The FOR recently obtained two documents produced by the US State Department that list 235 Colombian military units in the Colombian military and 28 police units that have been screened for US assistance, and units that are using US helicopters. (To see the documents, a map of the units, and comments, click here)

The documents show that the US has cleared for assistance the command staff of the Army’s Seventh Division, which includes several brigades with a history of reported abuses. Paramilitaries operated freely in the jurisdiction of the 11th Brigade, which the United States has cleared for direct support according to the document.

The Fourth and 17th Brigades are not listed as receiving direct support, but both are part of the Seventh Division. The Fourth Brigade has been charged with killing dozens of civilians and dressing them in camouflage clothing to look like guerrillas, (photos here) while the 17th Brigade, which the US State Department has publicly said it does not support, operates in San José de Apartadó and has a history of reported human rights abuses.

Officers and soldiers move between brigades, so that many soldiers in unvetted units have likely received US training. Moreover, the Army Aviation Brigade provides tactical support and mobility to land-based units in the Colombian military. But it is unclear whether the land-based units supported by the Army Aviation Brigade are accounted for in the screening the US carries out for human rights abuses.