Submission from Justice for Colombia
SUMMARY
— Justice for Colombia (JFC) welcomes
the fact that Colombia remains on the "Major Countries of
Concern" list in the new FCO Report; — JFC is concerned
that the Report does not reflect the true gravity of the human
rights situation in Colombia and is troubled by the omission from
the Report of several basic categories of human rights abuses
that are common in Colombia such as torture, kidnapping and forced
disappearances; and— Furthermore, JFC does not believe
that the Report addresses the widespread concerns about the ongoing
program of UK military assistance to Colombia.
— Among other conclusions, JFC believes
that military assistance to Colombia should be suspended and that
the FCO needs to speak out more forcefully about the human rights
situation in Colombia—as they have quite rightly done in
relation to several of the other countries covered in the Report.
INTRODUCTION
The human rights situation in Colombia remains
critical with an alarming number of human rights violations occurring
throughout the country on a daily basis. Whilst recent years have
seen some human rights indicators improve (for example kidnapping
is down), most have deteriorated (for example torture, killings
of trade unionists and forced displacement are up), and the overall
picture is still one of widespread and systematic abuses of human
rights.
Whilst the Colombian regime has devoted substantial
resources to public relations campaigns and diplomatic offensives
to convince the international community otherwise, the reality
is that the abuses continue to escalate, the impunity that the
perpetrators enjoy persists, and the regime still fails to implement
the UN's human rights recommendations—despite repeated promises
to the international community to do so.
SPECIFIC AREAS
OF CONCERN
1. The Perpetrators of the Abuses
Whilst clearly stating that the human rights
situation is serious in Colombia, the FCO Report pays little attention
to ascertaining who is responsible for perpetrating the abuses—in
stark contrast to the sections on many other countries in the
"Major Countries of Concern" list. We believe that this
reduces the pressure on the perpetrators by failing to highlight
their involvement.
With regards to the presumed author of human rights
violations in Colombia, the Colombian Commission of Jurists estimates
that in cases of extrajudicial executions, political murders and
forced disappearances, committed in the 2002-07 period where the
perpetrator is known, some 74.6% of cases can be attributed either
directly to state agents (predominantly the Army) or to Army-backed
paramilitaries.[69]
As highlighted below, the state security forces are also compromised
in the majority of cases of torture.
We believe that it is imperative to make clear that
the Colombian military are responsible for the majority of human
rights abuses perpetrated in Colombia in order to increase the
pressure on them to clean up their act. We are concerned that
the absence of this information may be due to the close military
relationship between the UK and Colombia.
2. Violence against Trade Unionists
Colombia remains the most dangerous country
on earth in which to be a trade unionist. Despite some assertions
to the contrary, recent years have seen an increase in the numbers
of murders of trade unionists: 40 were killed during 2007, 48
during 2008 and 13 during the first quarter of 2009—a higher
rate than the two preceding years.[70]
According to the CUT trade union federation (the Colombian TUC),
the attacks are targeted and systematic and, according to CUT
leader Tarsicio Mora Godoy, "the Government is trying to
physically exterminate the union movement".[71]
Whilst we welcome the fact that the FCO Report refers
to the violence against trade unionists in Colombia, we are concerned
that the alarming increase in the numbers being assassinated in
recent years goes unmentioned. It is imperative that that this
is highlighted and further pressure brought to bear on the Colombian
authorities.
Recent examples of murders include the 4 April
2009 assassination of Hernan Polo Barrera (President of the teachers
trade union SINTRAENAL), the 27 March 2009 assassination of Armando
Carreno (activist in the oil workers trade union USO), the assassinations
of Ramiro Cuadros Roballo and Walter Escobar Marin on March 24th
and 21st 2009 respectively (both members of the teachers' trade
union SUTEV), the assassinations of Alexander Pinto Gomez and
Jose Alejandro Amado Castillo, both killed on March 21st 2009
and both activists in the prison officers trade union ASEINPEC.[72]
3. Extrajudicial Executions
Extrajudicial executions of civilians carried
out by the Colombian Army are an increasing problem with well
over a thousand cases having been documented in recent years.[73]
According to human rights organisations, almost double the numbers
of civilians have been killed in this way since 2002, when President
Alvaro Uribe came to power, as compared to the previous six year
period.[74]
On her recent visit to Colombia Navi Pillay, the
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, accused the Colombian Army
of carrying out "systematic and widespread" killings
of civilians and indicated that the scale of the killings could
constitute a "crime against humanity".[75]
Another report also described the problem as systematic, saying
that extrajudicial executions occurred all over the country with
"the participation of a wide range of military brigades...
