ICRC emblems in Operation “Jaque”?

CNN is reporting that the Colombian Army may have used the International Committee of the Red Cross symbol on at least one of the personnel involved in the rescue. The Colombian government has vehemently denied the accusations. According to the article in CNN.com, such a use of the ICRC symbol would be a violation of the Geneva Conventions since it could pose a threat to humanitarian workers in other conflicts.

If these claims turn out to be true, it could significantly erode the credibility and political goodwill aquired by the Uribe administration and the Colombian military after the success of the operation to rescue the 15 hostages. It could also further complicate the release of the remaining hostages still held by the FARC, particularly if future hostage negotiations involve the ICRC.

follow up: the day after CNN’s story was published, President Uribe admitted that one of the members of the rescue team had used the ICRC symbol on his clothing. Uribe claimed that the soldier disobeyed orders by wearing the symbol.

Ex-Governor of Sucre Captured

El Tiempo today reported the arrest of Salvador Arana Sus, the ex-governor of Sucre. Arana, the alleged founder of paramilitary groups in Sucre is thought to have played a role in the murder of Edualdo Diaz, see the post Chronicle of a Death Foretold.

IAHCR Expresses Concern over Extraditions

The Interamerican Commision on Human Rights expressed concern over the extradition of the 14 paramilitaries, claiming the extraditions would put a freeze on ongoing investigations of crimes committed by paramilitaries. The extradited paramilitaries were being investigated under Colombia’s “Justice and Peace Law” for the massacres of tens of thousands of civilians and links to Colombian politicians and institutions.

Recent News Roundup….

Since the Colombian free trade agreement was tabled by the U.S. House of Representatives, El Tiempo has published a flurry of stories dealing with paramilitary links to the Colombian congress and military, and recent efforts by the Uribe administration to prosecute those individuals with purported ties to the paramilitaries. One story describes an account of an ex DAS employee, Rafael Garcia, who has implicated multiple Colombian government entities of having ties to the paramilitaries, these include the Procuraduría, the Registraduría, the Superintendencia de Vigilancia, the Consejo Superior de la Judicatura, the Dirección Nacional de Estupefacientes, Indumil, the Armada, the DAS and the Ministries of Interior, Transportation, Communications and Foreign Relations. Another story says that the Colombian Supreme Court is investigating the president of the Colombian congress, Nancy Patricia Gutiérrez as part of the “parapolitica” scandal. Yet another story claims that this month alone 29 members of the Colombian military have been investigated for human rights abuses and that a total of 748 members of the military are being investigated. In the same story, defense minister Juan Manuel Santos is quoted as saying “We must be very clear: if in order to defeat the monster we convert ourselves into another monster, we have not won but lost because we will have converted ourselves into what we were trying to stop”. Another story cites an investigation of 7 members of the Colombian army for possible paramilitary links.

Civilians increasingly targeted by Colombian military

The Washington Post ran a story today alleging the Colombian military has been killing civilians and planting weapons on the bodies in order to make them look like guerrillas killed in combat. A recent letter to Secretary of State Rice signed by several U.S. senators warned of this disturbing trend. The military has reportedly taken up the dirty work formerly carried out by paramilitaries, who have demobilized under Uribe’s Justice and Peace Law. Death squad/paramilitary-based counter-terror against civilians has been practiced in Colombia and many other countries around the world since the 1960’s and comes right out of cold-war era U.S. Army counter-insurgency field manuals.

Arrests in San José de Apartadó Massacre

Three years after the massacre of 3 children and 8 adults in the peace community of San José de Apartadó, the arrest of 15 members of the Colombian army has been ordered, according to a story in today’s El Tiempo.

A Letter from a Human Rights Activist

Bogota, March 14, 2008

Sirs
Presidency of the Republic
Vice-Presidency of the Republic
Bogota

I hereby make public the threats which I have been the object of, along with other organizations and human rights and political leaders, in a letter sent by the “Águilas Negras el Rearme, Bloque Metropolitano de Bogotá” (Black Eagles, the Rearmament, Metropolitan Block of Bogota), last Wednesday, March 12. In this document, we are declared “military objective phase A”, we are accused of being guerrillas and told that we will be killed “one by one. We will be impeccable. We shall leave no stone unturned.”

The threats take place after the protest march on March 6th and an overseas trip made in representation of WOMEN’S, YOUTH, PEACE, VICTIM’S, AND ARTISTIC organizations. The objective of this trip was to recount the vulnerabilities of human rights in Colombia, the levels of impunity, and the complex dimension of the Colombian conflict. It is highly troublesome that after making use of the right to protest, to free speech, to communicate, and to justice and truth, these groups threaten us with death.

