RIGHTS-COLOMBIA:
Paramilitary Crimes
Should Be Tried by ICC
By Helda Martínez
BOGOTA, (IPS) -
The International
Criminal Court (ICC)
should open an
investigation into the
crimes against humanity
committed by the
paramilitary militias in
Colombia, even if they
have demobilised, says a
new report by the
International Federation
of Human Rights Leagues
(FIDH).
By early 2006, 31,000
members of the far-right
paramilitary United
Self-Defence Forces of
Colombia (AUC) had
officially demobilised
and handed in their
weapons as a result of
controversial
negotiations with the
rightwing government of
President Álvaro Uribe.
The demobilisation
process was governed by
the "justice and peace
law", which human rights
groups like the FIDH and
Amnesty International
criticised as a "virtual
amnesty" that would
grant impunity to
paramilitaries who had
committed atrocities.
(United Nations
officials blame the
paramilitary militias
for at least 80 percent
of the human rights
violations committed in
Colombia’s armed
conflict).
The FIDH report,
released Thursday, is
based on more than two
years of work in
Colombia in conjunction
with local human rights
groups: the "José Alvear
Restrepo" Lawyers’
Collective, the
Permanent Committee for
the Defence of Human
Rights, the Latin
American Institute of
Alternative Legal
Services (ILSA) and the
Popular Women’s
Organisation (OFP).
It is also based on
observation of the
"justice and peace"
hearings held for
paramilitaries from May
to July 2007 at the
justice and peace
tribunals in Colombia’s
main cities.
The Paris-based FIDH,
which protested that the
justice and peace law
was not in line with
international standards
and violated the rights
of victims of human
rights abuses, has
submitted reports to the
International Criminal
Court’s office of the
prosecutor requesting
that those guilty of war
crimes and crimes
against humanity in
Colombia be investigated
and tried.
Colombia is among the
signatories to the
treaty that created the
ICC, which began to
consider cases of war
crimes or genocide in
2002 in The Hague,
Netherlands.
The FIDH report states
that more than one
million people in
Colombia have been
forcibly displaced as a
result of the terror,
threats and actions of
the paramilitary groups,
including more than
219,000 in 2006 alone.
In addition, more than
770 civilians were
killed or forcibly
disappeared between
January and June this
year, the rights group
says.
As of late 2006, more
than 80 mass graves had
been discovered, but the
office of the public
prosecutor estimates
that there are still
more than 30,000 people
to be found. "It is
believed, however, that
this figure falls far
short of reflecting the
more than 30,000 forced
disappearances that have
been reported," the FIDH
adds.
The paramilitaries are
tried in so-called "free
version" hearings under
the justice and peace
law, in which they can
be sentenced to no more
than eight years in
prison, or "work farms,"
says the FIDH, which
describes the hearings
as "a forum for
justifying crimes and
paramilitarism."
"The paramilitaries are
not forced to confess to
their crimes, disclose
the truth about who
supported their
structures, or even show
repentance," says the
report. "They have not
been forced to turn in
all of their weapons or
hand over their assets
to compensate the
victims, while the
latter and their
representatives have
very limited access to
hearings and are
hindered from
participating in them."
FIDH secretary general
Luis Guillermo Pérez
told IPS that "we are
waiting for a response
from the ICC office of
the prosecutor, to which
we have sent three
reports on Colombia."
"We know the processes
can take a relatively
long time, but the
arguments back up our
request" for an
investigation, he added.
"The ICC should assess
the effectiveness of the
justice system overall,
as well as the fear felt
by many because of
threats. It would have
to determine whether the
rights abusers truly
confess all of their
crimes, whether they
reveal the location of
common graves and the
whereabouts of the
‘disappeared’, and
whether they hand over
all of their assets,"
said Pérez.
"If that does not
happen, the courts can
tell the paramilitary
chiefs that they are not
eligible for the legal
benefits offered by the
justice and peace law,
and that they will be
handed ordinary
sentences instead," he
said.
The FIDH report also
states that more than 30
paramilitary groups made
up of around 9,000
combatants continue
operating in different
parts of Colombia, under
new names.
For example, the Central
Santander and Guaviare
Blocs, with some 750
members, are active in
the southeastern part of
Bogotá, says the 83-page
report, "Paramilitary
Demobilisation in
Colombia: On the Road to
the International
Criminal Court", which
was presented in Bogotá
Thursday by FIDH
president Souhayr
Belhassen.
"We should call
attention to the
continuing Colombian
conflict, which from our
point of view is one of
the most serious in the
world," said Belhassen
at the presentation of
the report, which lays
out recommendations to
the Colombian Congress,
the country’s justice
system, the Uribe
administration, the
international community,
and the ICC office of
the prosecutor.
The recommendations to
the legislature include
the repeal of the
justice and peace law
and the approval of a
legal framework in
keeping with
international standards
and rulings handed down
by the Colombian
Constitutional and
Supreme Courts.
The FIDH also urges the
country’s judicial
authorities to carry out
rigorous, independent
prosecutions, although
it recognises that
judges and other members
of the judicial branch
face death threats and
intimidation.
The international
community is urged to
make free trade
agreements with Colombia
conditional on respect
for human rights, and
the U.S. Congress is
specifically called on
to do so before
ratifying the free trade
deal agreed with
Colombia.
In addition, the FIDH
states that the ICC
office of the prosecutor
should "open an
investigation without
further delay. Doing so
could have a significant
preventive effect."
The United States, which
provides heavy military
and economic aid to
Colombia for its
counterinsurgency fight,
removed its signature
from the statute that
created the ICC.
In 2002, the
administration of George
W. Bush withdrew the
signature of former
president Bill Clinton
(1993-2001), and since
then has pressured many
countries to sign
bilateral agreements
that exempt all U.S.
citizens -- including
members of the military
and government officials
-- from being brought
before the ICC. Colombia
signed such a treaty.
"But history changes,
and there are winds of
hope in Latin America
that make us believe
that things will move in
a more positive
direction in the
future," said Pérez.
The head of the
Committee of Solidarity
with Political
Prisoners, Agustín
Jiménez, told IPS that
the FIDH report was
released at a time "when
the situation of the
victims is up in the
air, because of the
government’s attempt to
carry out a process that
ensures impunity for the
paramilitaries."
"Some sectors of civil
society are insisting
that the victims have
the right to know the
truth, justice must be
done, and reparations
should be made," he
added.
"It is important for the
international community
to see, from another
angle, the grave
situation we are
experiencing in
Colombia, and this
report is fundamental in
that respect," said the
activist.
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