Extradition: Shipping Out the Truth

Hebert Veloza (aka H.H.), one of the most infamous paramilitary leaders and a key witness in at least three massacres in the San José Peace Community, is currently waiting to be extradited to the United States. He is the next on the list of paramilitary leaders that will have to face charges – and probably serve sentences - in the United States for drug trafficking, production, and/or money laundering.

Nonetheless, with the extradition of these paramilitary leaders, their commitment to Colombian society is on hold, as they will leave unfinished business that was introduced through the Justice and Peace Law of 2005, the law regulating the paramilitaries’ demobilization. Their extradition interrupts the public declarations that these paramilitary leaders are required to fulfill through confessions of all the crimes and violations against humanity that they are responsible for and simultaneously serve prison sentences. In an interview with the daily El Espectador regarding the Justice and Peace Process and his much discussed extradition, H.H declared that he has only shared “50% of the truth” about the crimes that terrorized several regions in the country. When asked, “And the other 50% of the truth will leave for the United States?” his response was, “Well, as soon as I am extradited, yes.”

On May 14, the US Department of Justice and the Colombian government successfully completed the extradition of 14 top paramilitary chiefs, fifteen with “Salvatore Mancuso,” who was extradited weeks before them. It is important to understand who are these individuals: they are key players in the Colombian conflict. The men constitute almost the whole leadership of the AUC, which was the paramilitaries’ command structure, responsible for terrorizing an entire country, and actively promoted, organized and executed crimes against humanity on scales larger than that of any drug trafficking shipment made to the U.S.

While the notorious: Salvatore Mancuso, Diego Fernando Murillo, Rodrigo Tovar Pupo, Francisco Javier Zuluaga, Guillermo Pérez Alzate, Martín Peñaranda Osorio, Manuel Enrique Torregrosa, Henán Giraldo Serna, Edwin Mauricio Gómez, Diego Alberto Ruiz, Juan Carlos Sierra, Nodier Giraldo Giraldo, and Eduardo Enrique Vengoechea are being prosecuted in New York, Texas, Washington D.C., and Florida, there are victims waiting for justice and reparation throughout the Colombian countryside, particularly in the states of Antioquia, Valle del Cauca, Cesar, Arauca, Nariño, Córdoba and the entire region of Urabá.

Colombian Government and US Embassy
President Uribe said that a primary reason for approving the extradition of the 15 paramilitaries was that these leaders continued to commit crimes while in prison and that, in order to put an end to that, they lost the protection against extradition granted to them by the Justice and Peace Law. The same day the paramilitaries were extradited, President Uribe explained at a press conference that the decision to extradite the paramilitary chiefs was because “…Some of them continued to commit crimes after their incorporation to the Justice and Peace Law, others failed to adequately cooperate with the justice system and all of them failed to give reparations to the victims, since they have not returned the goods and wealth in their possession and/or have been stalling the reparation process.”

But we should ask, why didn’t the paramilitaries lose ALL the benefits granted to them by Law 975 of 2005 (i.e. maximum eight years in prison)? Why did they only lose their immunity against extradition to the United States? Instead of controlling the continuous illegal activities of these paramilitary leaders and punishing them for violating the agreements made through the negotiation process, why does the Colombian government agree to extradite them and leave as “unfinished business” the judicial process in their own country?

According to a high-ranking official in the Human Rights Unit of the Attorney General’s Office who met with the FOR delegation in August, these paramilitaries were not collaborating with the unit’s prosecutors. The commanders “refused to speak to the prosecutors from the Human Rights Unit, and we would continuously get excuses such as: X paramilitary is sleeping, Y is busy, and Z is currently and temporarily not available.

“They did not want to share information with our unit because they were not receiving any benefits, and it was not in their interest to speak the truth about the atrocities because with us, they would have to serve sentences that exceed the eight years that they are given through the Justice and Peace Law. The only prosecutors they were interested in talking to were from the Justice and Peace Unit, because they had an obligation to do so if they wanted to ‘prove’ that they were telling the truth for the victims,” explained the official.

Telling the truth was a condition for their benefits. But they understood that they would obtain no gains by taking part in the investigations carried out by the Attorney General’s Human Rights Unit, since this is an entirely separate process criminalizing them. Under the Justice and Peace Law, they are not required to cooperate with prosecutors other than the Justice and Peace prosecutors established by Law 975 as a result of negotiations between paramilitaries and the State. If the paramilitaries were only speaking with prosecutors from the Justice an Peace Unit because they wanted to receive the benefits, and thus were only confessing the bare minimum of information regarding the crimes and atrocities for which they are responsible, it is obvious that the Colombian system has not served the victims who are still waiting to hear the complete truth about what happened to their loved ones.

If Colombian human rights groups and activists – and the president himself - believe that the Justice and Peace Law has been a failure thus far, why not allow for the time and necessary reforms to be implemented so that the victims feel that justice was served? Why extradite the paramilitaries to the United States, and completely ignore the fact that Colombian society is still waiting for justice, instead of extraditing the paramilitaries after they pay their dues to society?

U.S. Ambassador to Colombia, William Brownfield, specified in a press conference on the same day the paramilitaries were extradited that these men were facing charges for possession of illicit drugs and drug trafficking, money laundering and related offenses and material support of terrorism (not for directing and promoting terrorism). He added, “Of course, the legal system in the U.S. cannot give Colombian prosecutors more access to those 14 or 15 men than they would have in Colombia. Those men will have their defense attorneys in the U.S. and their own legal rights in the U.S., but our commitment is to facilitate access to the extradited men.”

“The prosecutors in the Justice Department will share their evidence and information with Colombia’s prosecutors,” the ambassador said, “allowing them the opportunity to examine, analyze, and decide on how they wish to proceed in accordance with the Justice and Peace Law.” Brownfield added, “That being said, what we cannot do, of course, is change the free will and the attitude of these fourteen or fifteen persons who have been extradited… They have rights, such as the right to access to the evidence against them, the right to respond to the accusations against them, the right to respond, or not respond, to questions and the right to allow, or not allow access to them.” This access really translates to arranging virtual hearings through the use of technology. Nonetheless, the only hearing that any of the chiefs requested involved Mancuso, but it has been cancelled three consecutive times in recent weeks. According to the State Department, the petition from the Supreme Court in Colombia requesting the virtual hearing was not given with enough notice to properly arrange for it, and from Colombia, the Interior Ministry announced that it was cancelled because they don’t have the funds to allocate to the virtual hearing.

However, it is clear that the information that the 15 extradited paramilitaries will share in the U.S. courts will consist mostly of drug trafficking activity, because they are not obligated to talk about their penal cases in the Colombian justice system. Moreover, the Fifth Amendment protects their right to remain silent in order not to self-incriminate. These paramilitary leaders have to right to “voluntarily” share information and continue collaborating with the Colombian justice system, but why would they willingly tell a US judge that they are responsible for murders in Colombia and have this information influence the verdict in the U.S? Already, the paramilitaries’ attorneys have rejected some requests from Colombia to interview the commanders.

An option for the current situation might be something the Spanish Judge Baltazar Garzon mentioned during his visit to the Urabá region in late August. Garzon was witnessing the exhumation of a mass grave along with the Attorney General of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno. “There have been cases,” he said, “in which the U.S. returned extradited criminals to Spain so that they finish their respective sentences.” This could be applied to Colombian paramilitaries who could be temporarily returned to Colombia to finish what was left as “in process” under the Justice and Peace process.

If governments with such global influence as the United States fail to postpone the extradition of these criminals until Colombia prosecutes its own criminals for crimes against its own citizens, what kind of standards are we setting for international justice? How many pounds of cocaine that have entered the United States equal the number of persons disappeared in Colombia?

These two issues are not separate as the paramilitaries used their drug trafficking money to fund their illegal organization. We cannot continue to perpetrate imperialistic ideologies that prioritize the U.S. legal agenda by accepting that these paramilitary chiefs serve sentences in the United States for drug trafficking before they finish their judicial cases in Colombia and are prosecuted for their crimes against society. They should be prosecuted for their drug trafficking activity, but who says that this has priority over massive human rights violations? Why was their extradition imperative? The crimes and violations they committed require a long reparation process in Colombia. Drug trafficking is also a crime in Colombia, which has a court and judges that should be capable of prosecuting them in their own territory. It is now clear who calls the shots in the political sphere between Colombia and the United States and who is left behind the scenes rendered as invisible elements, powerless and as redundant victims of an unjust society.

Concerns and Human Rights Organizations
International and Colombian human rights organizations are concerned about the lack of guarantees for continuing a “real” process that will grant the victims the truth that is long overdue. They fear that now that the paramilitaries have been shipped to the United States, there will be no justice for them in Colombia—or elsewhere. They believe that the crimes committed against their loved ones will no longer have a place on the president’s agenda.

According to Jesuit priest and human rights defender, Father Javier Giraldo, the extradition was a way for the Colombian government to do damage control, since some of the paramilitaries were incriminating high-ranking officials in government and military positions (such as the case of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó) and because of the para-political scandals that were getting too close to Uribe’s highly protected nucleus.

If criminals were able to negotiate a peace process with the Colombian government that results in a guarantee that, despite the hundreds of atrocities and human rights violations, they will only serve eight years in prison; if after such negotiations these criminals still continued to coordinate and authorize violations from their prison cells, and if they are given the privilege to confess whatever they think is “sufficient” and all this is called ‘justice and peace,’ my question then is: What kind of peace and justice are the victims obtaining?

Under US law, the extradited paramilitaries are not obliged in any way to testify or to serve a sentence for any crimes committed, besides those being prosecuted by the United States. How would people in the United States respond if it were the other way around? What if U.S citizens responsible for massive human rights violations, for killing and disappearing innocent people, for failing to respect a peace process, were extradited elsewhere (you pick a place) before completing their trial and sentence and justice was served for the victims? Would this be considered justice and reparation for the U.S. public and society?

At the Berkeley School of Law, a group of law students under the leadership of Roxanna Altholz is advocating on behalf of Colombian victims of paramilitaries in the US justice system. “The United States should not conduct these prosecutions for drug trafficking at the expense of the investigations for murder,” says Altholz. Her group wants to ensure that the murder prosecutions against the paramilitary leaders are not paralyzed as a result of the drug trafficking charges in the United States.

