Stand by Colombia's Victims of Violence

On July 2nd, Ingrid Betancourt, a former presidential candidate and mother of two, three American contractors—Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell and Thomas Howes—and eleven Colombian police and soldiers were freed after suffering many years of inhumane captivity by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Like so many in Colombia and around the world, we at the Latin America Working Group were overjoyed to learn of their release—finally, after being separated for so long, these hostages have been reunited with their loved ones and can go on with their lives.

Even after this release, the FARC still holds many hostages, in extremely harsh conditions, throughout Colombia. So, even as we celebrate the freeing of some, we also want to again express our solidarity with the remaining hostages and their families. We call on the FARC to unconditionally release the rest of their hostages and to explicitly renounce the practice of hostage-taking, which violates international law. We hope that the Colombian government seizes the opportunities of this dynamic moment by pursuing a just and lasting peace with the FARC guerrillas that will help bring to an end the human rights tragedy currently gripping Colombia.

“The only way to change the nation’s destiny is to help the victims tell their story.” —Colombian journalist Hollman Morris.

On February 4, 2008, Colombians marched in the millions in a powerful rejection of violence by the FARC guerrillas. It was an inspirational, authentic cry by Colombians weary of the horrific guerrilla tactics, and a show of solidarity for the suffering of the many Colombians held for years as captives of the FARC. While the march was a citizens’ effort, the government supported it enthusiastically, and President Álvaro Uribe offered “our voice of gratitude to all the Colombians who today expressed with dignity and strength a rejection of kidnapping and kidnappers.”

For many of the victims of paramilitary violence, the march’s enormous scale raised the question of why the same Colombian society that stood so united behind the victims of the FARC would fail to stand behind them. Why did so few seem to care about the families of the thousands of people who had been killed or disappeared by the paramilitaries, about the mass graves in the countryside, about the bodies that washed up on the banks of the rivers, or about the several million people forced to flee their homes, many by paramilitary violence? Why would the government lend support and credibility to this march, but remain mute about paramilitary crimes?  Victims called for a second march a month later, to reject the violence by paramilitaries, as well as the actions of the soldiers and politicians who had supported them. As movement leader Iván Cepeda explained, victims wanted Colombian society to “offer a just homage to the displaced, the disappeared, the families of those assassinated or massacred… We don’t want just a moment of remembrance, we want solidarity.” Yet Colombian society was divided about participating, the government held this march at arms length, and march organizers faced a wave of death threats and violence.

The tale of the two marches helps to explain why a process that demobilized thousands of paramilitaries, members of a murderous armed group, would be so controversial. The victims, after an astounding period of violence, expect and demand not only an end to violence, but some tangible measure of truth, justice and reparations. But the victims of paramilitary violence are still waiting for the acknowledgment they long for, from the government and Colombian society:  to recognize what they suffered,  to admit the role of government officials, politicians and members of Colombia’s armed forces in aiding and abetting paramilitary atrocities, and to say: “Never again.” There is a palpable fear that on some level the demobilization is a sham—with groups that never really demobilized, others rearming, and paramilitary power maintaining a lockhold over national politics and local communities. 

LAWGEF’s new report, The Other Half of the Truth, explores the limited opportunities for truth, justice and reparations available to victims of paramilitary violence through the official process established by the Colombian government.  It takes the story up to the recent roadblock created by the controversial decision by the U.S. and Colombian governments to extradite the top paramilitary leadership to the United States on drug trafficking charges—a move that greatly complicates efforts to try them on human rights charges. Then the report highlights the often heroic efforts by diverse actors—human rights activists, journalists, prosecutors, Supreme Court judges, a few politicians, and especially victims—to wring, if not yet reparations and justice, at least a little more truth from the process. 

For the limits to the truth offered by the official framework began to unravel as many different actors in Colombia tugged at truth as if at a tightly wound ball of yarn. Some one hundred and twenty-five thousand people attempted to register with government agencies as victims.  Victims groups, many vociferously denouncing the official process, began to carry out their own truth sessions, mock trials and alternative registries of stolen land. Human rights groups assailed the obstacles to achieving justice through the demobilization law, and redoubled their efforts to document new abuses by the military and the rearming of paramilitary groups. Journalists published investigative stories and thoughtful opinion columns that sparked public debate on a subject long shrouded in silence. Colombia’s highest courts pried open the door to more justice than contemplated by the executive by setting some minimum standards for application of the demobilization law and hauling the politicians behind the paramilitaries into court. By the end of 2007, Semana columnist María Teresa Ronderos could say, “Like rabbits out of a magician’s hat came the names of businessmen, military and other accomplices of the paramilitary barbarie…. The truth that emerged this year has been sufficiently enlightening… that this year can pass down in history as the one in which we began to discover the truth.” These heroic individuals’ quest for the truth is an unfinished story, but it is an inspirational tale.

