Colombia This Week

20/07/2007

Fri 13 – Leader of San Jose de Apartado killed by paramilitaries; botched kidnap rescue: 7 deaths.

• Two men who had the previous day identified themselves as members of the “Black Eagles” paramilitary organization, stopped a public transport vehicle, forced Peace Community member Dairo Torres out of the vehicle, and shot and killed him. Dairo had been the coordinator of the Alto Bonito humanitarian zone since 2004 and was murdered less than 2 minutes drive from a police checkpoint on the road between Apartado and San Jose. His murderers had been seen at about 9:10 a.m. talking to and sitting next to the police at the checkpoint, US-based Colombia Support Network reports.
• A Colombian businessman kidnapped by the FARC group died in a military rescue attempt, illustrating the dilemma the government faces over hundreds of hostages languishing in secret guerrilla jails. "Mr. Mejia was injured when we tried to take the area and died when we tried to evacuate him," army Chief Mario Montoya said. President Uribe is being implored by the families of many kidnap victims not to attempt dangerous rescues and to grant the FARC's conditions for starting hostage exchange negotiations. But Uribe has signaled he will stick to the hard-line security policies that got him re-elected last year. The FARC captured Mejia in May and were holding him in the central coffee-growing province of Caldas, Reuters reports.

Sat 14 – Cousin of president Uribe probed for "para" links;  Uribe’s disapproval rating hits high.

• A scandal linking political allies of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to right-wing death squads deepened when the Supreme Court opened an investigation into his first cousin, Senator Mario Uribe. The president's international standing has already been damaged by the scandal in which his former security chief and some of his closest allies in Congress have been jailed and are awaiting trial for supporting paramilitary militias. "The Supreme Court opened a preliminary investigation into senators Mario Uribe, Zulema Jattin and Julio Manzur for possible links to illegal armed groups," said a spokesman for the court. A presidential spokesman had no immediate comment, Reuters reports.
• Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, bruised by a political scandal, saw his disapproval rating hit a high of 27 percent in an Invamer Gallup poll.  As the scandal grew, linking some of Uribe's closest congressional allies to paramilitary death squads, the survey showed a 9-point rise in Colombians who do not like the way the president is doing his job. Another negative factor for Uribe was the deaths last month of 11 provincial politicians who had been held hostage by the rebels since 2002, the poll showed. The public wants to see more results in the struggle against the guerrillas", El Tiempo reports.

Sun 15 – Former president Lopez dies.  Army Colonel Plazas arrested for 1985 disappearances.

• Alfonso Lopez Michelsen, 94, died on Wednesday. As president from 1974 to 1978 while representing the Liberal Party, he led Colombia through turbulent times, when a national strike gripped the country and rioting in Bogota left dozens dead.  He left office with little popular support, having failed to improve the economy and being hounded by persistent accusations of corruption from his opponents. In recent years, he had been a firm advocate of a deal to exchange all rebel-held hostages for imprisoned rebels, known as the "humanitarian agreement”, Reuters reports.
• The Attorney General office has ordered the detention of retired Colonel Alfonso Plazas for having caused the disappearance of people during the M-19 guerrilla group's takeover of the Palace of Justice in November of 1985. The Attorney General, Mario Iguaran declared that Plazas will have to respond in court to the accusations that are being made against him. According to videos and testimonies, 13 people, most of whom were cafeteria employees, left the Palace alive but were never heard from again. The victims' family members continue to demand justice and are hopeful that the whereabouts of their loved ones' bodies will be revealed at some point, Associated Press reports.
• Most of the city of Leticia (Amazonas) has been evacuated after a big explosion within the army compound forced the evacuation of the Hospital and the Battalion. Speaking on Caracol radio, journalist Tomas Cardenas reported that people were crossing towards Tabatinga (Brasil), reporting that the situation was chaotic but there were no reports of causalities, Efe reports.

Mon 16 – UNHCR welcomes US resolution on Colombian IDPs; Kimy Pernia to follow Harper’s visit.

• The United Nations refugee agency welcomed a resolution recently passed by the US Congress calling for an increase in aid from Washington for millions of displaced people in Colombia.  “The resolution - which received widespread backing- recognizes 2007 as the Year of the Rights of Displaced People in Colombia and offers support to help the victims rebuild their lives,” said Ron Redmond, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). An average of 18,000 Colombians are uprooted by violence every month, with more than 1 million forced to flee in the past five years alone, according to UNHCR.
• When Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper meets the president of Colombia the memory of a murdered Colombian indigenous leader could cast an uncomfortable shadow over their talks. Kimy Pernia Domico, a former leader of Colombia's Embera Katio Indians, left an indelible mark in Canada in 1999 when he testified in Parliament about the impact of a hydro-electric development in the forested river valley where his people live. The $1-billion Urra Dam had been funded in part by the Canadian government. Domico claimed his people had not been consulted about the dam or compensated for its impact, including the flooding that destroyed fish stocks that were an essential source of Embera Katio food. Less than two months later, Domico was kidnapped in the town of Tierralta, and never seen again. His disappearance prompted public demonstrations in Canada and pleas by dozens of Canadian MPs for an investigation into his case. In 2006, Salvatore Mancuso, a leader of the paramilitaries, named Domico in a long list of people who had been killed by them, Canada.com reports.