It is our responsibility as US citizens to question the actions of the State Department and the policies, petitions, and negotiations, and interferences made in countries such as Colombia. Extraditing a large group of key leaders in a group that terrorized and committed massive human rights violations before they can serve and actively participate and finish a peace process and offer real options for a reparation process on behalf of their victims should not be reduced to being an extradition of drug dealers and traffickers. These criminals are now in US territory, but should they really be there, instead of confessing their crimes in their homeland?

Help FOR support peace efforts in Colombia and demilitarize U.S. policy.

1. Action alert: No guns for army commander implicated in death squads
2. Wave of violence and threats against grassroots groups
3. Peace Community: Judicial Advances, but Paramilitaries Threaten
4. Extradition: Shipping Out the Truth
   
5. Events in Bay Area & Drop Beats not Bombs tour

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Action Alert: No guns for army commander implicated in death squads

Send a fax to Congress to put a hold on military materiel

A witness testified that Colombian Army commander General Mario Montoya delivered weapons to a paramilitary death squad when he was a commander in Medellín, and the Colombian attorney general has opened an investigation into the charges, the Washington Post revealed on September 17.

 

Gen. Montoya, photo: Washington Post "Gen. Mario Montoya has for years been a trusted caretaker of the sizable aid package Washington provides Colombia's army," the Post noted. Yet US officials have brushed off this and previous reports of the general’s collaboration with death squads, saying, "Our experience with Montoya is a good one. He is a great field commander." When similar reports, based on a CIA document, surfaced last year, the State Department simply said it couldn’t verify them. But Colombian prosecutors said the witness in this case has "a high degree of credibility."

 

In response to reports of hundreds of extrajudicial killings by the army, Congressional appropriators have put a hold on $72 million in military hardware – out of more than $180 million the State Department released in July by certifying that the Colombian government and military is cutting ties to paramilitaries and addressing human rights abuses by the armed forces.

US policymakers continue to give the public excuses for funding and training the Colombian military. "There are many excuses for war, and thousands of reasons to resist it," as the Medellín Youth Network says. The Los Angeles Times also called for a change in Colombia policy this month, saying the army has "murderous thugs on the loose" and insisting that "the U.S. should not be the financial backer of army-sponsored domestic terrorism."

Please send a message to Congressional appropriators today. They have the power to keep a hold on funds for guns, training and hardware for the Colombian army. They should use it! With the recent evidence linking Montoya to the paramilitaries, insist that Congress keep a hold on US military aid to Colombia. To send a message, click here.

Read the full Washington Post report.

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Wave of Violence and Threats against Grassroots Leaders

"Post-conflict" is a buzz-word these days in Colombia. Since the demobilization of 30,000 paramilitaries, Colombian government officials often celebrate the country’s "transition’ and many Washington policymakers are convinced that Colombia is now on the right track. In this phase, there are only "emerging criminal networks," a phrase coined to explain the violence that persists in the wake of the demobilization. Government officials say these networks are gangs of criminals responsible for drug running, arms selling and other illegal activities, but they are not the same paramilitaries who terrorized the civilian population for many years. Both terms lead us to believe that Colombia is no longer in the midst of a conflict and that current violence is not politically motivated.

September brought (more) clear evidence that threats and cases of violence still abound in Colombia and that these cases affect the full spectrum of Colombia’s human rights community:

• A leader of Women’s Peaceful Path (La Ruta Pacifica de las Mujeres) was murdered;
• Sugarcane workers were victims of a violent crack down;
• A Nasa indigenous leader, also in Cauca, was killed;
• A member of a rural community that resists the expansion of palm oil plantations was threatened, abducted and held at gunpoint;
• Conscientious objectors in Barrancabermeja received a written death threat;
• Activist and economist Hector Mondragon was put a risk when one of Colombia’s main newspapers falsely accused him of writing to a guerrilla leader.

Peaceful Path of Women Rejects the Murder of one of its Members in Medellín

Bogota, September 25 - Under circumstances that show violence in all its disgrace and society’s degradation, Olga Marina Vergara, a member of the Peaceful Path of Women, was assassinated in Medellín. She was a feminist and peace leader, known for her work defending women in the capital of the Antioquia department. She was massacred on September 24 together with her son, daughter in law and grandson in her own house, in El Prado, a section of the city center.

"These deaths and this massacre are unacceptable. The Peaceful Path of Women, a political feminist collective which works to make visible the effects of war on women’s lives, categorically rejects these events that show once again the degradation of war and society," says Marina Gallego Zapata, the national coordinator of the Peaceful Path of Women. To read the full statement, continue.

Minister of Social Protection Threatens Sugarcane Workers

Thousands of Colombian sugarcane workers in three southwestern states - supported by Colombia's largest labor federation - have been on strike since September 15, calling for basic minimum labor standards. Sadly, sugarcane companies and the Colombian government completely refused to negotiate with the workers and instead sent in state troops to break up the work stoppage. On September 24, riot police sprayed striking workers with tear gas, shouting at them, "this is nothing compared to what you have coming."

On September 23, Minister of Social Protection Diego Palacio, claimed that this is not a workers strike, but organized by vandals and he has information that behind the strike are organizations with shady origins. Palacio, far from providing respect for internal and international guarantees which maintain the right to free association and the formation of unions, acts to delegitimize and put at risk the safety of these workers as well as justify the violent crack down, which has been carried out by the public forces.

In Cauca, an Indigenous Governor Assassinated

On September 28, Raul Mendoza, indigenous governor of the cabildo Peñón, former member of the council of chiefs of the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca, and ex-president of the Association of Cabildos of Tierradentro, Nasa Uus, was assassinated in cold blood, at 4:00pm when he was in his home in the city of Popayán, Cauca. The indigenous governor was leading an important process connected to the campaign for the Liberation of Mother Earth, in the Los Naranjos estate, located in the municipality of Sotará, which had been claimed by the displaced Nasa community and had made repeated pronouncements to organisms of the state about threats being made against him.

Members of the Inter-Church Commission Abducted and Threatened at Gunpoint

On September 3, Yimi Armando Jansasoy, a member of Inter-Church Commission Justice and Peace who accompanies the humanitarian and bio-diverse zones of Curvaradó, Chocó, was abducted and forced into a truck. Four armed men then threatened him and his family and demanded the names of everybody who is part of the humanitarian zone of Curvaradó. He was released after an hour and a quarter of intimidations and threats. On September 7, members of Justice and Peace received their seventh death threat by phone and on September 18, these human rights defenders were being followed in Bogota and were told of plans to assassinate members of their organization. These events are considered to be part of the Aguilas Negras’ paramilitary strategy to control the region of Curvaradó and displace the community members from their lands, which have been illegally planted with palm oil. To read more, click here.

Barrancabermeja Youth Collective Receives Threat

The Youth Collective of Barrancabermeja, an organization that defends the rights of young people as conscientious objectors, received a written death threat last week signed by the Aguilas Negras (Black Eagles). The paramilitaries described the youth group’s "petty cultural activities," accusing them of trying to camouflage marijuana smokers, drug addicts, alcoholics, gays, prostitutes and thieves as youth leaders, and accused them of hiding "who they really are, which is unordered guerrillas against freedom and the good functioning of the city." At the bottom of the page, the note is signed, "In the absence of the state and the increase in drug users, alcoholics, places that sell hallucinogenic drugs and businesses where the music is too loud until the late hours of the night, we will carry forth the activities of private justice for a free and tidy community."

The youth group responds to these accusations in a statement describing themselves, their identities and the risks they face. "In this situation [of armed conflict] a group of young people with dreams and hopes lives with the certainty that ideas are more powerful than weapons and that no army can defend peace. This group cries out, "we don’t want to be part of this absurd war in which people kill each other who don’t know each other, for the benefit of those who don’t kill each other and do know one another."

They go on to say, "active non-violence and young people’s work to build peace is at risk and has been threatened by the intolerance and nasty attitude of those who have weapons and hide behind their name Aguilas Negras. This group sows fear, targets us as guerrillas, stigmatizes sexual freedom and the freedom to express our personalities, accusing us of being drug addicts and thieves."

Hector Mondragon’s Choice of Civil Resistance

 

Mondragon On August 29 El Tiempo, Colombia’s national newspaper claimed that an email to Hector Mondragon, Colombian activist and economist, was found on the laptop of FARC guerrilla leader Raul Reyes, who was killed by the Colombian government in March 2008. This assertion put Hector’s own life and the communities with whom he works at risk, as any association with guerrillas often does. He wrote an eloquent response explaining his own commitment to non-violence titled "On My Choice of Civil Resistance," which can be read here.

 

While US dollars flow to army officials who collaborate with groups on the US list of foreign terrorist organizations, women, workers, indigenous communities, campesinos, youth and human rights defenders are being assassinated, threatened and targeted for the brave work they do. In light of so many cases of paramilitary threats, we urge you to oppose the State Department’s July 29 certification of human rights conditions in Colombia. Contact Congressional leaders to request they maintain a freeze on the military aid funds affected by the certification.

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Peace Community: Judicial Advances, but Paramilitaries Threaten

 

Community and FOR members on path in San José de Apartadó FOR is encouraged by actions to hold military officials accountable for the massacre in February 2005 in which paramilitary and army soldiers brutally murdered two families in San José de Apartadó, and for the army cover-up that followed. In early September, Lt. Col. Orlando Espinoza and Major José Fernando Castaño were arrested for their participation in the massacre. Based on testimony of Captain Guillermo Gordillo who pled guilty to charges that he participated, an investigation may be opened into General Jaime Fandiño, then commander of the Army’s 17th Brigade, for telling the captain not to testify about the presence of paramilitaries in his unit.

 

However, the war in San José has escalated in recent weeks, with paramilitary and army threats to Peace Community members and other peasant farmers in the area.

So while President Uribe was in Washington proclaiming the disappearance of paramilitary groups in Colombia, the Peace Community of San José witnessed recurring actions and threats from hundreds of paramilitary troops.

