Colombia: U.K. Should Reject Pro-Paramilitary Law

[Judi Lynn]

Colombia: U.K. Should Reject Pro-Paramilitary Law
13 Jul 2005 23:15:25 GMT

Source: Human Rights Watch

Background GRAPHIC: Conflict in Colombia

CRISIS PROFILE: Why have nearly 3 million Colombians fled home?

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(Washington, July 14, 2005) - The British government should not support Colombia's new paramilitary demobilization law, which Colombian President Alvaro Uribe will promote when he meets with Tony Blair at Downing Street this week, Human Rights Watch said today. During his visit to Britain, Uribe will present himself as a strong, effective leader in the international fight against terrorism. Relying on this image, and perhaps counting on British sensitivities in the aftermath of the London bombings, he will ask Britain to lend its political and financial support for his own counter-terrorism policies. But Britain should tread carefully.

"Uribe is about to sign a law that would let Colombia's paramilitaries off the hook for their terrorist acts," said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director for Human Rights Watch. "The British government should urge Uribe to scrap this law and replace it with one that allows for a genuine demobilization of these groups."

Like the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Colombia's paramilitaries are considered terrorist groups by Britain, the European Union and the United States. Financed through drug trafficking, paramilitaries have arbitrarily executed and forced the disappearances of thousands of civilians. Paramilitary leaders have illegally accumulated immense wealth, and their mafia-like organizations exert political control over various sectors of Colombia.

Prior to the approval of the demobilization bill, Human Rights Watch representatives met with President Uribe to discuss their concerns with the law. The European Union stated that its support for the demobilization process would depend on the law's compliance with international standards on truth and justice. The United Nations and several U.S. senators, Democrats and Republicans alike, expressed similar misgivings. Nevertheless, the Colombian government disregarded these concerns in drafting the law.
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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HRW/dbb6ce1c4e6611d7777a907ba42c2edf.htm

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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE


AI Index: AMR 23/021/2005 (Public)
News Service No: 190
13 July 2005

Colombia: President Uribe must not ratify impunity law
In a meeting with Colombian president Alvaro Uribe today, Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan said that ending impunity is the key for the protection of human rights in the country and urged the President not to ratify the Justice and Peace Law.

Amnesty International is concerned that the Justice and Peace Law, recently approved by the Colombian Congress, will guarantee that those responsible for the most barbaric human rights atrocities, be they paramilitaries or guerrillas, will never be brought to justice.

"The Justice and Peace Law is deeply flawed and will only serve to strengthen the already chronic problem of impunity in Colombia. This is why I urged President Uribe not to ratify the legislation and to promptly implement the recommendations of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, as his government has promised," said Ms Khan.

Amnesty International has urged the international community, including UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, not to support any demobilization of illegal armed groups until the Colombian government has legal guarantees in place to ensure that any members of these groups responsible for human rights abuses are brought to justice. Such guarantees are part of the international obligations to truth, justice and reparation to which the Colombian State is a party.
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http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/document.do?id=80256DD400782B848025703D0066911B

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[mom cat]

1. Thanks for this article...Wonder how Tony Blair will respond.