revealing a phenomenon which can by no means be considered a series
of isolated cases".[76]
The true severity of this issue is not reflected
in the FCO Report which, on the contrary, states that the Colombian
military are taking positive steps to root out the abusers and
punish the perpetrators. There is little evidence to suggest that
this is the case and the most recent report from the Colombia
office of the UN High Commission for Human Rights categorically
states that, in relation to extrajudicial executions, "the
number of registered victims show that institutional policies
adopted by the Ministry of Defence and the Army High Command to
combat such practices have not had a significant impact in reducing
the occurrence of these acts."[77]
4. Forced Disappearances
The UN recently reported that Colombia is the
only county in Latin America where forced disappearances continue
to occur on a regular basis[78]
however this category of human rights abuse receives only a passing
mention in the FCO Report.
Recent years have seen an increase in cases in Colombia
and, according to the Colombian Commission of Jurists, "public
functionaries are compromised in one way or another in around
97% of the disappearances".[79]
Estimates of the number of people who have been forcibly disappeared
in Colombia range from 15,000 to over 30,000.[80]
Among many others, trade unionists (for example
Guillermo Rivera, the leader of the Bogota public sector workers
union who was last seen in April 2008) continue to be regular
victims of forced disappearances. It is disappointing that the
FCO Report did not draw attention to this clear violation of international
humanitarian law considering the extent of the problem in Colombia.
5. Torture
Whilst the issue of torture receives only a
passing mention in the FCO Report, it continues to be practiced
widely in Colombia and the US State Department recently documented
a 46% increase in cases.[81]
Another recent study found that "the practice of torture
is systematically and deliberately used in Colombia as a form
of political persecution and to sow terror".[82]
In the vast majority of cases the perpetrators of
torture are members of the Colombian state security forces[83]
and we are concerned that whilst the use of torture is mentioned
frequently throughout the FCO Report in relation to other countries,
it is absent from the section on Colombia.
A recent case of concern involved personnel
attached to the "Calibio" Battalion of the Colombian
Army who, on 14 March 2009, were operating near the town of San
Francisco in the region of Antioquia. According to accounts from
Colombian human rights organisations one of the soldiers from
the Battalion abducted, and then tortured and raped, 15-year-old
Jacqueline Gutierrez and 16-year-old Rosita Henao.[84]
6. Kidnapping
Although cases have decreased in recent years,
Colombia remains one of the places in the world with the highest
level of kidnappings. A July 2008 document produced by the Colombian
presidency reported that well over 500 people had been kidnapped
in the previous 12 months[85]
but, once again, this category of abuse was omitted from the FCO
Report.
The most recent figures available indicate that 47%
of kidnappings were attributed to common criminals, 23% to the
FARC guerrilla group and 5% to the ELN guerrilla group. In the
remaining 25% of cases it was unclear who was responsible.[86]
In addition, the FARC guerrilla group also continues to hold over
20 members of the security forces captured in combat who they
say they want to exchange for jailed guerrillas.[87]
7. Political Prisoners
Colombia continues to hold numerous political
prisoners for long periods in jail without them being convicted
of any crime whatsoever. Among those held are members of political
opposition parties, trade union activists and human rights defenders
who appear to be targeted for their opposition to the current
regime in Bogota.[88]
FCO Ministers have, in the past, expressed concern
about the practice of jailing people for political reasons in
Colombia and JFC has publicly welcomed this.[89]
However, again, the new FCO Report fails to touch on this issue
at all in relation to Colombia despite the fact that the theme
comes up time and again elsewhere in the Report in relation to
other countries.
High profile examples of political prisoners
currently being held in Colombia's jails include:
— Liliany Obando, a human rights a
trade union consultant who has toured both Australia and Canada
in an effort to raise awareness about abuses perpetrated against
Colombian trade unionists, detained, without having been convicted
of any crime, since 8 August 2008.
— Martin Sandoval, a member of the
National Executive of the "Democratic Pole" opposition
party and President the Permanent Committee for Human Rights in
the region of Arauca, detained, without having been convicted
of any crime, since 4 November 2008.
