Statement
of Robin Kirk, researcher, Human Rights Watch
Statement
of Robin Kirk
Researcher, Human Rights
Watch
Given before the Subcommittee
on Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related
Programs of the United States
Senate Appropriations Committee
192 Dirksen Senate Office
Building
February 24, 2000
Chairman McConnell, Senator
Leahy, Members of the Subcommittee:
Thank you for inviting me
to convey to the Subcommittee our concerns about the human rights implications
of U.S. security assistance to Colombia.
I would like to thank the
Subcommittee for taking the time to examine in detail the proposed aid
package to the Andean countries and specifically Colombia.
No one disagrees that Colombia
faces a difficult challenge. A decades-long war and entrenched drug trafficking
have exacted a high toll. Human Rights Watch has fully documented the
abusive behavior of Colombia's guerrillas, who kill, kidnap, and extort
money from the population they claim to represent.
At the same time, however,
forces from within the state itself threaten democracy. Paramilitary groups
operating with the acquiescence or open support of the military account
for most political violence in Colombia today. Yet Colombia's military
leaders have yet to take the firm, clear steps necessary to purge human
rights abusers from their ranks.
This is not history, but today's
reality. Human Rights Watch has detailed, abundant, and compelling evidence
of continuing ties between the Colombian Army and paramilitary groups
responsible for gross human rights violations, which we have submitted
to this Subcommittee. Our information implicates Colombian Army brigades
operating in Colombia's three largest cities, including the capital, Bogotá.
Together, evidence collected
so far by Human Rights Watch links half of Colombia's eighteen brigade-level
army units to paramilitary activity. In other words, military support
for paramilitaries remains national in scope and includes areas where
units receiving or scheduled to receive U.S. military aid operate.
For that reason, it is crucial
for the Congress to place strict conditions on all security assistance
to Colombia to ensure that the Colombian Government severs links, at all
levels, between the Colombian military and paramilitary groups and prosecutes
in civilian courts those who violate human rights or support or work with
paramilitaries.
I have submitted for the record
additional recommendations for actions that Human Rights Watch believes
the U.S. should require the Colombian Government to take before receiving
security assistance.
The 28th of February marks
the two-year anniversary of the murder of Jesús Valle, a courageous
human rights defender gunned down in his Medellín office precisely
because he worked to document links between paramilitaries and the Colombian
Army. The gunmen paid to kill him are in prison. But the individuals who
planned and paid for his murder remain at large.
Even the government's own
investigators are under threat. Dozens of prosecutors who have worked
on these cases have been forced to flee Colombia because of death threats.
In 1998 and 1999, several investigators who worked for the Attorney General
were murdered because of their work on human rights-related cases.
The United States has a positive
message to send Colombia and should respond to President Pastrana's call
for help. But I urge the members of this Subcommittee to recognize that
continued collusion between Colombia's military and paramilitary groups
will only undermine the effectiveness of the aid you send and sabotage
efforts to rebuild democracy.
Thank you. I would be pleased
to answer any questions.
As of March 13, 2000, this
document is also available at http://www.senate.gov/~appropriations/fops/testimony/KIRK.htm