing details of links with politicians. But there are also solid arguments to support the theory that power struggles between drugs traffickers are behind the transfer. According to Semana paramilitary chiefs in La Ceja are no longer fighting the guerrilla but heading drug trafficking organisations and hoping to use the peace process to become political and military chiefs.
· The Foreign Minister, Maria Consuelo Araujo, survived a congressional debate in which the opposition called for her resignation following the implication of her family members in the scandal of politicians´ links to paramilitary groups. The Minister’s future now depends on the outcome of the forthcoming testimony of her brother, Senator Alvaro Araujo, before the Supreme Court. Semana reports.
· Police cleared the main road between Bogotá and Medellín with tear gas just as an agreement was being reached with relatives of demobilised paramilitaries. The crowd was calling for the Government to meet its commitments to the families of demobilised fighters and guarantee their safety. El Espectador reports.
Sun 03 – Detained paramilitary leaders deny ordering assassinations; Paramilitary transfer to divert attention from scandal linking politicians to paramilitaries
· Paramilitary leaders have dismissed a call by President Uribe to establish whether a double murder was ordered by the leaders detained in the former holiday resort of La Ceja. One of the murdered men was second in command to “Jorge 40” (held at La Ceja) and a leader of the feared criminal organization “Oficina” in Envigado, near Medellin. El Espectador reports.
· Analysts, lawyers and opposition leaders agree that the transfer of the 59 former paramilitary leaders ordered by the Government is a smoke screen designed to divert attention from the current scandal over legislators’ links to paramilitaries. This would explain why less than a fortnight ago journalists were invited to visit the La Ceja compound where paramilitary leaders were held until their transfer. However, Minister of the Interior, Carlos Holguin, said the transfer was due to reports of an escape plot. El Colombiano reports.
Mon 4 – UNHCR paints grim picture for women in Colombia; Government security policies main threat to human rights defenders
· The UN refugee agency reports that statistics on violence against women in Colombia paint a grim picture. An average of one woman a day dies because of the armed conflict in Colombia – some 1,600 women in the past four years either killed as a result of combat or summarily executed by one of the country's various armed groups, according to the Colombian Commission of Jurists. In such a culture of violence, women are also victims of crimes such as murder and rape, as well as domestic violence and psychological abuse. Women forced to flee their homes are particularly vulnerable … "Violence and forced displacement are part of a vicious cycle for a lot of women who flee violence in one place only to find themselves at further risk once they have moved," said Roberto Meier, UNHCR representative in Colombia, UNHCR reports.
· Many human rights defenders have left Meta department to work in Bogotá as talking about human rights in Meta puts you at risk according to Islena Rey of the newly re-formed Civic Committee for Human Rights in Meta on the tenth anniversary of the murder of activist Josue Giraldo. According to the magazine Noche y Niebla between January and June of this year there were 118 cases of human rights violations in Meta department, 34 of which were threats and 22 were disappearances. El Tiempo reports.
Tues 05 – IACHR highlights violence against women as strategy of war; President blames Attorney General’s office for failing to prosecute former paramilitary leaders
· The actors in the Colombian armed conflict, in particular the paramilitary groups and the guerrilla, employ physical, sexual and psychological violence against women as a strategy of war, according to a report published by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). The report also reviews the particularly critical situation of indigenous and Afro-descendent women, who confront not only the consequences of gender-based discrimination, but also those derived from their ethnic or racial background. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights reports.
· President Uribe has insisted that paramilitary leaders in detention continue to commit crimes and has complained that the Attorney General’s office has not managed to prosecute some former leaders of the AUC paramilitary umbrella organisation, El Colombiano reports.
· The Mayor of Cali, Apolinar Salcedo, is to appeal the ruling of the Inspector General’s Office that dismissed him and forbade him from serving in public office for 16 years for irregularities in the awarding of a contract to collect taxes. El Colombiano reports.
Weds 06 – Paramilitaries unilaterally end peace process; Government suspends benefits for demobilised paramilitaries
· Paramilitary chiefs at Itagui high security prison have declared the peace process over. A source close to the paramilitaries warned that they hope the government won’t blame the leaders for eventual acts of violence committed by demobilised fighters following the break down of the peace process. According to the head of the Organisation of American States mission that oversees the process, this was one of the most complex crises to hit the process so far. President Uribe reiterated that “those who do not comply with the peace process or those who have not handed themselves in and continue committing crimes will face the might of the Armed Forces”. He also warned that he could extradite paramilitaries who return to violence, several or whom have US extradition requests against them. El Tiempo reports.
· The government has suspended Decree 2898 that awarded demobilised paramilitary fighters the right to access special benefits under the Justice and Peace Law following the unilateral end to the peace process announced by the paramilitary leaders. The leaders held at the Itagui prison could now be summoned to make declarations before the Attorney General’s Office. CM& reports.
· The Attorney General’s coordinator for Justice and Peace, Luis Gonzalez, has stated that paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso has 650 accusations against him – more than 500 for alleged killings and other crimes and some 150 for seizing land. Gonzalez also clarified that there are 270 demobilised paramilitaries in prison, not 2,695 as claimed by the Peace Commissioner and that only 79 of them have charges against them. El Espectador reports.
· The Supreme Court denounced threats against it’s judges on the day that two congressmen gave evidence as part of the investigations into the ongoing scandal of congress people’s links with paramilitaries. Congressman Luis Eduardo Vives was questioned about allegations that he was a paramilitary candidate, while Congressman Mauricio Pimiento was interrogated about the role he played when Governor in 2002 in the freeing of paramilitary leaders Salvatore Mancuso and Jorge 40 in 2002 as well as electoral fraud. CM& reports.
Thurs 07 – Meeting fails to save peace process; Family of trade union’s human rights leader threatened
· The paramilitary pullout announcement came after a three-hour meeting with the government's chief peace negotiator. "This is simply a matter of ending a process where there is no confidence, (a process) filled with tricks, no honour of agreements and where there is no commitment," Ernesto Baez said in an interview with the television station CM&.
· The mother of Domingo Tovar Arrieta, Head of the Human Rights Department of the Trade Union Federation (CUT), has been threatened near her home in Sucre department. In the morning of 4 December two men on a motorbike stopped Marqueza Arrieta and told her “be warned we are going to kill you”. This is the latest in a constant stream of threats and harassment faced by the mother of Domingo Tovar. Fundacion Solidaridad con los Presos Politicos reports.
· Former head of the Police Intelligence Service (DAS), Jorge Noguera, has returned to Colombia, to face trial following accusations of links to paramilitary groups. Noguera appeared in a television interview where he declared his absolute innocence, said President Uribe still supported him, and attributed the current situation in Colombia to the media, especially to Semana, Semana 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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