On September 25, according to community leaders, 200 heavily armed paramilitaries in camouflage with insignias marked AUC – the initials for the supposedly demobilized national paramilitary army – stopped at a school in the settlement of Porvenir, close to La Unión (see map at right, click to enlarge), a Peace Community settlement where the FOR accompaniment team lives. The men reportedly told a family they were looking for guerrillas and everyone who help them in order to kill them, and that they had no problem with the army.

The same afternoon, other paramilitaries killed a man in Mangolo, a community between San José and the town of Apartadó, and left his body on the street, the Peace Community said.

The following day, back in Porvenir, paramilitaries blocked paths for local peasants, saying they had to leave the land, which now belongs to the paramilitaries, and that the Peace Community had to be eliminated, community leaders reported.

Three weeks before, on August 30, hundreds of paramilitaries battled guerrillas in Playa Larga, less than an hour’s walk from a Peace Community settlement and adjacent to Porvenir, leaving dead on both sides. The FOR team in La Unión spoke with community members who heard further combat on several days following the August 30 battle.

Other sources, including the army, have confirmed the presence of 200 to 300 paramilitary troops in the area. One source reports that paramilitaries in the area are using armbands with FCU, for the Urabá Central Front. The paramilitaries are also known as Aguilas Negras, a national paramilitary network whose name has been signed on dozens of threats to civilian activist groups.

The presence in mountainous settlements of between 200 and 300 paramilitaries has not been seen for years in San José – and in fact is rare in most of Colombia. The confirmed presence of so many paramilitary soldiers raises the question – what is the army doing to address this threat? How were paramilitaries able to reorganize in an area that is heavily militarized since the AUC’s demobilization in 2005?

But the army has proffered threats as well. On September 15, army soldiers detained Uberto Higuita in the school in Resbalosa settlement – not far from where a family was killed with machetes in February 2005. The soldiers reportedly told Higuita that he was good for having his head cut off, as is the Peace Community, to remember that they don’t need guns to kill, that they prefer knives.

While we are gratified that Colombian investigators are pursuing prosecution of army officers involved in the February 2005 massacre, it is difficult to celebrate fully when the community continues to be terrorized by army and paramilitary gunmen – not to mention the impunity in the cases of 160 other community residents murdered by the army, paramilitaries and guerrillas.

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Extradition: Shipping Out the Truth with Colombia’s Paramilitary Leaders By Mayra Sofia Moreno

Hebert Veloza (aka H.H.), one of the most infamous paramilitary leaders and a key witness in at least three massacres in the San José Peace Community, is currently waiting to be extradited to the United States. He is the next on the list of paramilitary leaders that will have to face charges – and probably serve sentences - in the United States for drug trafficking, production, and/or money laundering.

Nonetheless, with the extradition of these paramilitary leaders, their commitment to Colombian society is on hold, as they will leave unfinished business that was introduced through the Justice and Peace Law of 2005, the law regulating the paramilitaries’ demobilization. Their extradition interrupts the public declarations that these paramilitary leaders are required to fulfill through confessions of all the crimes and violations against humanity that they are responsible for and simultaneously serve prison sentences. In an interview with the daily El Espectador regarding the Justice and Peace Process and his much discussed extradition, H.H declared that he has only shared "50% of the truth" about the crimes that terrorized several regions in the country. When asked, "And the other 50% of the truth will leave for the United States?" his response was, "Well, as soon as I am extradited, yes."

On May 14, the US Department of Justice and the Colombian government successfully completed the extradition of 14 top paramilitary chiefs, fifteen with "Salvatore Mancuso," who was extradited weeks before them. It is important to understand who are these individuals: they are key players in the Colombian conflict. The men constitute almost the whole leadership of the AUC, which was the paramilitaries’ command structure, responsible for terrorizing an entire country, and actively promoted, organized and executed crimes against humanity on scales larger than that of any drug trafficking shipment made to the U.S.

While the notorious: Salvatore Mancuso, Diego Fernando Murillo, Rodrigo Tovar Pupo, Francisco Javier Zuluaga, Guillermo Pérez Alzate, Martín Peñaranda Osorio, Manuel Enrique Torregrosa, Henán Giraldo Serna, Edwin Mauricio Gómez, Diego Alberto Ruiz, Juan Carlos Sierra, Nodier Giraldo Giraldo, and Eduardo Enrique Vengoechea are being prosecuted in New York, Texas, Washington D.C., and Florida, there are victims waiting for justice and reparation throughout the Colombian countryside, particularly in the states of Antioquia, Valle del Cauca, Cesar, Arauca, Nariño, Córdoba and the entire region of Urabá.

Colombian Government and US Embassy

President Uribe said that a primary reason for approving the extradition of the 15 paramilitaries was that these leaders continued to commit crimes while in prison and that, in order to put an end to that, they lost the protection against extradition granted to them by the Justice and Peace Law. The same day the paramilitaries were extradited, President Uribe explained at a press conference that the decision to extradite the paramilitary chiefs was because "…Some of them continued to commit crimes after their incorporation to the Justice and Peace Law, others failed to adequately cooperate with the justice system and all of them failed to give reparations to the victims, since they have not returned the goods and wealth in their possession and/or have been stalling the reparation process."

But we should ask, why didn’t the paramilitaries lose ALL the benefits granted to them by Law 975 of 2005 (i.e. maximum eight years in prison)? Why did they only lose their immunity against extradition to the United States? Instead of controlling the continuous illegal activities of these paramilitary leaders and punishing them for violating the agreements made through the negotiation process, why does the Colombian government agree to extradite them and leave as "unfinished business" the judicial process in their own country?

Read the full story here.

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Events

San Francisco/Berkeley:

Weaving Wisdom
Monday, October 6, 6 pm

You are cordially invited to a "work in progress" screening and discussion of the documentary film Weaving Wisdom produced by Todos Los Pueblos Productions and directed by Nicole Karsin.

Bay Area Video Coalition, 2727 Mairposa Street, 2nd floor, SF

Information: 917-587-7753

 

¡Que Viva la Montaña! & Alúna
Saturday, October 10, 7:30 pm

Colombian film premier, discussion with the directors, and live Colombian music by Aluna. Benefits grassroots organizations in Colombia.

This is the North American premier of ¡Que Viva la Montaña! (Long live the mountains) a documentary film that follows communities in Valle del Cauca, Colombia, in their strategies and struggles to organize and advance sustainable development after a major flood takes their homes. Alúna is a San Francisco-Bay Area multicultural ethnic and Colombian folkloric band.

La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck, Berkeley
$15-$25 sliding scale, no one turned away    

November 5-25, 2008, Speaking, Workshop and Hip-Hop Tour

Drop Beats Not Bombs: Resisting Militarism Through Creative Action

What happens on a tour stop?
*A club or campus show featuring Invincible, an awesome Detroit based emcee, and involving local artists if possible;
*A keynote speaking event featuring Paula Galeano, a Colombian Conscientious Objector, on the situation youth are facing today in Colombia's armed conflict and how they are organizing non-violently to resist it.
*Two workshops – each 1.5-2 hours long - on Conscientious Objection in Colombia & the US, and on Art in Action;
*Classroom visits to Philosophy, Sociology, Political Science, Women's Studies, Latin American Studies; Conflict or Peace Studies, Language & Fine Arts classes, etc.
*Meet-ups with student organizers to help get people connected and involved!

Tour stops and dates in November (some to be confirmed):
Minneapolis, MN 5-6, Chicago, IL 7-8, Carbondale, IL 9-10, Goshen, IN 11-12, Kent, OH 13, Wooster, OH 14, Mulenburg, OH 15, Philly 17, DC 18-19, Ithaca 20-21, NYC 21-23

If you know folks in these areas who might be interested in connecting with this tour, please send them this information! Andi f you are somewhere between Chicago and DC and you would like the tour to organize a tour stop, we have some open slots! Please contact Brie Phillips at 651.757.5353 or peacemakertraining@gmail.com

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Comenzamos a caminar el 1 de octubre por la vida, mas de 600 personas paso tras paso comenzamos a seguir fortaleciéndonos en solidaridad en construcción de vida, frente y en oposición al caminar de muerte que han sembrado los actores armados en la zona.

Queríamos arrancar al frente de la Brigada XVII haciendo una oración y dejando los cajoncitos y cruces de los mas de 180 asesinatos que se han realizado contra la comunidad, donde mas del 90% han sido por parte del Estado, en la carretera fuimos obstaculizados por mas de dos horas por el ejercito y la policía quienes nos impidieron seguir y poder realizar este acto de memoria un derecho de las victimas a nivel universal. Nuevamente fuimos víctimas de abusos por parte de la fuerza pública quienes nos grabaron constantemente pese a que es prohibido por la Corte Constitucional.

Nuevamente tenemos que dejar constancia a la historia de acciones descaradas y de terror por parte del estado, pedimos la solidaridad nacional e internacional ante nuevos anuncios de muertes y masacres contra la comunidad por parte de los paramilitares.

 

-          Desde el día 25, 26 y 27 de septiembre los paramilitares habían estado en la vereda el Porvenir, el día 29 de septiembre a las 9 a.m. llegaron  mas de 100 paramilitares a la vereda la Unión perteneciente a nuestra comunidad, llegaron con arma larga, brazaletes que decían AUC  y se presentaron como autodefensas, allí detuvieron a una familia de la comunidad y le dijeron que estaban haciendo presencia para acabar definitivamente con la comunidad, que iban a arrasar con la comunidad de paz, que si se acaba esa h.p. comunidad se podían hacer los planes que se tenían, que el estorbo era esa comunidad guerrillera y para acabarla había que hacer de todo. El día 30 de junio permanecen en la vereda la Unión a 20 minutos del caserío.

FOR stands in solidarity with the LA RUTA PACIFICA DE LAS MUJERES (Pacifist Road of Women). We recognize the great significance behind the assassination of leaders who promote non-violence and reject the deaths, threats, and intimidation tactics that are heavly rooted in the continous Colombian internal conflict. Please see below for information on the assasination of a member of the Ruta Pacifica along with her loved ones.