— Andres Gil, a member of the National
Executive of agricultural workers trade union ACVC, detained,
without having been convicted of any crime, since 27 September
2007.
8. "Criminalisation" of the Opposition
In the past year the Colombian authorities have
opened an increasing number of spurious legal cases against senior
members of the political opposition. Those targeted include a
former government Minister and President of the Colombian Conservative
Party,[90]
the most high profile Senator from the opposition Liberal Party[91]
and several members, including two Senators and a Congressman,
of the Democratic Pole, the other main opposition party in Colombia.[92]
In addition, three well-known journalists have been targeted.[93]
All of those on the receiving end of these legal
cases are high profile critics of the current regime in Bogota
and the Colombian authorities have yet to produce any plausible
evidence whatsoever against them. Human rights groups have described
this new judicial onslaught, a tactic which is also being used
to systematically accuse and/or jail lower profile human rights
defenders and trade unionists, as a tactic designed to intimidate
and silence Government opponents.[94]
The extent to which this tactic of "criminalising"
opponents is currently being practiced in Colombia is alarming
and it is clear that the proceedings are politically-motivated.
The practice has been drawn to the attention of FCO Ministers
and officials on several occasions and we are therefore disappointed
that the FCO Report did not highlight this issue.
9. Landmines
We are deeply troubled by the assertion put
forward in the FCO Report that the minefields maintained by the
Colombian Army "pose no threat to the civilian population".
In fact several civilians have been harmed by landmines laid by
the Army including one case near the "Barracon" military
base in the Colombian region of Guaviare where, according to a
report from UNICEF, five children and two adults, all Nukak Maku
indigenous people, were badly wounded by explosions after straying
into a minefield surrounding the base.[95]
10. Impunity
Impunity is at the heart of the human rights
crisis in Colombia. As well as failing to address the needs of
the victims, the continuing failure to bring the perpetrators
of human rights abuses to justice is a green light for the abuses
to continue.
According to Human Rights Watch "The authorities'
failure to effectively investigate, prosecute and punish abuses
has created an environment in which abusers correctly assume that
they will never be held accountable for their crimes."[96]
Amnesty International argues that "impunity remained the
norm in most cases of human rights abuses."[97]
Whilst some high-profile cases are investigated
the vast majority are not. For example, according to the CUT trade
union federation, impunity for the killers of trade unionists
remains at over 98%.[98]
A similar pattern can be seen in other types of abuses such as
extrajudicial executions, where impunity remains at over 99%,[99]
and forced displacement, where the UN recently showed that 99%
of cases remain in impunity.[100]
Furthermore, while according to Colombian legal
norms human rights crimes should be subject to the civilian justice
system, many are in fact dealt with by the deeply compromised
military justice system. The UN has repeatedly recommended to
the Colombian authorities that they guarantee that cases involving
human rights violations are not dealt with by the military justice
system though to date they have not implemented the recommendation.[101]
In spite of the aforementioned shortcomings,
a number of very competent and dedicated investigators and prosecutors
exist in Colombia, who are willing to examine the multitude of
human rights crimes that have taken place. However, their capacity
to undertake this task is severely compromised by the repeated
public attacks on them and the judicial institutions by the Executive
branch; particularly by President Uribe himself.[102]
Whilst the FCO Report mentions impunity briefly,
much more attention needs to be paid to this issue in order to
have any real impact. Allowing those responsible for human rights
abuses to escape punishment is tantamount to condoning those abuses
and until impunity is tackled in Colombia the human rights crisis
will continue.
12. UK Military Aid
Though a small part of the UK military assistance
package to Colombia recently came to an end (human rights and
demining training were discontinued in a move welcomed by JFC),
the UK continues to provide substantial military assistance to
the Colombian security forces. The exact value of this assistance
is secret, as are details of which units or individuals in the
Colombian military benefit—making independent monitoring
of its potential human rights consequences, or indeed the effectiveness
of the assistance, impossible.
Furthermore, it would appear that the Government
does not have any robust human rights monitoring mechanisms of
their own in place with recent parliamentary answers indicating
that the Colombian Army is relied upon to provide feedback on
such issues.[103]
We are also concerned that UK military assistance
may be benefiting Colombian military personnel or units that are
involved in counter-insurgency operations, as it is during such
operations that the majority of human rights abuses occur. Statements
from the British Government on this matter have been contradictory
with Ministers and other sources saying on some occasions that
such assistance is provided,[104]
whilst on others saying that it is not.[105]
The last Foreign Affairs Select Committee report
on the FCO's Annual Human Rights Report described the current
UK military assistance program to Colombia as "inappropriate".
