RIGHTS-COLOMBIA:
Paramilitarism Alive and
Well
By Constanza Vieira
BOGOTA (IPS) - "If their
slogan was land, dignity
and peace, this time it
will be terror, murder
and hell," said a threat
sent to human rights
defenders and trade
unionists who took part
in a Mar. 6 march in
homage to the victims of
Colombia’s far-right
paramilitary groups.
Since the march, four of
the organisers have been
murdered and another
survived an attempt on
her life. In addition,
more than 50 people and
organisations have been
named in written threats
distributed by a group
calling themselves the
"Black Eagles", who say
they will be
"implacable" with those
who organised the
demonstration.
The Mar. 6 protest was
convened by the Movement
of Victims of Crimes of
the State (MOVICE), made
up of hundreds of
associations, and was
backed by trade union
federations and a number
of other social
movements.
"Land, dignity and
peace" was the theme of
a two-day march by
people displaced by
Colombia’s four-decade
civil war, who reached
Bogotá to take part in
the larger Mar. 6
demonstration.
Vigils, demonstrations
and marches were held
that day in 78 cities
around the world and 24
in Colombia, in honour
of the victims of the
paramilitaries, which
partially demobilised as
a result of negotiations
with the rightwing
government of Álvaro
Uribe.
But the event went
unreported by the
mainstream media, by
contrast with the heavy
international coverage
of the global Feb. 4
march against the
Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC)
guerrillas.
The Mar. 6 demonstrators
were also calling for an
agreement between the
government and the FARC
for the release of
hostages held by the
guerrilla group, like
former presidential
candidate Ingrid
Betancourt, in exchange
for imprisoned
insurgents. Last week,
the government said it
was willing to exchange
imprisoned guerrillas
for Betancourt, who is
reportedly gravely ill,
suffering from hepatitis
B, leishmaniasis, and
malaria.
The threats from the
"Black Eagles" said that
the individuals and
groups listed "took part
in the march against
us," and are all "big
FARC collaborators."
"I’m a capitalist. I
like capitalism. I’m an
independent citizen. But
I can't stand it
anymore," a 45-year-old
man told IPS in the Mar.
6 demonstration. "You
journalists never say
what you are seeing.
That’s why I came here,
to see. Look at this.
Look at this sea of
victims," he said,
spreading his arms wide
a few metres from the
Plaza de Bolívar, a
square in the Colombian
capital, where some
300,000 demonstrators
were gathered, according
to the organisers’
estimates.
"None of my loved ones
have been murdered, but
I always criticise the
paramilitaries. Our
political leaders are
setting a bad example
for my children. My kids
already lie," he said.
The leaders of the
paramilitary militias,
some of whom have
submitted themselves to
trial as a result of the
disarmament agreement
with the government,
have been given "five
years in prison for 500
murders, after which
they’ll come out and
enjoy their money," he
complained, referring to
the fact that most of
the paramilitary chiefs
are involved in the drug
trade.
The paramilitaries,
whose modern version
emerged in 1982 to fight
the leftist insurgents,
have concentrated their
attacks on civilians
whom they deem guerrilla
sympathisers. Between
three and four million
Colombians have been
displaced from their
rural homes by the
violence, and much of
their land has ended up
in the hands of
paramilitary leaders.
The ties between the
paramilitaries and the
security forces have
been amply documented.
On Mar. 26, the Attorney
General’s Office issued
an arrest warrant for 15
noncommissioned officers
for the 2005 murder of
11 members of the San
José de Apartadó Peace
Community in
northwestern Colombia.
The victims included
three children.
A former paramilitary,
Jorge Luis Salgado, told
prosecutors that the
killings were committed
by the army in
conjunction with the
paramilitary United
Self-Defence Forces of
Colombia (AUC).
The slayings took place
after the AUC had
declared a unilateral
ceasefire to pave the
way for the
demobilisation talks
with the government.
Uribe had publicly
stated at the time that
the members of the peace
community, which had
declared itself neutral
in the armed conflict,
were "collaborators" of
the FARC, who the
president describes as
"terrorists."
"You are either with
Colombia or with
terrorism": this recent
statement by Uribe that
has been put up on
billboards in Bogotá and
other cities defines the
government’s view with
respect to neutrality in
the armed conflict.