Translated version from IFOR-WPP:

The social movement of feminist-pacifist women demands respect for the life and the dignity of women

La Ruta Pacifica de Las Mujeres- or the Pacific Road of Women- rejects the murder of one of their members in Medellin.

It was a paradox. While La Ruta Pacifica was launching the book ‘violences against women in a society in war’ in Medellín, one of its members- Olga Marina Vergara- was murdered, together with her son, daughter-in-law and grandson- a child of five years old.

Bogotá, 25 of September 2008. - In circumstances that proof the ignominy of violence and the degradation of society, Olga Marina Vergara, member of the Pacific Routeof the Women was assassinated in Medellín. This feminist and pacifist leader known for her work with women in the ancient capital was murdered together with her son, daughter-in-law and grandson in her own house in the section of Prado - East Center, Wednesday 24 of September.

‘These deaths and this massacre are inadmissible. The Pacific Route of the Women, a political feminist project working for the visibilization of the effects of the war on the lives of women, rejects categorically these events, which demonstrate once again the degradation of the war and society. The conditions and circumstances, in which they happened, are of extreme gravity. It is therefore that we insist towards the authorities that they investigate and determine the motives for what happened’, indicated Marina Gallego Zapata, National Coordinator of the Pacific Route of the Women.

Also, the Coordinator of the movement emphasized that the Pacific Route of the Women continues and persists in their struggle so that the subject of violence against the women does not just appear in public agendas as circumstantial news. ‘Our interest is to establish an ethical and political commitment to finish with impunity and the social allowance towards violence that is committed against women, the more in the situation of conflict that our country is facing’.

To reject the murder of Olga Marina Vergara and three of her family members, social feminist organizations of the country (part of the Pacific Route) unite. These organizations work together for a negotiated transmission of the armed conflict in Colombia and for the visibilization of the effects of the war on the lives of women.

These same organizations express their solidarity and support to the family of Olga Marina Vargara.

Spanish Version:
LA RUTA PACIFICA DE LAS MUJERES RECHAZA EL ASESINATO DE UNA DE SUS INTEGRANTES EN MEDELLIN

Paradójicamente, mientras La Ruta presentaba en Bogotá el libro 'Las violencias contra las mujeres en una sociedad en guerra', en Medellín una de sus integrantes fue masacrada junto a su hijo, nuera y nieto, un menor de cinco años de edad.

Bogotá, 25 de Septiembre de 2008. – En circunstancias que evidencian la ignominia de la violencia y la degradación de la sociedad, fue asesinada en Medellín la integrante de la Ruta Pacífica de las Mujeres, Olga Marina Vergara.

Esta líder feminista y pacifista, de amplia trayectoria en la capital antioqueña por su trabajo en favor de las mujeres, fue masacrada junto con su hijo, nuera y nieto en su propia casa en el sector de Prado – Centro este miércoles 24 de septiembre.

'Estas muertes y esta masacre son inadmisibles. Es así como la Ruta Pacífica de las Mujeres, propuesta política feminista que trabaja por la visibilización de los efectos de la guerra en la vida de las mujeres, rechaza categóricamente estos hechos, que demuestran una vez más la degradación de la guerra y de la sociedad, pues las condiciones y las circunstancias en las que ocurrieron, son de suma gravedad. Es asícomo instamos a las autoridades a investigar y determinar los móviles de lo sucedido', señaló Marina Gallego Zapata, coordinadora Nacional de la Ruta Pacífica de las Mujeres.

Asimismo, la Coordinadora del movimiento enfatizó que la Ruta Pacífica de las Mujeres continúa y persiste en la búsqueda para que el tema de las violencias contra las mujeres no se quede en agendas públicas de turno y como noticias circunstanciales. 'Nuestro interés es establecer un compromiso ético y político para terminar con la impunidad y la permisividad social acerca de las violencias que se ejerce contra las mujeres y más en la situación de conflicto que enfrenta nuestro país'.

A este rechazo por el asesinato de Olga Marina Vergara y tres miembros de su familia se unen las organizaciones sociales feministas del país que convergen en la Ruta Pacífica de las Mujeres, las cuales trabajan conjuntamente por la tramitación negociada del conflicto armado en Colombia y por la visibilización de los efectos de la guerra en la vida de las mujeres.

Estas mismas organizaciones expresan su solidaridad y acompañamiento a la familia de Olga Marina Vergara.

Por un hogar, un país, un planeta libre de miedos, guerras y violencias

RUTA PACIFICA DE LAS MUJERES - *ANTIOQUIA - (4)2844079. *BOGOTA – (1)2229172/76 *BOLIVAR - (5)6663992 * CAUCA - (2)8317939. *CHOCO - (4)6713804. *PUTUMAYO - (8)4274058. *RISARALDA - (6)3332042. *SANTANDER - (7)6477559. *VALLE DEL CAUCA - (2)8854656. *COORDINACION EJECUTIVA NACIONAL – (1) 2229145 / 46 Fax: (1) 2229170

Pagina web: www.rutapacifica.org.co / E-mail: comunicaciones@rutapacifica.org.co

For almost four months now I have been working for the Fellowship of Reconciliation living here in rural Colombia with the Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado. Looking back on my time thus far, I am overwhelmed by the numerous encounters and adventures, relationships and lessons that have been dictating my experience here, that have been shaping my life. However, as I begin to piece together something linear, or even comprehensible, of this montage of events and feelings, I find it difficult to sum up in words this spattering of images and ideas, people and places that have been influencing me and now flood my mind. In short, there is no place in the world that can compare to living amidst the peasant farmers (campesinos) of a Peace Community in the middle of a conflict zone.

Here are some thoughts I had at the end of July after about two months of my time here in Colombia, followed by a more recent update of my life and work, which inevitably have been intertwined. I struggled in determining whether or not to share some of these earlier thoughts as I feel that my eyes have been opened more and more each day, and that it has taken some time to fully understand and evaluate what I have been experiencing here in the Peace Community. Nonetheless, coupled with my current understandings, I hope that these stories and reflections provide some insight into the life of an international accompanier in the Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado.

27 July 2008

I have realized that the longer that I am here, the more that I am losing all since of time. The days seem to all flow together and I can never keep track of the dates. My only useful tool of time keeping these days is the sun. And even then, I can be easily deceived by the clouds lingering for the next thunderstorm. However, in compensation for this fading sense of mine, somehow my sense of direction seems to slowly be improving. Learning to rely more on my instincts than ever before, I am beginning to trust myself and my orientation. Paths are becoming more familiar as are hills and fields. I even am distinguishing between new footprints and old ones, the outlines of different boots, and even the freshness of animal dung. My survival skills are developing each day as I discover what fruits, nuts and plants along the paths are safe to consume and which are best for alleviating all sorts of ailments. As I walk along the muddy, rocky paths, my feet seem to be more comfortable taking steps with less caution. I hardly even think now as I take my strides to dance along the tops of the rocks and avoid the hidden mud traps that before were prone to entrap me and my boots. The campesina in me is slowly developing day by day.

In my past two months here, I have become accustomed to the norms of communication in this village as per knowing the appropriate areas for discussion in order that I have begun developing meaningful relationships here. Not only is living in el campo simply another world than the modern urban lifestyle, but also living in the midst of war-torn peace community provides its own inevitable complications. From former family members to future family planning, these seemingly ordinary subjects of conversation at times become intensely invasive topics, as would be when inquiring about war casualties.

Besides the sensitivity of many average matters, one has to cultivate the ability to communicate a certain level of understanding when in reality it is truly impossible for any outsider to ever fully comprehend the realities of this community. In this struggle for empathy arises the invitation of trust that can be extended to some foreigners on an individual basis. Although FOR has developed a meaningful and working relationship with the community having been living here for the past six years, there nonetheless remain distinctions amongst the various teammates. As certain volunteers have formed deeper connections than others, each one endeavors personally to create strong bonds with members and leaders of the community, even with those who lack amiable relationships amongst themselves.

Noting these conditions, I have begun developing significant relationships within the community. My initial conversations about work and family have been leading me into deeper issues with certain individuals. While the line of trust continues to be a fragile one, I have been able to cross this delicacy slowly and intentionally. There is one young woman of the PC that lives in another village about two hours from mine. In our limited encounters, we have begun cultivating a true friendship for which I am very grateful. As her husband is in the official leadership council of the community, my friend cannot help but also be one of the informal leaders and therefore with an equally valuable perspective.

As our friendship has been developing, I had been eager to find an opportunity to begin asking some deeper questions about her life, her story and her insights. One night, I found myself in a more private conversation with my friend, and so we began talking more openly about the true situation here on the ground with the PC. We had just visited her family in their home a few days earlier as we were completing an accompaniment with a few community members involved in the project of organic production of the PC. But now the moment was different as we were sitting alone on a bench outside of one of the homes watching the evening rain, the conversation moved from comfortably casual to intimately personal. Maybe because of the time we had passed together in her home and the moments we had spent with her daughters and husband, she felt free to ask about my feelings about working with the community, as she was ready to express her own. Sharing with me her fears and concerns, she opened up to me about her past and current struggles as a community member, as well as the genuine belief she holds in their goals. I began to share with her about an experience we had had on the way back from visiting her home recently:

While we were making the rounds with the visitors for the organic project, we encountered some armed actors on one of the mountains. As we were climbing up one slope, four uniformed soldiers were trotting down with their guns slung across their shoulders. Although it is not uncommon to find military soldiers amidst the jungles of the countryside, these meetings are still not pleasant surprises. However this time was different. The manner in which they swiftly descended the mountainside, the small campesino-like physiques and appearances, and most distinctly, the lone female in the group all immediately revealed that these were not military soldiers we were facing, but rebel guerrillas. As this was my first and only occasion thus far to meet a member of the FARC in the zone, I watched the others and followed their cues, my heart beating excitedly in my chest. Without many words or exchanges, the first two males and then the female guerrilla passed alongside our group, but the fourth man stopped and waited for us to approach. For the next ten minutes, we listened to him speak about the political goals of the FARC and how he was struggling to achieve them. He not only offered his respect to the Peace Community for their political separation from the state, but also acknowledged the value of the international accompaniment. As we bade farewell and continued on our journey over the hill, I stopped and turned to watch them walk away. Replaying this rebel's discourse over and over in my mind, I kept evaluating what it was that finally motivated this campesino to take up a gun and join the FARC. What had the state done that had pushed him over the edge and compelled him to fight back with violence. From the stories I had heard from the Peace Community itself, I could only imagine that some in justice against this man would have been highly possible.