Given the widespread and ongoing human rights violations that
are being perpetrated by the Colombian military—including
by counterinsurgency units, such as the High Mountain Battalions,
that have received British assistance—JFC would go further
and suggest that all British assistance to the Colombian armed
forces be frozen until such time as the Colombian Government has
fully implemented the human rights recommendations made by the
United Nations.
Lastly, given that tens of millions of dollars
in US military assistance to Colombia has recently been frozen
due to concerns over extra-judicial killings by the Colombian
Army, it would appear that Britain, as the only other major provider
of military assistance to Colombia, is increasingly at risk of
becoming isolated internationally on this issue.
CONCLUSION
We believe that whilst the FCO Report includes
positive elements, overall it fails to adequately address the
human rights crisis in Colombia. Reading between the lines it
would appear that an assumption has been made that the situation
is improving and that the Colombian authorities are doing all
that they can to tackle the abuses. We do not believe that either
assumption is backed up by the facts on the ground.
The FCO Report also fails to pay sufficient attention
to the Colombian State's role in the human rights crisis—effectively
letting the principle abuser of human rights in Colombia off the
hook.
Due to the deteriorating human rights situation
in Colombia, we believe that the UK needs to change their approach
and speak out more forcefully about the regular violations that
occur; whoever perpetrates them.
JFC's position on military aid is well-known
and is shared by many other organisations and individuals including
a considerable number of Members of Parliament.[106]
It is entirely unacceptable to provide secretive military assistance
to an Army which is deeply implicated in systematic human rights
violations, especially when there are so few signs of an improvement.
The assistance is even more worrisome as there are no clear human
rights monitoring mechanisms in place.
We believe that the recent freezing of tens
of millions of dollars in US military assistance to Colombia is
a positive example for the UK and that all UK military assistance
to Colombia should be frozen until the human rights recommendations
made to the Colombian authorities by the UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights have been implemented in full.
24 April 2009
69 Colombian Commission of Jurists, Violaciones
de derechos humanos y violencia sociopol-«tica en Colombia.
Available at www.coljuristas.org Back
70
See the human rights database at www.justiceforcolombia.org for
the full list of murders. Back
71
Speech given by Mr Tarsicio Mora Godoy to the 2008 TUC Congress
in Brighton. Back
72
All examples provided by the CUT trade union federation. Back
73
"Colombia: Report of the member organisations of the OIDHACO
network and other international organizations on the occasion
of the Universal Periodic Review" available at http://www.abcolombia.org.uk/downloads/214_080718_
UPR_Colombia_EN.pdf Back
74
Ibid. Back
75
See: www.hchr.org.co/publico/oacnudhenlosmedios/2008/03110803.pdf Back
76
Vida y Libertad: blancos de una agresio«n estatal sistema«tica,
report by the Catholic human rights organisation CINEP available
at www.nocheyniebla.org/?q=node/52 Back
77
See: www.hchr.org.co/documentoseinformes/informes/altocomisionado/Informe2008_eng.pdf Back
78
See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/latin_america/newsid_7481000/7481399.stm Back
79
See: www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42993 Back
80
See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/latin_america/newsid_7481000/7481399.stm Back
81
US State Department, Country Report on Human Rights Practices,
available at www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100633.htm Back
82
Report by the Colombian Coalition against Torture and the World
Organisation against Torture, available at www.acnur.org/pais/docs/2397.pdf Back
83
According to the report referred to above: of those cases where
the perpetrator is known the state security forces are responsible
for 70.4% of cases of torture, army-backed paramilitaries for
19.7% of cases and guerrilla groups for 9.8% of cases. A separate
report by Amnesty International found a similar pattern, blaming
the state security forces for 60% of cases, the paramilitaries
for 27% and guerrilla groups for around 11%. Back
84
See www.movimientodevictimas.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=271&Itemid=1
and www.prensa rural.org/spip/spip.php?article2030 Back
85
See www.presidencia.gov.co/resultados/espanol/04_ddhh/a_victimas_080715.pdf Back
86
Ibid. Back
87
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_hostages_held_by_FARC