Complicity between
paramilitaries, the
security forces and
other authorities has
been established in 10
sentences handed down by
the Inter-American Court
on Human Rights that
have held the Colombian
state responsible for
human rights violations.
But the government
argues that such
incidents are "isolated
cases," and maintains
that no crimes of the
state have been
committed.
And when paramilitaries
confessed to murders, as
part of the
demobilisation process,
the killers justified
the slayings by saying
the victims were
guerrillas.
The march in homage to
the victims of the
paramilitaries came
under attack from the
government. Starting on
Feb. 10, top
presidential adviser
José Obdulio Gaviria
stated on several
occasions that the
demonstration was
"convened by the FARC."
Gaviria’s verbal attacks
on the organisers of the
march were immediately
echoed by paramilitary
chiefs serving light
sentences in prison, and
those who took part in
the demonstration were
declared a "military
objective" as "enemies
of the fatherland."
Referring to the threats
and the murders of four
organisers of the march,
MOVICE stated in a
recent message to Uribe
that the "violent
reaction is a response
to the massive public
repudiation of which
(the paramilitaries)
were the target on Mar.
6."
The organisation also
said the remarks by
Gaviria, who
specifically focused
some of his attacks on
MOVICE spokesman Iván
Cepeda, "generated a
climate conducive to
violence."
The group said it would
take legal action
against Gaviria, and
called for Uribe to
dismiss him. "Inciting
violence is a grave
crime," the letter
added.
Although in the
government’s official
view, the paramilitary
groups no longer exist,
they actually only
partially disbanded in
the disarmament process
that ended in 2006.
The groups that never
disappeared or have
re-emerged under new
names like "Black
Eagles" are referred to
by the government as
"criminal gangs."
According to a source
with an international
body, who asked not to
be identified, the
demobilised
paramilitaries were
called to take up their
weapons again late last
year in Urabá and Chocó
in the northwest, and
Cesar in the northeast,
along the Venezuelan
border, as well as in
"many other regions."
That situation, observed
on the ground by the
international body, is
in keeping with the
threats, which announced
the "total rearmament of
the paramilitary
forces."
The phenomenon is also
mentioned by 22 U.S.
human rights
organisations in a joint
letter sent to Uribe on
Mar. 26.
"This string of threats
and attacks calls
directly into question
the effectiveness of the
paramilitary
demobilisation process,"
said the groups, which
included Human Rights
First (formerly the
Lawyers Committee for
Human Rights), Human
Rights Watch, Amnesty
International USA,
Refugees International,
the Washington Office on
Latin America and the
Robert F. Kennedy
Memorial Centre for
Human Rights.
Referring to Gaviria’s
remarks, the letter says
that "Baseless comments
such as these are
profoundly damaging to
Colombian democracy and
human rights, and place
those against whom they
are made in direct
danger of violence.
"These statements
stigmatise the
legitimate work of
thousands of human
rights defenders, trade
unionists, and victims,
and can have a chilling
effect on the exercise
of the rights to freedom
of expression and free
association. And in a
country like Colombia,
with its record of
political violence,
statements like these
only contribute to a
climate of political
intolerance that fosters
violence.
"Indeed, on February 11,
the day after Mr.
Gaviria first made the
comments, the supposedly
demobilised AUC
paramilitary group
released a statement on
its website echoing Mr.
Gaviria’s attacks on Mr.
Cepeda and the victims’
movement," the letter
added.
The groups also pointed
to two presidential
directives, adopted by
the administration of
Uribe’s predecessor,
Andrés Pastrana
(1998-2002), that order
public servants "to
abstain from questioning
the legitimacy of" human
rights defenders "and
from making false
imputations or
accusations that
compromise their
security, honour and
good name" or
"affirmations that
disqualify, harass or
incite harassment" of
non-governmental
organisations or
stigmatise their work.
In another message,
which was sent to Uribe
last Friday, some 20
members of the European
Parliament said the
situation corroborated
reports indicating that
the phenomenon of
paramilitarism is not a
thing of the past in
Colombia, and that the
groups maintain their
capacity for criminal
action at a national
level.
The European
parliamentarians urged
Uribe to pronounce
himself on these
developments and give
clear support to the
work of human rights
defenders. |