Although hesitant, I was not afraid to share this story with her, but rather I felt eased by the familiarity with which she seemed to receive my words. Even though that encounter with the guerrilla in the countryside had been quite unique for me, my friend of no more than thirty years had also had her own fair share of unlikely run-ins with the armed groups in the jungle. Out of a desire to comfort me or maybe from a need to share her own story and be comforted herself, my friend began recounting to me a day in her life that she will never forget, and one that I will now will always carry with me. As she spoke, the rain poured harder and harder, almost protecting our conversation and muffling our voices with the intensity of the sound of the water hitting the tin roofs. And she began. About five years, she had been out with her husband working on their farm in the afternoon while her mother and a neighbor were at home watching her youngest of three daughters. As was seemingly normal, some guerrilla soldiers passed by the home demanding food, water and basic supplies. Not too long after, the military also came by the home in pursuit of those very same guerrillas. Pressuring the mother and the neighbor to inform of the whereabouts of the rebels, the two campesinos refused to speak as is part of the Peace Community's principle of neutrality in which they do not pass information about the war from one armed group to another. The military soldiers were dissatisfied with this lack of responses and therefore started accusing these Peace Community members of being involved with the FARC. Out of fear and without thinking, the neighbor suddenly decided to flee from these interrogations and avoid further retribution. However, as the military started shooting at him as he was running away, they had not seen my friend's young daughter of only a few years who had innocently followed him in his attempted escape and had unknowingly put herself in the line of fire. The soldiers' shots in that moment that brought down the neighbor were also the very ones that took the life of my friend's little girl.

I could feel the tensity of her voice in the tightening of my skin as she spoke. Her head hit her hands as she could no longer hold back her tears, forcing her to pause for a moment. Overcome with sympathy, I reached out to my friend and held her as she continued her story as she cried. It was as if making herself retell and relive this painful memory yet one more time would help to remember and reclaim all that she had lost that day. The rain flowed heavily now with our tears as slowly yet steadily, she recounted the next steps. Having heard the gun shots, my friend ran the hour-long distance back to her home only to find her mother weeping alone in the home with blood on her clothes. Her young daughter and the neighbor were already being transported in hammocks to the nearest town to seek help, but the mother admitted how grave was the daughter's status. With patient determinedness, my friend completed her story through long breaths and silent tears, recalling how she had learned that her daughter had not survived the journey to town but had passed away soon after the shooting.

We sat in silence listening to the storm. My arm around my friend's shoulder, I was unsure of what to say or how to comfort her. All I knew in that moment is that my work with FOR had been permanently affected by that conversation, that my life had been forever changed by my friend. What is there to say to someone who has experienced such a terrible loss? How is one to comfort such a tragically stricken individual? And that is exactly why my friend is a part of this community, because almost every person in the Peace Community has a similar story of the loss of a loved one, of a threat on his or her own life and of a desire to seek peace amidst such horrific violence. Therefore, this is where the comfort lies: in the solidarity of the campesinos that seek peace and in the hope of a community that struggles for a future.

And this is exactly what makes the persistent existence of the Peace Community so incredible. The fact that these campesinos believe enough in the pursuits of peace and justice that they continue this pursuit with the memories of these atrocities and in the face of fear that more may be just around the corner each day.

And that is exactly what makes the work of FOR so worthwhile. That we uphold and respect the principles and values of the community so much that we are willing to come and live alongside of them. This is no ordinary human rights work that we are doing here in el campo; this is about literally standing up in the face of impunity with the community in order to prevent just one more death, one more atrocity, and one more displacement in the PC. While other international accompaniment groups in the zone operate from living outside of the community, FOR strives to retain the ability to remain an uninvolved observer while living in the midst of the community. Therefore we have the privilege of witnessing firsthand the realities of life within this community, within this war zone. Over the past eleven years of the lifespan of the PC, very few outsiders have had such the honor of observing and evaluating such insights. Analyzing security from the perspective of the public or from the views of the leaders allows for only a glimpse of the true situation that we see day to day with our own eyes from our home in the community and that we constantly hear from the farmers and from their children and grandparents that live as our neighbors. No news article nor censored conversation can compare with the depth of understanding that we gain from experiencing life amidst the conflict-affected campesinos.

However, the effectiveness of international accompaniment does rely on the credibility of the neutral observer. Therefore the concept of non-interference into the affairs of the community is crucial, despite how involved emotionally I may become. Even though I live within the community, I will never be able to become one of the community members. As real as my relationships become, I will also be set apart as outsiders because of the nature of my work. The very distinctions that set me apart from the community are the ones that make me most effective at my job. The nationality of my passport, the color of my skin and the language of my homeland - all these attributes that prevent me from fully integrating are the very tools that enable me to do this work.

In truth, there are constant concerns here in the community about yet another massacre attempting to destroy their lives; however, the reality is that this anxiety alone has the power to deteriorate life if one is not aware of and prepared for its presence. And it is in this conscientiousness that the community finds it greatest strength: unifying against all imminent threats from the surrounding forces that try to tear it apart. But here also lies the most vulnerable weakness, in that the community must rely on each individual to take an outward stance against the inevitable injustices by making such a strong commitment to the cultivation of peace. Because each member of the Peace Community must contribute to its endurance in order to maintain each one's own survival, the significance of each member is heightened. By intertwining various factors of loyalty and subsistence, ones life becomes just as dependent on the community as the community is dependent on the individuals. Therefore, the support must be mutual. If the community is not willing to reach out to the weaker members, then someone or something else will. And if this happens, then the results can be grave for everyone in the group.

This is precisely why the community will gather together in the face of their enemies at times in order to resist the outside forces that desire to penetrate into the community. A couple of months ago, the humanitarian aid extension of the state decided to come to LU to host a meeting in the village's school. This organization called Accion Social (AS) has begun working in the zone in order to demonstrate their support for this war torn region. However, the Peace Community is neither ignorant of the state's actual intentions to establish its presence within the community, nor is it willing to collaborate with the state which has been behind so many atrocities committed against the community. Therefore on this day of the proposed AS meeting, the community leaders called together their members for a sit-in at the school in order to prevent any official meeting of the state to take place. The community was infuriated that the state believed that it did not need permission to enter into the community when in reality the Inter-American Court as well as the Colombian Constitutional Court have both recognized that the rules and parameters of the Peace Community, including the right to deny access to the community by all actors in the conflict, must be respected by all entities, even the state itself. For about an hour, the community members were in a test of wills with the men from AS to see who would concede first. One community leader repeatedly told AS how the Peace Community, how these campesinos had been living and working in this area for eleven years and were by no means going to relinquish their space now or leave in the face of the state. Eventually, AS decided to pack up and leave the community, after which the community promptly put a lock on the door of the school building to prevent any further attempts of intruding. Whether it was the insistence of the community leader or the strength in numbers of the community members, the Peace Community was yet again able to peacefully hold its ground.

Despite these moments of seemingly minimal achievements, each community member is nevertheless at all times vulnerable to the temptations of those who would want to harm the community; therefore the community must look after their own. And these risks only become heightened when there is an absence of support. A sick man physically cannot work to feed his family of five kids and a pregnant wife, so therefore must look to other options to find that provision. Not only does everyone within the community know what is going on all the time amongst their neighbors, but also the hidden onlookers scattered throughout the hillsides are constantly aware of the status of the community, watching and waiting for possible openings for intrusion. A hopelessly poor campesino embodies the ideal target for a bribe in exchange for sending provisions to the rebels or for providing false testimony against the community to the state. These armed actors patiently await such golden opportunities when a community member may fall along the fringes, becoming inevitably susceptible to desperate measures.

Yet the Peace Community is altogether very familiar with these dynamics and is all too dependent on the value of the members to neglect to support fellow campesinos. It is this consistent outreach to each member that reinforces both the strength and the lifespan of the community.

26 September 2008

As my thoughts are constantly filled with the situation of the Colombian conflict, the physical security of these campesinos and the politic work of FOR, I look around and realize that while these community members themselves are likewise contemplating these same concerns, the Peace Community does not subsist solely focusing on their means for survival. Of course each individual carries the burden of supporting the family and of upholding the community's principles, yet the value of the lives of the campesinos does not rest merely in the fact that they have been able to overcome and to persist despite all odds and regardless of all those who may threaten their existence. Their true value and the deeper meaning of this Peace Community lies in the fact that these campesinos not only continue to struggle for peaceful neutrality within a war zone that does not allow for a lack of allegiance to one group, but also that they demand to live with both dignity and joy.

Although never forgetting from where they have come and always remembering what may lie ahead, these campesinos will not settle to survive with a paralyzing fear, but rather choose to live within a collection of unique and significant individuals that create a thriving and sustainable community. From educational opportunities to economic prospects and from soccer competitions to campo dances, all of these aspects of the community contribute to its effectiveness, in that the members can find success and development and even can discover joy and fulfillment. While always considering in the back of their minds the reality of imminent political and physical threats, these peace-seeking campesinos demonstrate the meaning of their community by the persistence of their struggle and the depth of their existence.

Through all of the unexpected, intense and eye-opening experiences that I have had, I believe that I have only come closer to understanding this intentional depth, as it is composed of endless contributions and expressions of the individuals of the Peace Community. Even though I already feel as if I have encountered head-on almost every significant aspect of life in the rural community, I am reminded each day that there is still so much to discover. From learning more about how to organically cultivate our own garden using cacao shells and chili powder, to how to carry wooden planks on top of my shoulders all the way down the mountain in order to prevent the bats from living in our roof, I feel a bit more at home down on the farm, however lacking in my machete-chopping skills I still may be. Climbing trees to pick ripe guavas without worms, crossing high waters in the river, buying eggs from my neighbors and burning our bathroom rubbish all feel fairly routine. Between the daily tasks of living, conversations with visitors and those that host me, and working in the office on analysis and documents, I keep busy with the seemingly consistent schedule of community life.