It is equally troublesome that this takes place after several personalities within the Colombian government indicated that the protest march on March 6 was organized by the FARC and was meant to support the FARC. Also troubling was the government’s manipulation of the media, and the events that have taken place during the past several months. We have indicated in the most emphatic and permanent way that we are not sympathizers, nor allies, nor part of this guerrilla group, and we reject violence of all types.

We denounce that in Colombia, there are no guarantees for the exercise of opposition, nor for working towards human rights, and much less for surviving victims who demand their rights. It is not the first time that I have been the object of intimidation, which has taken place since the disappearance and assassination of my father JAIME ENRIQUE GÓMEZ VELASQUEZ. In Colombia, the State does not provide security for the realization of our work. Last year, I asked for protective measures which were denied by the Ministers of the Interior and Justice, in spite of evidence of the levels of insecurity and vulnerability.

It should also be indicated that the communique from the “Águilas Negras” states that they have the “support and tolerance of the State and the citizenry in general”. My task, and that of all of the organizations and people who have been singled out, is the exercise of the right to opposition, given by the Political Constitution, which should be guaranteed in any democratic society by the institutions of the State and its representatives, who should strive for a climate of debate and dialogue, rather than exacerbating hate, threats, and polarization, which only contribute to the prolongation of the conflict that the country is living.

I hold the Colombian State, and the president and vice-president of the Republic responsible for guaranteeing our security and for any vulnerability against my role as a citizen, victim, and human rights activist.

DIANA MARCELA GÓMEZ CORREAL

“Presumed” FARC Victims Exhumed

From yesterday’s El Tiempo, a story about the discovery of six corpses in a common grave who according to an army general were beaten and later had their throats cut “presumably” by the FARC. So…who were these six civilians? Where they taken hostage by the FARC for ransom? If their bodies were exhumed in December, why haven’t they been identified? Are we to believe the account of a demobilized FARC guerilla? The original story appears below…more to come.

Enero 6 de 2008

A punta de golpes y degollados, las Farc habrían asesinado a seis secuestrados en Putumayo

El Ejército informó este sábado que halló los cadáveres y que la información provino inicialmente de un guerrillero desmovilizado.
El general Javier Fernández, comandante de la brigada 27 en Mocoa (Putumayo), informó que las personas habían sido secuestradas en el 2006 y que los asesinatos se habrían cometido el 2 de febrero del 2007 en el sitio El Azul, zona rural de Puerto Asís. La exhumación se hizo en diciembre pasado. Según el oficial, “al lugar fueron conducidas seis personas por alias ‘Benjamín’ y otros cuatro guerrilleros y fueron asesinadas por orden del ‘indio Albani’, cabecilla de la cuadrilla 48 de las Farc”. “El desmovilizado nos dijo que se trataba de personas secuestradas por la guerrilla, que seguramente no pagaron por su liberación y que fueron asesinadas vilmente”, agregó el general Fernández. En un operativo con los investigadores del Cuerpo Técnico de Investigación, CTI, de la Fiscalía de Pasto y el Ejército, se encontraron los cadáveres.
“Los encontramos amarrados de pies y manos, amordazados. Todavía tenían algunos vestigios de piel y de vestimenta. En sus bolsillos tenían elementos de aseo. Llevaban varios meses secuestrados”, indicó el oficial.

Al revisar los cadáveres, los forenses se dieron cuenta de que no tenían perforaciones de disparos.

“Por lo tanto cobraba vigencia la versión del desmovilizado, de que fueron asesinados a garrote y posteriormente degollados antes de meterlos a la sepultura”, explicó el Comandante de la Brigada 27.

Sobre los asesinados solo se sabe que serían ganaderos y políticos de Nariño, pero no se han establecido sus identidades. Se está haciendo un cruce de información con el Gaula de la Policía y el Ejército, con los familiares de personas desaparecidas, para saber quiénes son las víctimas.

Massacre in Putumayo

Five adults and four children were massacred on a farm located in the municipality of Puerto Asis in the department of Putumayo. According to the story appearing in El Tiempo, Colonel Harold Martín Jara Concha, the local police commander claimed the owner of the farm had received threats from the Frente 48 of the Farc, because he had failed to pay extortion money to the Farc.

Editor’s note: The police colonel (all too typically) is quick to blame the Farc. El Tiempo’s story failed to mention that the paramilitaries have a well documented history of committing massacres and other human rights abuses in this region as recently as 2006.

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.