The report concludes with recommendations for how U.S. policy can best support the struggle for truth, justice and reparations in Colombia.

See La Cara Oculta, the Spanish version of the report.

"We write to you regarding the extradition last month from Colombia to the United States of several paramilitary leaders of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, which is on the U.S. Department of States's list of foreign terrorist organizations. We are pleased that these criminals will be tried for their U.S. drug-trafficking crimes. At the same time, we ask you to keep in mind the horrific human rights abuses these men have committed in Colombia." Read the full letter (PDF).

Victims and human rights defenders became the targets of a severe wave of threats and violence earlier this year after organizing a peaceful march to call attention to the plight of victims and denounce violence by all actors in Colombia.

Last year the Congress made many positive changes in U.S. policy towards Colombia—changes that couldn't have been made without committed activists like you picking up the phone, demanding your voice be heard. With the foreign aid subcommittees in the House and Senate set to "markup" their respective bills in mid-July, it's time to call your representative and senators and urge them to stand by Colombia's victims of violence.

The Other Half of the Truth: Searching for Truth, Justice, and Reparations for Colombia's Victims of Paramilitary Violence explores the limited opportunities for truth, justice and reparations available to victims of paramilitary violence through the official process established by the Colombian government following a demobilization agreement with paramilitary forces.

Read our publication The Other Half of the Truth (PDF) 
Lea nuestra publicación La Cara Oculta de la Verdad (PDF)

Last week, the full House of Representatives approved a resolution to remove “fast track” language from the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement by a vote of 224 to 195. See how your representative voted. Thank your member of Congress if they voted to “stop the clock” on the trade pact. If they voted no, let them know your concerns about the Colombia FTA.

"We wish to convey our grave concern regarding threats and attacks against human rights defenders preceding and following the March 6, 2008 nationwide rally against paramilitary and other forms of violence. We urge you to take a firm and public stance in support of those who promote and protect human rights." Read the full letter (PDF).

To: Foreign Policy Aides
From: Lisa Haugaard

As the debate on the free trade agreement for Colombia heats up, the true human rights tragedy that is still taking place in that country should not be ignored. It is essential for the United States to insist upon improvements in human rights in Colombia, not to paint a rosy picture to secure a trade agreement. U.S. policy must take responsibility for the behavior of security forces trained with U.S. taxpayer dollars; take into account the continued suffering of the civilian population in the midst of an ongoing conflict; and support the rights of victims to truth, justice and reparations after a decade of atrocities. Here is a summary of recent human rights concerns.

The Bush Administration attempts a return to “business as usual” on U.S. Colombia policy this year. We can stop this!

At the end of February, Senators Dodd (D-CT) and Feingold (D-WI) sent a “dear colleague” letter to Secretary of State Rice expressing concern over the increase in civilian killings by the Colombian Army in recent years. Visit www.lawg.org to read the letter and to see if your senators signed it. Many thanks to everyone who called in and wrote emails to their senators—sending a strong human rights message to Secretary Rice would not have been possible without a collective effort!

In its final foreign aid request, the Bush Administration has sought to reverse the positive new direction in aid to Colombia by returning to the same failed approaches of the past. If the request became law, funding for the military would again make up nearly 80 percent of U.S. aid to Colombia, while support for institutions responsible for investigating human rights abuses would be cut. Visit www.cipcol.org to learn more. As long as members of Congress continue to hear from you, we are confident the administration can be beaten back.

While this “back to the future” approach is not likely to find much support in the Congress, this is no time for us to rest. In mid-March, President Bush called approval of the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement “pivotal to America’s national security” and news reports are suggesting the administration may introduce the agreement in Congress at any moment. When this happens, we must be ready to tell our representatives to vote NO on the U.S.-Colombia FTA—and we’ll have to make sure they hear us loud and clear. Please check www.lawg.org for more information and suggestions for taking action once the FTA is sent to Congress.

Finally, we want to alert you to the threats our partners in Colombia have received in recent weeks. As many of you already know, following the early February marches against the FARC’s continued human rights abuses, particularly the terrible practice of kidnapping, the National Movement for Victims of State Crimes organized a March 6th protest to call attention to Colombia’s victims of paramilitary violence and to condemn acts of violence by all actors. In the days leading up to the protest, a close advisor to President Uribe went on national radio to suggest that the March 6th organizers rally was convened by FARC. Since these reckless comments were made, several of our partners have received email death threats.

We will continue to do all we can to denounce human rights abuses by all actors in Colombia. We are working with members of Congress and the State Department to ensure our Colombian partners who speak out and work for human rights are neither threatened nor harmed. To learn what you can do to help protect human rights defenders in Colombia, visit our website at www.lawg.org.