for an up-to-date list of those being held by the FARC. Back
88
See Union Leaders and MPs Call for Freedom for Colombian Political
Prisoners, www.justiceforcolombia.org/?link=newsPage&story=507
and MPs, union Leaders, Lawyers, Call on FCO to Speak Out on
Colombia's Political Prisoners, http://www.justiceforcolombia.org/?link=newsPage&story=608 Back
89
See FCO Expresses Concern for Colombian Political Prisoners,
http://www.justiceforcolombia.org/?link=news Page&story=554 Back
90
Dr Alvaro Leyva, a senior Conservative politician, criticised
President Uribe for not respecting human rights or democratic
norms-soon after legal proceedings were opened against him. Back
91
Senator Piedad Cordoba, of the Colombian Liberal Party, had spoken
out in favour of a peace process and against human rights abuses-soon
after legal proceedings were opened against her. Back
92
Senator Gloria Ramirez, Senator Jaime Dussan and Congressman Wilson
Borja, all former trade union leaders and now politicians representing
the Democratic Pole opposition party, had repeatedly spoken out
about attacks on trade unionists before legal investigations were
opened against them. Back
93
Dr Lazaro Vivero, Dr Carlo Lozano and William Parra had all written
or broadcast pieces critical of the Colombian regime before legal
proceedings were brought against them. Back
94
See the new report from Washington DC based Human Rights First
which looks at this issue in depth http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/defenders/reports/index.aspx Back
95
See http://www.unicef.org/colombia/newsletter/octubre-04/pandi82.htm Back
96
Human Rights Watch, World Report 2008, http://hrw.org/englishwr2k8/docs/2008/01/31/colomb17754.htm Back
97
Amnesty International, World Human Rights Report 2008,
http://thereport.amnesty.org/eng/Regions/Americas/Colombia Back
98
A recent study by the CUT of 2,832 assassinations of trade unionists
found that in only 56 cases had charges been brought against the
presumed author see Labor Rights and Freedom of Association
in Colombia, www.cut.org.co/dmdocuments/derechoslaboralesLIBROINGLES.pdf Back
99
Recent study by five US human rights organisations, US groups,
alarmed by increase in extrajudicial executions in Colombia,
www.lawg.org/docs/eejointmemo.pdf Back
100
While 619,000 displaced people were officially registered between
2002 and 2006, investigations were only initiated for 6,501 cases;
of these, 32 went to trial in criminal courts, and there were
sentences in 13 of these cases. UN High Commission for Refugees
Office for Colombia, "Assessment of public policy for comprehensive
attention to forced displacement in Colombia". Back
101
See: www.hchr.org.co/documentoseinformes/informes/altocomisionado/Informe2008_eng.pdf Back
102
An August 2008 communique« released by the Supreme Court
described a "recurrent systematic and even orchestrated"
campaign "orientated exclusively to delegitimize the judicial
public servants' investigations or to undermine their credibility",
available at www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?idArt=114499
See also http://www.cipcol.org/?p=655 and Human Rights Watch,
President's Interference with Ongoing Investigations Threatens
the Rule of Law, at http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/10/09/colomb17057.htm Back
103
On 25 November the Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the FCO told
Parliament that "The monitoring of the human rights or other
performance of individual Colombian military personnel is the
responsibility of the Colombian armed forces." Back
104
For example, former Defence Minister John Speller told Parliament
that UK military involvement in Colombia includes assistance with
"operations in urban theatres, counter-guerrilla strategy,
and psychiatry." (www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm199900/cmhansrd/vo991124/text/91124w03.htm).
An investigation by The Guardian (www.guardian.co .uk/world/2003/jul/09/colombia.davidpallister)
found that counter-insurgency assistance was being provided to
Colombia and in an interview with the Colombian newspaper El
Tiempo, the head of the Colombian armed forces General Freddy
Padilla de Leon, explained that British assistance was for "jungle
operations". Back
105
On 3 March 2009 the Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the FCO told
Parliament that "We do not provide any counter-insurgency
assistance." On 2 April 2009 the Minister of State at the
MOD told Parliament that "The UK has not provided specific
counter-insurgency assistance to the Colombian armed forces." Back
106
As of the time of writing 215 MPs, from all parties, had signed
an Early Day Motion calling on the Government to freeze their
military aid to Colombia. Back
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