And as always, I am still making frequent trips around the zone and into town for accompaniments, visits and meetings that also keep me busy. A trip to town alone requires about one and half hours of hiking down to the first main town and then about another 45 minutes on the jeep into the city. It may seem like quite an adventure simply to go check your email, but I have now become very fond of the road up to our village, La Union, and very familiar with each river crossing and short cut along the way.

However, I never let myself get to jaded by the normalcy of a day or two, because each new day always promises something out of the ordinary. Whether it be unexpected and unwelcomed visitors into the community or an urgent trip to the town or another settlement, a random dance at night or a last minute invitation to a cacao cultivation, I wake each morning wondering what the day will bring. A few weeks ago now, I had such a day of weighty surprises.

As per usual, I woke up one morning and crawled out of my mosquito net. After about fifteen minutes of getting myself ready in our house, I skipped across the path over to the kitchen in our other house to make some tea and breakfast. Other than the fact that my colleagues had left earlier that morning to head down to town for the day, everything else that morning proceeded as normal. Singing to my music as I prepared some oatmeal, I was visited by one of my neighbors who often passes by in the mornings. However, this time was different. She first exchanged with me the typical initial greetings but there was a different tone in her voice that day. In few words and with little hesitation, she informed me that military soldiers were descending down from the hills into the community at the very moment. Somewhat shocked and fairly discombobulated, I flipped off the stove and ran over to our house to gather my things. Throwing on the brightest blue FOR t-shirt I could find, I grabbed a pen, paper and my phone and sprinted blatantly across the canyon over to the hill where I could see the soldiers passing alongside of a home of one of the community members.

As I traversed the shallow river, my blue shirt and white skin demanded the attention of the soldiers, who stopped to watch me. Almost all of them had already come down from the hillside and were already entering into the caserio (collection of homes) of the community. Continuing my climb over to the other side of the community to perch myself visibly on the hillside, I found the community member sitting outside of her home waiting as the soldiers finished passing by. As we watched the line of about 15-20 soldiers swiftly passing through the homes and continuing on down along the trail out of the village, I tossed my phone to my friend and asked her to help me find the spot of minimal cell phone reception in her home. Knowing I needed to make immediate contact with my other teammates, I had expected to be able to use my cell phone at this home, where often we have been able to find signal to make calls. As my friend struggled and failed to find the phone signal, which as always was not reliable, I once again jetted back to my house to grab our satellite phone to call my teammates in Bogota to notify them of the situation.

Yet I noticed something odd while running across the canyon and around the houses back to home. I finally realized that the strange ambiance that morning was reinforced by the absence of the normal morning bustle around the community. Generally in the mornings, the houses have their doors open, their stereos blasting and their inhabitants wondering about preparing to head out to the farms to work. However, this morning was starkly different. The doors were closed, the houses were silent and no one was moving around. Everyone had shut themselves securely inside their homes that morning, waiting nervously for the intruders to leave. Only after I had made the call to Bogota and began walking around to make my international presence visible in the community and to visit people did I start to see individuals slowly and hesitantly reemerging out of their homes. As I strolled from house to house, I could feel everyone's eyes following me. Confirming with people my concern about the situation as I had relayed the news to my teammates, I spoke with many community members who were perched on their porches, monitoring the hills and almost instinctively expecting something more. Scared and anxious, these campesinos were now on edge awaiting to know if more soldiers would appear from the mountain sides and invade their homes, as had happened in the past when the military was involved in the massacre of six Peace Community leaders in 2000.

Thankfully, this occasion was different. No more soldiers entered into the community that day. No one had been harmed by any of the intruders. And no threats had been directly spoken against any of the community members. But these factors alone did not appease the fears of the campesinos. The mere action of violating the Peace Community's principles by entering into the community was sufficient to demonstrate their vulnerability to penetration by outsiders and the freshness of their memories of past tragedies. These reactions are both constant reminders to the community that they never know what is going to happen, much less what can happen any day. For the first time with my work with FOR did I feel that I was actually doing my job: providing international accompaniment in the presence of armed actors in order to prevent injustices against the Peace Community. Nonetheless once again, no one knew what was going to happen, what could have happened that day.

The more time I spend in the Peace Community, the more these experiences allow me to delve more into my relationships here. Whether it be the amount of time or the actual experiences themselves that are bringing us closer, I feel drawn into a new level of trust and respect with the community members. Despite the circumstances that may be creating this deeper connection, I am grateful for the acceptance I am given from the campesinos.

This essay of mine was recently included in a collection by the magazine Mother Jones called "Mission Creep: US Military Presence Worldwide."

What impresses about the sprawl of US bases and its reconstitution since 2001 is the lack of accountability. The US military presence overseas serves as an implicit threat of intervention to host countries and neighbors, and so enables the United States to defy international law and other obligations to the global community. The bases are also themselves unaccountable, especially as polluters, purveyors of sexual violence, and sites for torture. For most nations, it is an exercise in frustration to use political, diplomatic, or judicial channels to address the United States' abuses or extralegal demands, because Washington's military stands ready for aggression.

The Pentagon uses a variety of methods to keep itself unaccountable. The arbitrary official numbers given for its military presence are one. Understanding the true extent of that presence is complicated by the increasing use of private contractors to carry out military functions—in Iraq, such contractors are estimated to be nearly as numerous as soldiers under direct military command.

The Defense Department also manipulates language to disguise or pretty up the structure of global military dominance. It has denied that the United States has a base in Ecuador, for example, instead calling the US installation in Manta a "Forward Operating Location" and implying that it is only a parking strip for aircraft, though the US commander there publicly declared the installation "important for "Plan Colombia." When Washington attempted to negotiate continued bases in Panama in the 1990s, the bases were to be called the Multinational Counternarcotics Center. The same semantic sleight of hand is repeated today for facilities in Africa.

The deception and absence of accountability are especially alarming in light of the global-policeman role that Washington has assigned itself, since the United States is increasingly (and openly) an outlaw regime. Whether the US military is welcome in some countries is not a measure of whether military presence is coercive: the preparation for war that these facilities represent, coupled with the preemptive war doctrine, is by its nature coercive. The allocation of humanitarian assistance through the military also only makes sense as an attempt to legitimate the use of coercion that is linked to that assistance.

In this sense, bringing home the US military from its hundreds of overseas bases is linked to a greater commitment to international law and negotiation as means for managing our country's role in the world, instead of through the threat or use of lethal and destructive force.

For readers to understand how such a transformation could occur, it's important to know more of the movements around the world that are contesting US military projection. From Italy to Ecuador, from Puerto Rico and Hawaii to Okinawa, citizen movements have organized against the US arrogation of the "rights" to use land, contaminate the environment, make war, and define what is legitimate. In some places, such as Vieques, Puerto Rico, nonviolent civil disobedience and a mass movement with support around the world forced the Navy to close a bombing range it had called the "crown jewel" of its training facilities. In Ecuador, citizen movements elected a government that has staked its self-determination on the eviction of the US military.

A sensible foreign policy, when the next US president enters office, would neither reflexively try to maintain the same military capacity, nor to project US dominance with reduced military capacity. Instead, the mission itself should be transformed, by redirecting resources toward meeting human needs, away from controlling others' behavior. Instead of being the "indispensable nation," in Madeleine Albright's memorable phrase, US leaders and citizens have an opportunity to see ourselves as part of the community of nations.

Read and comment on the original at http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/09/9789_mission-creep-john-lindsay-poland.html.

There are plenty of arguments that one could (and I would) make for ending all U.S. military aid to Colombia, many of which are based upon human rights concerns. Given the unlikelihood of that in the near future, however, folks like me concerned about the involvement of U.S. policy in human rights abuses and continued violence in Colombia sometimes make use of a provision of U.S. law that does

Today's Los Angeles Times published an editorial titled "Bogota's Bad Apples: Colombia's U.S.-backed military has rebels on the run. But it's also linked to a rise in civilian killings." The editorial cites research by our office at FOR showing U.S. approval and assistance to Colombian army units who are linked to extrajudicial killings in the country. Here is the editorial:

The world is still celebrating Colombia's spectacular July rescue of 15 hostages held for years in the jungle by leftist insurgents, which will go down in history as a textbook example of planning, cunning and military precision. But amid the rejoicing, it's becoming increasingly clear that the hostage-takers are not the only murderous thugs on the loose. Colombia needs to turn its attention to the growing number of murders allegedly committed by its armed forces.

Although the Colombian military has long been plagued by criminality and corruption, its recent successes against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, have diverted attention from its own wrongdoing. But according to a coalition of Colombian human rights groups, the military is killing civilians at an alarming pace -- more than 300 in the last year. Worse, according to the New York-based Fellowship of Reconciliation, 47% of the extrajudicial killings were committed by army units that had been vetted by the U.S. State Department. Such troops are supposed to be the best trained and most sensitive to human rights, making them eligible for U.S. military aid, technology and training.

Collateral damage can be expected in any wide-scale military conflict, but there's evidence that many of the civilian casualties were not the result of carelessness or misjudgment -- killing people has been the route to higher rank. In Colombia, body counts have been the primary measure of the military's success against the guerrillas, and noncombatants tell of soldiers shooting innocents, then alleging that the victims belonged to the FARC, just to increase their tally. Last year, the military issued a directive making the capture or demobilization of rebels the standard for measuring achievement and worthiness for promotion. That move should help, but the culprits in extrajudicial killings still must be brought to justice.

Democratic Sen. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, chairman of the Senate subcommittee on State Department and foreign operations and the author of a law linking foreign military aid to human rights compliance, has rightly called on Bogota to investigate and prosecute these crimes. The country's military is operating under a culture of impunity that has to change. Colombia has received more than $4 billion in U.S. aid since 2000, much of which has been used in the successful fight against the FARC. But the U.S. should not be the financial backer of army-sponsored domestic terrorism.

More information will continue to emerge as a result of the investigative research that our office, Amnesty International, and other human rights groups are doing on this issue.

