Senators Snub Human Rights Victims’ Testimony

According to a story published in El Tiempo on July 24, a significant number of senators were absent during a session of the Colombian senate where 30 human rights victims testified about the abuses committed against them. The article noted how three years ago when paramilitary leaders Salvatore Mancuso, ‘Ernesto Báez’ y Ramón Isaza spoke before the senate, the chamber was full.

Many of those absent during this week’s testimony belong to parties that support president Uribe. Following is a list of attendance by political party:

PARTIDO CONSERVADOR COLOMBIANO (2 of 18 present)

PARTIDO SOCIAL DE UNIDAD NACIONAL (4 of 20 present)

PARTIDO LIBERAL COLOMBIANO (16 of 18 present)

PARTIDO CAMBIO RADICAL (1 of 15 present)

MOVIMIENTO ALAS EQUIPO COLOMBIA (2 of 5 present)

POLO DEMOCRATICO ALTERNATIVO (10 of 10 present)

PARTIDO COLOMBIA DEMOCRATICA (1 of 3 present)

Notes: the above attendance figures were obtained from El Tiempo’s site.

This video portrays a portion of the testimony.

A reading for “20 de Julio”

El día que le pegamos a Llorente by Carlos Vidales (Spanish). The moral of the story being that revolution against tyranny sometimes requires a useful idiot.

Making a Mockery of Colombia

The lead editorial in Wednesday’s El Tiempo points out some interesting parallels between “Simon Trinidad” who was recently convicted of conspiracy to commit kidnapping in Washington D.C. and “Jorge 40″, the paramilitary leader who according to the editorial is making a mockery of the Colombian justice system. Following is a translation of the editorial:

It is all a paradox -and a lesson- that two men who grew up together on the calle 15 in Velladupar and subsequently took opposite ideological paths but were united by violence now find themselves simultaneously responding before justice. We refer to Rodrigo Tovar Pupo, better known as ‘Jorge 40′, and to Ricardo Palmera, alias ‘Simón Trinidad’. While the guerrilla from the Farc receives all the weight of justice in the United States, the second most notorious paramilitary, next to Carlos Castaño, is literally mocking Colombian justice.

‘Trinidad’ was just declared guilty in the United States on the first of various charges that he confronts for his role in the kidnapping of three U.S. contractors, and could be sentenced to 30 years in prison. ‘Jorge 40′ took advantage of the start of his “free version” part of the framework of the Justice and Peace Law to say that he doesn’t recall many things, denying many of the crimes he’s been accused of, and claiming that the horrors and massacres that took place under his watch were “acts of war”. His formal audience [under the justice and peace statute] is scheduled for August 21.

The coincidences between both men are not limited to youth, which was shared in the departmental capitol of Cesar, where they were neighbors and partied together in the Club Valledupar. In their judicial processes, both have justified resorting to violence by arguing that they were fighting for freedom. But while ‘Trinidad’ based his justification on the communist ideology of the Farc, the “free version” made by ‘Jorge 40′ has been short of unusual. To make matters worse, the families of the victims of the long list of crimes against humanity he is accused of (200 massacres and 800 disappearances) have complained of threats if they attend the public audiences and claim compensation.

All indications are that this paramilitary leader and his lawyers are looking to take advantage of the Justice and Peace Law as well as the the weaknesses in the public prosecutor’s case. It would be shameful for this unprecedented transnational process of justice in Colombia, if the cleverness and capacity to intimidate of some, was able to cast a chilling sequence of murders, disappearances, massacres, and forced displacement of civilians, as the result of acts of war in a patriotic armed conflict.

Mr. Tovar and his colleagues -and the guerrillas of the Farc like ‘Trinidad’-should begin to recognize the elemental: they are systematic violators of international humanitarian rights and owe society a profound debt.

The process of justice in which they have been submitted implies generosity, but requires at a minimum, that those who are processed speak the truth, accept their crimes, ask for forgiveness, and seriously commit themselves to compensating their victims. What ‘Jorge 40′ is doing is just the opposite. It is not a contribution to peace and reconciliation, but a mockery of the country.

Hats off to El Tiempo’s editorial board.

Playing the Cocaine Card II

As mentioned earlier, in a strategic effort to destabilize Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, the Bush administration has been mounting its rhetoric accusing Venezuela of facilitating narcotraffic from Colombia through Venezuela.

Following is a recent example:

The cocaine passing through Venezuela on President Hugo Chavez’s watch has risen by as much as 30 tons a year since 2002, reaching an estimated 300 tons in 2006, according to U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield.

The Bush administration had previously been implicated in the attempted coup against Chavez in 2002, according to a story in the British paper, The Observer.

AI: Colombia is trade unionist danger zone

A plague of death threats and killings, a sham paramilitary demobilization process and almost total impunity - these are the perpetual battles facing trade unionists in Colombia. The country is one of the most dangerous places in the world to stand up for workers’ rights.

continued…

Massacre in Cundinamarca

Eight men dressed in military fatigues entered the Hamlet of San Gabriel on Sunday and massacred five people, including a 14-year old boy. As often happens, local police indicated the massacre could have been committed by the FARC, while local civilians claimed the paramilitaries were responsible. San Gabriel is near the town of Viotá in the department of Cundinamarca. According to El Tiempo’s story, ten years ago 17 people were massacred by paramilitaries in that same region.