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Updated:1/25/01 |
| Letter
from Senators Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Paul Wellstone (D-Minnesota), January
11, 2001 January 11, 2001 The Honorable William
J. Clinton Dear Mr. President: We are writing to express serious reservations to releasing the second tranche of aid that is under consideration under Plan Colombia. You will recall our concern last July that the Administration would be unable to manage effectively the resources under Plan Colombia while protecting the rights of Colombian citizens. On August 22, 2000, you waived all but one of the human rights conditions establishe in Section 3201 of P.L. 106-246 to permit release of the first tranche of aid. However, since that time there has been no significant progress to permit the United States to certify that Colombia is moving to protect the human rights of its citizens. Nor do we believe that U.S. national security interests would be served by a second Presidential waiver in the face of the continued failure of the Colombian government to meet the human rights conditions contained in the U.S. assistance package. We recognize that the Colombian military has made some modest progress in improving its overall human rights record in recent years. Nevertheless, in spite of an explicit commitment to purge itself of human rights abusers, the Colombian military has still not taken the firm, clear steps necessary to remove human rights abusers from its ranks or to ensure that its personnel are not linked to paramilitary organizations. Further, the government has not taken effective steps to dismantle paramilitary bases, to prevent them from being used to commit crimes, or to arrest those responsible. Moreover, government efforts to protect human rights defenders have been slow, inadequate, and largely ineffective. In light of the Colombian government's failure to satisfy the human rights conditions required by Congress, it is our view that United States interests are best served by revoking the single certification issued in August and by not exercising your waiver authority now. We do not underestimate the extraordinary difficulties facing Colombia as it grapples with drug production and trafficking, and terrorism. However, we do not believe that the United States can help Colombia overcome these problems if we are partnered with a military, which has made limited progress, but is still implicated in serious human rights violations. Sincerely,
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