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November 19, 2005
San José de Apartadó update
On Thursday, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), the ranking Democrat on the appropriations subcommittee in charge of foreign aid, gave an excellent, detailed statement condemning the failure to clarify the February massacre in the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó. The Peace Community, in the Urabá region of northwestern Colombia, was founded as an attempt to shield residents from the zone's out-of-control violence.
An excerpt from Sen. Leahy's statement:
"This case presents the Bush Administration with an important challenge. It shows that despite billions of dollars from the United States and lofty rhetoric about human rights, the Colombian government’s initial reaction to this despicable crime was not appreciably different from what we saw years ago. They denied responsibility and blamed the victims even before an investigation began, and some of the key witnesses may not even have been interviewed eight months later."
Sen. Leahy's declaration is very highly recommended reading, and we thank him for making it. We wish that there were many more in the Senate like him.
We're very sad to report, though, that just a few hours before Sen. Leahy said these words, yet another member of the San José community was murdered. A statement that the community released yesterday blames the army for the death of Arlen Salas David, who was killed by grenades and gunfire while removing weeds from a cornfield. Mr. Salas is the latest in a list of more than 150 community members murdered, by killers from all sides, since San José was founded in 1997.
Posted by isacson at November 19, 2005 10:47 AM
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