COMBATES COLOCAN EN RIESGO A NUESTRA COMUNIDAD

Nuevamente se reafirma la realidad de muerte y guerra que se vive en la región y que coloca en graves riesgos a la población civil, en especial a nuestra comunidad. Las mentiras con que siempre ha actuado el gobierno se siguen destapando no solo por lo de la masacre del 21 de febrero de 2005 realizada por el ejército, sino de la paz que se vive en la zona sin guerrilla ni paramilitares, las evidencias diarias muestran la situación real:

-          El  martes 2 de septiembre entre las 7 y las 9 a.m. se presentaron combates en la vereda la Esperanza entre paramilitares y guerrilla, esto a 10 minutos del lugar donde se encuentran las familias de nuestra comunidad que habitan en la vereda la Esperanza.

I've received many inquires from my faithful blog readers about why I haven't posted in over two weeks. My excuse, dear readers, is a visitor from the States and vacation. Not much time was left to post, I have to admit! It meant a lot to be able to share my life here with someone from my life before I came to Colombia: to show him just how muddy the trail to our village is, how sweet the coffee

1. Letter from the Field: Flowers and Bananas
   
2. February 2005 Massacre: The Army did it
   
3. Killing Metrics
4. Seeking the Truth: An Interview with Guillermo Mateus, 2008 Peace Prize Recipient

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Letter from the Field: Flowers and Bananas By Zara Zimbardo In one of the Peace Community’s banana groves. Photo: Sara Koopman

We are exploring many interconnected facets of impunity and strategies of nonviolent resistance. Deepening understanding of the tremendous power and bleakness of the forces that create and maintain impunity is overwhelming, and in this context the spaces of hope, courage, persistence, solidarity, inspiration and community shine all the more brightly. As U.S. citizens we are keeping an eye on the role of the U.S. in the Colombian conflict, and two examples in particular struck me - the flower and banana trades.

Two products that for me have connotations of friendliness, comfort, beauty, innocence, expressions of love - unlike resources like oil and diamonds which the public knows are implicated in horrifying systems of violence. It was devastating to learn about how companies like Chiquita are intimately linked to state violence and paramilitary terror: a paramilitary leader boasted that a major victory was to get arms shipments through the private port of Chiquita, massive violence is used to forcibly displace communities to make way for plantations, and the mechanisms to hold a company like Chiquita accountable and demand justice and reparation are ineffective and offensive at best. The peace community of San Jose has been affected by banana-trade violence and is working in collaboration with other organizations to challenge the company.

While I was familiar with the hideousness of the history of fruit trade in Central and South America, it was new to learn about the flower industry. We heard from a spokesperson from CACTUS, an organization that provides legal support to women workers in the flower industry, which is a case study in unjust trade policies and lived practices. (Neo)colonial patterns of undermining native economic security and food sovereignty by forcing the creation of export-only mono-crop plantations of commercial luxury items to pay off external debt. Not a new story, but I am seeing it with new eyes in a new context. Peace Community banana tree, with mini-bananas just starting to grow.Photo: Sara Koopman In this case flowers (shipped to the U.S. and Europe, with the highest demand of course for Valentines Day) are part of the commercial component of the "war on drugs," "replacing" illicit crops. While this succeeds as an economic model it fails as a development model, and women bear the worst brunt - entering the labor market they are discriminated within it, not allowed to organize, denied workers rights, unable to obtain medical aid for work-related disabilities from cutting flowers and being exposed to pesticides. They are demanding trade with justice, and dignity and visibility as workers in this industry.

Which products do we think deeply about as consumers in the U.S.? While supporting fair trade coffee and chocolate are on the collective radar, it seems that bananas and especially flowers are not understood as emblematic of unjust trade that affects thousands of lives. How do we allow ourselves to be shocked by the familiar? How might flower-flooded holidays like Valentines be a reminder to broaden our vision and compassion and solidarity? The name CACTUS signifies that while a rose cannot be a rose without its thorns, so a cactus always blooms with a flower of hope.

Zara Zimbardo is a member of the National Council of FOR, an independent media producer, and teaches classes on critical media literacy and the politics of representation. She participated in the FOR delegation to Colombia in August that focused on impunity and the struggles to overcome it.

Visit our blog to read more stories from this delegation.

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February 2005 Massacre: The Army did it

Ever since the February 2005 massacre, in which members of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, including three children were brutally killed, the Peace Community has signaled the Army’s 17th Brigade as responsible. All along, Colombian officials, including President Uribe, then- Defense Minister Jorge Uribe-Echavarria and the head of the Armed Forces General Ospina vehemently denied the army’s responsibility in the massacre and instead said that FARC guerrillas were responsible. To prove such an assertion, the Colombian state produced false witnesses, maps of military operations and slandered the memory of Peace Community leader Luis Eduardo Guerra by accusing him of being a guerrilla who planned to desert. (They presented this as a motive for the guerrillas ordering Luis Eduardo’s killing.)

17th Brigade Chief Implicated in Massacre

Now, more than three years after the massacre, the criminal investigation is showing that the Peace Community was right. Brigade Captain Guillermo Gordillo has accepted responsibility for the massacre and entered in a plea bargain with the attorney’s general office.

Captain Gordillo has also implicated General Jaime Fandiño – commander of the 17th Brigade at the time of the massacre- as having authorized the so-called “Operation Fenix”, a military operation carried out jointly by the Army and Heroes of Tolova paramilitaries troops under the command of Diego Murillo, alias Don Berna.

General Fandiño apparently not only participated in the massacre, but also tried to cover up the truth. Last fall, a paramilitary known as “Melaza” began telling the prosecutors about army and paramilitary responsibility for the massacre. In November, according to Gordillo, General Fandiño called him and ordered him to keep quiet about participation of paramilitary troops in the operation. “He told me under no circumstances should I say that there were armed civilians guiding nor any other personnel but the soldiers,” Gordillo said. The general said “that there were already testimonies of two informants, of two guerrillas, saying that those people had been killed by the [58th Front of] FARC”. Capitan Gordillo also accused Lieutenant Colonel Espinosa of trying to keep Gordillo quiet.

Demobilized paramilitaries also involved in massacre

Before being extradited to the United States, “Don Berna” confessed to prosecutors that his men participated in the February 2005 massacre, despite the fact that at the time, he and his Heroes of Tolova paramilitary troops had officially “demobilized” three months before. This shows the failure of the so-called demobilization process: after laying down their arms, paramilitaries engaged in an atrocity such as this massacre. Yet the demobilization process is hailed by both the Colombian and US governments as a reason to continue military aid and ratify the Free Trade Agreement between the two countries.

Chiquita case and massacres against the Peace Community

Another paramilitary leader, Hebert Veloza –alias H.H.- has began to shed light on the ties between the Army –particularly the 17th Brigade-, the banana companies operating in Urabá, including Chiquita Brands, and the atrocities committed by paramilitaries in Urabá. Veloza is in line to be extradited to the United States to face drug-related charges. In a long interview with Colombian daily El Espectador, Veloza explained how the banana companies funded and benefited from killings by paramilitaries. Veloza indicated than when “Heroes de Tolova” demobilized, they turned over some of the weapons given by Chiquita, but not all. That means that weapons that Chiquita purchased and shipped to Urabá were being used by the “Heroes de Tolova” at the time of the 2005 massacre.

Further strong ties between right-wing death squads and the banana industry have begun to surface after the arrest of banana executive and demobilized paramilitary leader Raul Hasbun, who has admitted to coordinating payments by banana companies to paramilitaries. He indicated that part of the strategy included killings of Peace Community members. Chiquita Brands, Del Monte and Dole appear among the banana companies involved in funding the right-wing death squads.

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Killing Metrics

By John Lindsay-Poland

The Bush administration certified on July 29 that the Colombian government of Alvaro Uribe “has undertaken profound changes to its justice system; military doctrine and practices; and government institutions,” and by certifying released more than $180 million in military assistance to the Colombian armed forces.

The funds, to be used for helicopters, training and other aid, correspond to 18 months of funding that is subject to human rights conditions, including effective prosecution of soldiers for human rights abuses and cutting ties between military and paramilitary forces. During the same 18-month period, the Army reportedly murdered more than 400 Colombians outside of combat, according to data compiled by Colombian human rights groups, including a report presented to the State Department less than a week before the certification was issued.

The 130-page certification document reports progress in investigations and preventive detentions of soldiers for many human rights crimes committed in the last decade. The pace of investigations has been quickened by the addition of 900 prosecutors and investigators, which augurs well for the struggle against impunity.

The question is: Given the nearly total impunity with which soldiers have committed their crimes, what level of effective prosecution for those crimes justifies sending hundreds of millions of dollars worth of lethal assistance? Is impunity for every other killing acceptable? Impunity for three out of four killings? For nine out of ten killings?

For the five-year period ending in mid-2007, human rights groups documented 955 extrajudicial killings by Colombia’s armed forces (nearly all by the army) – for which only two cases involving seven victims had resulted in a conviction and sentence, as of last October. There has indeed been progress: the State Department documents criminal convictions and sentences in an additional seven cases of army killings of civilians that occurred during the same period, involving 10 victims. Although soldiers have been detained or suspended in many other cases, and administrative action has been taken against hundreds of soldiers, the total sum of criminal prosecutions and sentences accounts for 13 out of 955 Colombians killed by the army. In other words, the rate of impunity had been reduced from 99.2% to 98.2%. If that rate of improvement holds steady, impunity for Colombian army killing of civilians will end by 2086.

In addition to certification, legislation known as the “Leahy Amendment” prohibits US assistance to foreign military units that have committed gross human rights abuses. So, could it be that those killings are being committed by parts of the Colombian army that don’t receive US aid?

That’s not the case. Where the responsible was unit was identified, army units financed by the United States in 2006 and/or 2007committed at least 47% of extrajudicial killings in 2007, according to an analysis we conducted, using data from the State Department and the Colombian Human Rights Observatory.

The State Department insists that the Colombian military leadership has changed its policies, and no longer measures its success by the number of insurgents killed. Yet, in a remarkable 10-page section on Colombian “operations to restore civilian government authority” required by US law conditioning assistance, the State Department recounts dozens of military operations, highlighting in each the number of “terrorists killed. ” For State Department officials, apparently, the metrics of killing are still very much the standard for success.