Tues 17 – Former paramilitaries to be candidates; Court condemns Mayor for Wilson Borja’s case.

• Three self-confessed paramilitaries who were following direct orders from the top paramilitary commanders now jailed in Itagui- have been named official candidates for next October’s elections after being authorised by Interior Minister Carlos Holguin. Oscar Mira and Moises Andrade, collaborators of alias Don Berna,  and Alexander Perez, collaborator of Rodrigo Tovar (alias Jorge 40)
• The Colombian Supreme Court has condemned retired Army Mayor Cesar Alonso Maldonado and paramilitary Regulo Rueda to 27 years in prison for the attack against Colombian Congressman Wilson Borja back in year 2000, El Espectador reports.
• The International Federation of Human Rights denounced the threats and harassment inflicted against the relatives of seven investigators from the Colombian Judicial Police (CTI) who were disappeared in Valledupar seven years ago. According to reports the relatives have receive threats, phone calls and ‘unsolicited visits’ from people asking for details of their processes, El Espectador reports.

Weds 18 – Five civilians killed by landmines in four days; US House members pressure Santos to act.

• The Awa indigenous community living in southwest Colombia reports that five members of the same community have been killed since last Saturday. Three members of the same family were killed in one incident. There are landmines planted in 627 out of 1,097 Colombian municipalities across the country, with three new reported victims each day, RCN radio reports.
• A dozen U.S. Congress members, fully a third of them subcommittee chairmen, today petitioned the vice president of Colombia, Francisco Santos, to keep his promise to the United Steelworkers and expedite the taking of testimony from Rafael Garcia, a key witness in a civil case in which the US-based Drummond company is accused of paying Colombian paramilitaries to assassinate three trade unionists. The trial began on July 9 and the judge has ruled that the hearing will proceed without testimony by the key witness, Rafael Garcia, who is in prison in Colombia, unless the Colombian government quickly assures the court that arrangements will be made for Mr. Garcia's deposition, Bussines Wire reports.
• Nine people were injured when a Colombian plane with 54 people on board skidded off the runway on landing and ended up nose-first in the sea in the city of Santa Marta.  The Aerorepublica airliner broke through the fence at the end of the runway at Simon Bolivar airport after landing in driving rain. Nine people were slightly injured in the accident, El Tiempo reports.

Thurs 19 – Two soldiers dead in minefield; Monsignor Duarte accused of paramilitarism.

• One official and a soldier were killed and two more injured in a rural area of Yondo (Antioquia). According to reports, the army was on a counter-insurgency mission in the area when the patrol entered a minefield. The army accused the FARC of planting the mines, RCN radio reports.
• Diego Murillo (alias Don Berna) has appeared in a Medellin Court hoping to escape extradition to the US by taking advantage of amnesty legislation. Among information he provided under questioning, he said that Monsignor Duarte, a catholic bishop killed by gunmen in Cali in March 2002, was part of ‘the group of six’ a selective group of people behind the paramilitary groups in Colombia, according to a confession made to him by Carlos Castaño, El Colombiano reports.
• A letter sent by 35 US Congress people to the Colombian Government urges the authorities to investigate the recent raids and robberies against the offices of organizations of Colombian Civil Society. Only this year, four offices have been assaulted, The Civil Society Assembly for Peace, the US-based organization Fellowship of Reconciliation, -that accompanies the Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado - Justapaz and the Corporacion Yira Castro. In all cases, computers and hard drives containing sensitive information that could endanger relatives of the victims were stolen. The letter underlines that the attacks have been politically motivated El Tiempo reports.
• The Democratic leadership of the US Congress staunchly rejected the previously initialed free trade agreement (FTA) with Colombia. This is the latest blow to the standing of president Uribe, whose disapproval rating hit a high this week. Not only is this a heavy blow against Uribe delivered by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her senior colleagues, but it also is an embarrassing setback for the Bush administration, which had elevated Uribe into being Washington's closest regional ally, the US-based Council on Hemispheric Affairs reports.
• The recent killing of Dairo Torres, a leader of the San José de Apartadó Peace Community in Apartado (Antioquia) heightens Amnesty International’s concerns for the safety of members of the Peace Community. Despite the negotiations between the government and paramilitaries, Amnesty International has continued to receive reports of human rights violations committed by paramilitary groups operating with the cooperation of the security forces. This includes repeated paramilitary threats against San José de Apartadó.  It appears that many paramilitary groups have not demobilised at all, but are continuing to operate, often using new names, in an attempt to cover up the fact that they have not actually demobilised. Recent public statements by paramilitary organizations have made clear that their command structures remain intact, Amnesty International reports.

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