Colombia This Week
15/12/2006
Fri 08 – Demobilisation process entering a new phase; 17th Brigade harasses community whilst demobilised illegally cultivate its land
· The decision by former paramilitary leaders, held at the Itagui high security prison, to end the process with the Government seems to represent the end of a phase of negotiations and the beginning of the application of justice. The President, Minister of the Interior and Peace Commissioner insisted that the process continues but that now demobilised soldiers are not able to dialogue with the Government and must appear before the courts. El Colombiano reports.
· Members of the 17th Army Brigade are monitoring the activities of community leader Marco Velasco, threatening and intimidating children, as well as harassing the rest of the population of humanitarian zones “Nueva Esperanza en Dios” and “Nueva Vida”. A couple of hours walk away, still within the community’s territory, demobilised soldiers have repopulated the site of a former paramilitary base (La Balsa) and are illegally cultivating banana and palm oil. Justicia y Paz reports.
Sat 09 – Media watchdogs condemn detention of journalist; The State is the loser in ongoing scandal
· Freddy Muñoz, a Colombian journalist with the Telesur agency has been charged with rebellion and terrorism for a series of bombings in the Caribbean region in 2002 – a move his news channel said was in response to his reporting on human rights violations. Several media watchdog groups have condemned Muñoz’s detention. The Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders called the arrest “an abuse of power, an arbitrary measure.” Associated Press reports.
· In the current scandal exposing politicians’ links to paramilitary groups the credibility of the State is the loser according to the El Espectador newspaper with continuing accusations, reproaches amongst the organs of power and a media frenzy revealing secret recordings of testimonies and agreements to reduce sentences. The winner from all this infighting, on the other hand, is the guerrilla, according to El Espectador.
· Even though the peace process between the Government and AUC Self Defence Groups has been called off, in practice everything remains the same. The Justice and Peace Law is still not applied, 59 paramilitary leaders continue accumulating time towards lenient sentences faced under the peace process, other groups are taking over their military spaces, some leaders expect to be held under better conditions and the promised justice and reparation are looking more and more remote. El Espectador reports.
Sun 10 – 8,000 people displaced in 3 months whilst “emerging groups” fight for control; Mass grave exposes links between Attorney General’s Office and paramilitaries
· “Emerging groups” are killing each other for control of the Catatumbo region and coastal areas of Nariño department where, in 3 months, 8 thousand people have been displaced according to Codhes. Estimates indicate that there are between 30 and 60 “emerging groups” formed by demobilised paramilitary groups. Even though there is no proof that these are headed by former leaders of the AUC paramilitary umbrella organisation, several of them are led by former associates of “Macaco”, “Jorge 40” and “Don Berna”. The Catatumbo area is appearing in all the official and NGO reports as one of those most affected by “emerging groups”. El Tiempo reports.
· The links between paramilitaries, led by Salvatore Mancuso, with politicians from Montelibano (Cordoba), drug traffickers and judicial workers from Medellin have been exposed after the Attorney General’s Office found a truck containing three bodies in a mass grave. They reportedly belong to one of Mancuso’s men, who was carrying 2 million pesos, and two others from the Medellin Attorney General’s Office. According to the informant whose testimony led to the grave, the men were killed by the Tolima paramilitary bloc. El Tiempo reports.
· The President approved the “Plan Victoria” military strategy, to replace “Plan Patriota”, on 1 December. Even though the name sounds triumphalist and has caused some debate within the armed forces for being too ambitious little is known about the strategy other than it will be the heart of security policy for the next four years and focus on capturing leaders. It will also include the continuation of the “Omega campaign” against the FARC to be launched in the south of Meta department and on the borders of Meta with Guaviare and Vaupes departments. El Tiempo reports.
Mon 11 – Bill allowing legalisation of illegally seized lands approved; Child soldiers have killed, tortured and mutilated
· A Senate Commission approved a bill on 5 December that would allow the legalisation of lands that were illegally seized from the displaced population. The bill, previously rejected twice following strong opposition from sectors of civil society and some congressmen, does not take into account concerns over the legal framework of the demobilisation process which fails to guarantee that illegally seized lands are returned. In this context any law should include strict controls to ensure that lands cannot be legalised by those who seized them. Comision Colombiana de Juristas reports.
· Children involved in the conflict have killed, tortured and mutilated according to a report by the office of the Human Rights Ombudsman (Defensoria). Of the 329 former child soldiers interviewed 80 children acknowledged being forced to kill (39%), mutilate (19%) and torture (16%). 3% of boy soldiers had been forced to rape and 9% had been victims of sexual abuse whereas 55% of girl soldiers had been raped within the armed group and a significant number had lost children. El Tiempo reports.