We have another idea. Instead of twisting logic to conform to the desire to continue supporting the Uribe government, the new administration in Washington in January should fully embrace respect for human rights in deed as well as word, and end US aid to the Colombian army.

John Lindsay-Poland is Co-Director of FOR's Task Force on Latin America and the Carribean.

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Seeking the Truth: An Interview with Guillermo Mateus

FOR has awarded its Pfeffer Peace Prize to Guillermo Mateus Corredor, an attorney in the Colombian Inspector Generalís Special Investigations Unit. The unit is charged with investigating human rights violations committed by members of the Colombian Armed Forces and other public officials. The work carried out by Guillermo Mateus and other investigators at the Inspector Generalís office has demonstrated that, contrary to what the government has long claimed, the February 2005 massacre in San JosÈ de ApartadÛ was part of a military operation carried out by the Army and right-wing paramilitaries, and had been planned several days in advance.

The other recipients of this yearís Pfeffer Prize are the Colombian Mennonite leader Ricardo Esquivia, and Service for Peace and Justice (SERPAJ) in Cuernavaca, Mexico. The prize will be awarded on Sunday, September 14 at the FOR Festival of Peace, in Nyack, NY, where Mateus, Esquiva and Pietro Ameglio of SERPAJ-Cuernavaca will be present. FOR spoke with Mateus in Bogot·.

FOR: What motivates to you to do the work that you do?

Guillermo Mateus Corredor

Guillermo Mateus: Several things. First, to contribute to society through the administration of justice. Second, to give confidence to the victims that through my work, Iíll do everything in my power to find the truth, and to find what happened with their loved ones that were disappeared or murdered.

FOR: How do you go about your work?

Mateus: Sometimes I hear about a crime in the news, sometimes from the victim. In either case, I give it the same importance. I look at the facts and find something that doesnít fit, either in the victimís version of the facts, or the armed forcesí version, or in the crime scene itself. That is how we create several hypotheses of what might have happened.

The most important thing in seeking the truth is the knowledge you get through work experience. In a similar manner, as the methods to commit crimes evolve, so does the way to do forensic investigation. For instance, some time ago, the army used to kill peasants and dress them in fatigues after killing them ñ to pass them off as guerrillas killed in combat. But you could easily find out the truth, because there were no bullet holes in the clothing. You no longer see that.

To me, it doesnít matter the victimís condition: whether the person was a guerilla, a paramilitary, or a peasant. The armed forces often use such conditions as excuses, in cases of extrajudicial executions.

My time in the army helps me in my work, as I am able [now] to understand the context of what the army tells me. [Ed.: Military service is mandatory for all Colombian male adults.]

FOR: How did you get into this work?

Mateus: I started in 1991 as a driver in the Special Investigations Unit. For my work, I had to travel throughout Colombia, for instance seeking Alirio de Jesus Pedraza, a human rights defender that was purportedly disappeared by DAS [the secret police]. He disappeared outside Bogot·. Years later, the Colombian state was found responsible for his disappearance.

In 1993, I became ìspecial agentî at the unit, collecting evidence. I was trained in how to conduct crime scene investigations by U.S. officials, and I then taught the attorney generalís office how to operate some of the equipment. At that time, I was alternating as a special agent and chief of the unit directorís bodyguards. In 1999, I started going to law school and went from just collecting evidence to instructing the investigations. I also participated in an inter-institutional criminal judicial police training.

FOR: How do you approach people in your work?

Mateus: There are ways to reach all types of different people. First, never lie to them. Be honest regarding what can you do and what may happen. As a rule, I never promise something I canít deliver. Some of the people are outlaws while others are innocent; I treat them the same in my process.

FOR: What has been the hardest part of your work?

Mateus: The toughest part is that an investigator, to get results, might interview someone and have the experience of that person getting killed. [Ed.: The work of human rights investigators is extremely difficult due to efforts to silence witnesses, and the culture of impunity that exists.]

FOR: Can you share with us an important achievement?

Mateus: One of the most important moments in my career came with the case of the El Chengue massacre, in which several navy officials were found responsible and fired, including one general, a colonel, one major, and two non-commissioned officers.

In El Chengue, paramilitaries arrived into the town at 4 a.m., while people were sleeping. The paramilitaries separated men from women, and took all the men to one side of the road. They sat them down and then killed them, by hitting them with mallets. They did this because they considered the entire town of being collaborators with the guerrillas. In total, 28 people were killed. Their houses were also burned.

Later on, the attorney investigating the massacre, Yolanda Patermina, was killed. Some of my colleagues working on the investigation from the attorney generalís Technical Investigation Team were also murdered. When we wanted to go to the site, no one would take us there; we had to go in an ambulance, with the mayor of Ovejas (Sucre). When we left, people were hanging from the ambulance, begging us to take them out of there.

My biggest satisfaction has been to show that at the Inspector Generalís office we investigate human rights violations. The country needs to know that there are currently more than 3,000 investigations for forced disappearance being done. My dream is that one day there will be more people investigating such cases. Unfortunately, so many cases remain in impunity. How many more investigations do we have to undertake so the country realizes that indeed there are extrajudicial executions?

A human rights investigator is not born, [she] is made: by going on foot, riding a mule, traveling in the rainforest, and working under extreme climate and among vultures.

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Conscientious Objection and Counter-Recruitment in the U.S.

All across the country, young people are standing up and saying “NO” to military recruiters in their high schools and on their college campuses. Communities are mobilizing to create alternative jobs and find positive opportunities outside of the military. Youth in the military and “civilian” youth are defining themselves as conscientious objectors – those who refuse to fight what they deem as unjust and unnecessary wars.

According to the Center on Conscience and War, hundreds of U.S. soldiers have applied for Conscientious Objector status since the beginning of the Iraq war in 2003, refusing to engage in armed conflict because of their beliefs. Beyond those currently in the military, it is also becoming increasingly popular for non-enlisted youth to examine their attitudes towards war and proclaim themselves as conscientious objectors as well.

Counter recruitment organizing, working to stop youth from joining the military, is ----

Educating our communities about alternatives to the military, shutting down the military invasion of our communities, schools, and future and supporting those who refuse to fight
----To name a few components.
Conscientious Objection in Colombia

In Colombia, forcibly recruiting youth to be involved in the 40-year civil war has been regarded as just another tragic effect of the armed conflict. Currently, all men over 18 must serve in the military unless they meet certain criteria or are able to buy their way out. There are certain sectors of the population who are legally exempt from service, but since the most common form of “irregular” military recruitment entails rounding up boys at places where they meet – at schools, parks, or dance and billiard halls, many youth never have a chance to file for an exemption because they are not aware of an opportunity (or knowledge of their rights) to resist. Without a military service card, men cannot graduate from university or get a job with any private or public company.

 

Despite a provision in the Colombian Constitution stating, “no one will be obligated to act against their conscience,” the Colombian Constitutional Court has ruled that there is no right to conscientious objection. However, the United Nations has long recognized the right of conscientious objection to military service and Colombia, as a signer of both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, is thereby required to obey.

Written by Liza Smith and Brie Phillips for the Drop Beats Not Bombs 2008 Tour.

Conscientious Objection and Counter-Recruitment in the US

All across the country, young people are standing up and saying “NO” to military recruiters in their high schools and on their college campuses. Communities are mobilizing to create alternative jobs and find positive opportunities outside of the military. Youth in the military and “civilian” youth are defining themselves as conscientious objectors – those who refuse to fight what they deem as unjust and unnecessary wars.

According to the Center on Conscience and War, hundreds of U.S. soldiers have applied for Conscientious Objector status since the beginning of the Iraq war in 2003, refusing to engage in armed conflict because of their beliefs. Beyond those currently in the military, it is also becoming increasingly popular for non-enlisted youth to examine their attitudes towards war and proclaim themselves as conscientious objectors as well.

Counter recruitment organizing, working to stop youth from joining the military, is ----

Educating our communities about alternatives to the military, shutting down the military invasion
of our communities, schools, and future and supporting those who refuse to fight
----To name a few components.
Conscientious Objection in Colombia

In Colombia, forcibly recruiting youth to be involved in the 40-year civil war has been regarded as just another tragic effect of the armed conflict. Currently, all men over 18 must serve in the military unless they meet certain criteria or are able to buy their way out. There are certain sectors of the population who are legally exempt from service, but since the most common form of “irregular” military recruitment entails rounding up boys at places where they meet – at schools, parks, or dance and billiard halls, many youth never have a chance to file for an exemption because they are not aware of an opportunity (or knowledge of their rights) to resist. Without a military service card, men cannot graduate from university or get a job with any private or public company.

 

Despite a provision in the Colombian Constitution stating, “no one will be obligated to act against their conscience,” the Colombian Constitutional Court has ruled that there is no right to conscientious objection. However, the United Nations has long recognized the right of conscientious objection to military service and Colombia, as a signer of both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, is thereby required to obey.

Written by Liza Smith and Brie Phillips for the Drop Beats Not Bombs 2008 Tour.

LinkTV's bilingual program "Latin Pulse" produced a 24-minute program on the Colombian hostage rescue, which aired on July 29. I was part of a panel with three others on the program, which starts about half-way in.

You can also watch it and read and a transcript at LinkTV's web site.

Kudos to John Lindsay-Poland, Co-Director of our Task Force on Latin American and the Carribean, for his research earlier this year that led to a report with Amnesty International on extrajudicial killings committed by Colombian army brigades financed by the United States. The report was mentioned in a recent Los Angeles Times story about the increase in the number of civilians killed by US-supported Colombian military units.

The number of civilians killed by the Colombian armed forces has soared, activist groups allege, with many of the abuses committed by army units that had been vetted by the State Department.

There were 329 so-called extrajudicial killings by the Colombian military and police last year, a coalition of Colombian rights groups asserts in a report, a 48% increase from the 223 reported in 2006.

The Colombian Commission of Jurists, a Bogota-based civil society group that is responsible for verifying many of the deaths, said last week that a significant number of killings of civilians by the armed forces had been reported so far in 2008 in five Colombian states, but provided no precise numbers

A separate analysis of last year's killings by the