Congressional Letter to President Pastrana, June 21, 1999

Congressional Letter to President Pastrana, June 21, 1999

Congress of the United States

June 21, 1999

Dear President Pastrana:

We strongly commend your efforts to bring about a negotiated settlement to the armed conflict. We understand that the process will be long and arduous, and that during this time there will be both promising advances and demoralizing setbacks. Nevertheless, we encourage you to persist in your efforts, since peace promises to significantly reduce the drug trade which plagues both our nations and to promote stability and economic prosperity in the region.

We write to you today out of growing concern for Colombia's deteriorating human rights crisis, particularly the recent wave of attacks against human rights defenders. Several horrific events have occurred in recent months, as attacks by all parties in the conflict have intensified. In January, paramilitary forces rampaged throughout Colombia, killing over 140 rural villagers in a show of military strength. In March, Terence Freitas, Ingrid Washinawatok, and Laheena'e Gay, American indigenous rights activists, were assassinated by FARC guerrillas. And in April, the ELN hijacked a commercial flight kidnapping almost fifty passengers and, most recently, kidnapped dozens of worshipers in a church in Cali. In addition, three American humanitarian aid and missions workers, Mark Rich, David Mankins, and Rick Tenenoff have been held hostage for over six years by PARC guerillas. These kinds of outrageous actions against the civilian population only weaken efforts for peace.

Particularly troubling is the escalation of threats against individuals and organizations working to promote human rights. These attacks make it much more difficult to have access to people and information in significant areas of the country and further expose th2 civilian population to indiscriminate attacks in late January, four prominent Colombian human rights monitors were kidnapped by paramilitary forces. The paramilitaries subsequently issued a letter linking human rights activists and organizations with the guerrillas, placing all who do human rights work in grave danger. Included in this threat are Colombian governmental human rights investigators, particularly the members of the Human Rights Unit of the Attorney Generals Office (Fiscalia). Members of this unit have carried out the most comprehensive investigations of abuses by both paramilitary groups and guerrillas, as well as investigating drug trafficking cases, several investigators have been killed or fled the country because of paramilitary threats in the past. Two days later, two other human rights workers were assassinated by alleged paramilitaries. Threats and attacks are not limited to Colombian nationals: most recently, paramilitary groups issued a threat against international human rights and humanitarian agencies working in UrabA, including Oxfam UK, Christian Aid, the Norwegian Council for Refugees, Peace Brigades International, and the U.S. based Colombia Support Network.

Lamentably, we understand that increased violence accompanies nascent peace processes, as each party fights for an upper hand in possible negotiations. That is why we consider it even more pressing for the Government of Colombia to implement concrete, immediate measures to protect human rights and human rights defenders. Human rights advocates are the last line of defense for the most basic right to life in an extraordinarily brutal war. If they cannot carry out their work, there will be no limits to this violence. We strongly believe, as Assistant Secretary of State Harold Koh remarked during his recent visit to Colombia, that 'we cannot wait for the peace process to succeed before the human rights process can begin in earnest. We must promote a human rights process as a means to promote the peace process."

In February, you met with several representatives of Colombian human rights organizations to jointly design and agree upon a protection program for threatened individuals and organizations. We urge you to effectively and immediately implement the measures outlined in this program so that human rights monitors can continue their work with greater safety and security. First and foremost, we urge you to fully and rapidly deliver the funds your government has authorized to carry out protection measures. Secondly, we feel the Government of Colombia should review any intelligence archives or records maintained by the government or security forces for any inappropriate investigations into human rights organizations and activists. And third, we encourage you to meet frequently with human rights monitors, to listen to their recommendations, and to show publicly your support for their ever important, yet increasingly threatened, work.

In addition to the immediate protection measures for threatened human rights advocates, steps must be taken to address the impunity of those responsible, particularly paramilitary groups. We support recent actions by the Colombian government to establish accountability for individuals implicated in paramilitary abuses. We also recognize the initial steps General Tapias and the Colombian armed forces have taken toward addressing the problems of human rights abuse and paramilitary ties within the military's own ranks.

However, in order to improve the human rights situation in Colombia arid in light of increasing threats against human rights advocates, further action is necessary. It is essential that ties between the paramilitaries and any government, military, or private entity be permanently severed. We firmly believe the Colombian government should prosecute to the full extent of the law anyone charged with participation in human rights abuses and the formation of paramilitary groups, and that such cases should be tried within the civilian court system as required by Colombian law.

We acknowledge the tremendous challenges facing your administration and wish to assure you of our continued support for your efforts to provide protection for human rights activists and to achieve a negotiated solution to the armed conflict. We look forward to working with you to reach our mutual goal of peace and human rights for all Colombians.

Sincerely,

Tammy Baldwin

Tom Barrett

Xavier Becerra

Rod Blagojavich

David E. Bonior

Corrine Brown

George E. Brown, Jr.

Sherrod Brown

Michael E. Capuano

William L. Clay

Bob Clement

John Conyers

Danny K. Davis

Jim Davis

Peter DeFazio

William Delahunt

Julian Dixon

Mike Doyle

Lane Evans

Sam Farr

Barney Frank

Luis V. Gutierrez

Gil Gutknicht

Alcee L. Hastings

Maurice Hinchey

Stephen Horn

Jessie Jackson Jr.

Marcy Kaptur

Dennis J. Kucinich

Toni Lantos

Jim Leadi

Barbara Lee

Joe Lofgren

Nita M. Lowey

Bill Luther

Jim McDermott

Jim McGovern

Michael K. MeNulty

Carolyn E. Maloney

Robert T. Matsui

Marty Meehan

David Minge

Patsy T. Mink

Joe Moakley

Connie Morella

Grace L. Napolitano

James L. Oberstar

David Obey

John W. Olver

Frank Pallone, Jr.

Nancy Pelosi

Joe Pitts

John Porter

David Price

Lucille Roybal-Allard

Martin O. Sabo

Jan Schakowsky

Christopher Shays

Adam Smith

Pete Stark

Ted Strickland

Bruce Vento

Maxine Waters

Melvin L. Watt

Henry A. Waxman

Robert Wexler

Lynn Woolsey

Albert K. Wynn