· For several weeks the Attorney General, Mario Iguaran, and the Peace Commissioner, Luis Camilo Restrepo, have been making public accusations against each other over who has the blame for the delay in opening legal investigations and for there being such a small number of people brought to justice. The Justice and Peace law is supposed to provide a minimum of truth, justice and reparation but almost 1 ½ years after its approval the legal proceedings have not started, a situation that poses many questions. El Tiempo reports.
Tues 12 – Italy to order extradition of ex paramilitary leader Mancuso; Former football chief wanted for laundering paramilitary money through player transfers
· An Italian judge has confirmed that Italy will request the extradition of former paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso for drug trafficking links to the Italian Mafia. It is expected that the Colombian Government will suspend the extradition order as it did with the US extradition order for Mancuso. El Tiempo reports.
· The Attorney General’s Office ordered the arrest of former president of Deportivo Pereira football club alleging that a money laundering operation took place behind player transfers. According to investigations this money came from illegal paramilitary activities in particular those of former paramilitary leader “Macaco”. El Tiempo reports.
· Following the breakdown in the paramilitary peace process some analysts, including former Attorney General Alfonso Valdivieso, argue that the former leaders should face ordinary justice as the participation in negotiations was one of the prerequisite to receiving special benefits. Other experts argue that it is now purely a matter of administration of justice and, as long as the breakdown of the peace process does not reverse the demobilisation and disarmament, the leaders should now tell the truth and offer reparation to victims. Only if they do not do this should they lose their benefits under the Justice and Peace law. El Colombiano reports.
· The Polo Democratico opposition party has established clear rules for next years’ regional elections and the presidential elections of 2010, following a national congress and an internal consultation which involved an unprecedented 555,301 members. This was achieved due to a positive view of the Polo’s work in Congress, acknowledgement of the charisma of some of its representatives,, the current scandals in the government and, above all, an effort by leaders of different tendencies within the Polo to build bridges towards unity. Semana reports.
Weds 13 – Demobilised paramilitary leader detained for crimes against humanity; Lottery win for wife of Jorge 40 investigated
· The demobilised leader of the Northern Bloc paramilitary organisation in the Magdalena Medio region, Saul Severini, has been detained at a former congressman’s home. Even though he had demobilised, Severini has two arrest warrants against him for conspiring to commit crime and aggravated murder as well as for causing forced displacement. At least one investigation dates back to December 2000 when 60 men killed 19 peasant farmers in Salaminita (Magdalena). El Tiempo reports.
· The Superintendencia de Salud, which oversees the health system, is investigating a lottery win of 600 million pesos (£140,000) by the wife of former paramilitary leader “Jorge 40” in 2004 to determine whether it was a paramilitary money laundering operation. This would be similar to money laundering operations used in the past by renowned drug barons such as Pablo Escobar. El Tiempo reports.
· Amnesty International fears for the safety of Domingo Tovar Arrieta, the Director of the Human Rights Department of the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT), Colombian Trade Union Confederation after his mother was threatened in the street by two men on a motorbike on 4 December. He has been threatened repeatedly since November 2003, after he and the CUT supported a campaign calling on voters to abstain in a referendum the Colombian government was promoting to gain popular support for wide-ranging social and economic reforms, the government lost the referendum. Tovar received an anonymous call from a man who apparently told him, ”You will pay with your life for the loss of the referendum”. Amnesty International reports.
Thurs 14 – New decree to protect demobilised paramilitaries; Application of Justice and Peace law main concern for Europe
· The Government has issued Decree 4436 reinstating the offence of sedition but giving legal protection to paramilitaries who demobilised before 18 May 2006, when the Constitutional Court over ruled this aspect of the Justice and Peace law, and who do not have investigations open against them for crimes against humanity. The only faction of the AUC paramilitary umbrella organisation not to benefit will be that led by Freddy Rondon Herrera (“El Aleman”) that demobilised in Choco department on 15 August. El Colombiano reports.
· The correct application of the Justice and Peace Law is one of the main concerns of the European Union in Colombia. The human rights report published yesterday in Brussels highlighted that the law does not comply with international standards for truth, justice and reparation and offered to establish a monitoring body consisting of the United Nations, Colombian Government, civil society and the EU itself. The EU also asked illegal armed groups to free all hostages unconditionally and cease all illegal activity. El Colombiano reports.
· The National Commission for Reparation and Reconciliation (CNRR) has asked the Government and Attorney General’s Office to highlight the testimonies that former members of the AUC paramilitary organisation are due to start giving today to encourage more victims to participate in the legal process and can find out the truth. 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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