Uribe making good on his promises? In a speech to a military audience in September he attacked unnamed human rights organizations as "politickers at the service of terrorism", and lashed out at critics of his security and social policies.
Get this, he refers to the guerrilla forces as "terrorists" and the paramilitaries are referred to as "private justice groups". (Sounds just like SmirkBoy, see second article.) Not the kind of guy Uncle Sam would have us believe he is.
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The ICFTU is gravely concerned at the recent and alarming resurgence in death threats against and forced displacement of trade unionists in Colombia. This climate of violence would appear to be related to the political context, which last week saw the failure of the referendum called by the head of state, as well as the rise of a new opposition force with the election of former trade unionist Luis Eduardo Garzon as mayor of Bogotá.
"You'll pay for the referendum's failure with your life," went the death threat made against Domingo Tovar Arrieta, a member of the National Executive Committee and Director of the Human Rights Department of the Colombian trade union confederation, CUT. Domingo received the death threat on his mobile phone on October 30. The threat is believed to be linked to a decision by the Cundinamarca administrative court in favour of Domingo and against the defence minister and the national army following Domingo's unlawful arrest on 12 February 1994.
On 22 October, the CUT office in the Department of Risaralda received death threats against 10 union leaders, defenders of human rights and members of political organisations. Accompanied by a hymn to the 'Bloque Cacique Calarca' paramilitary units, these death threats are linked directly to those sent 12 days earlier to union leaders in northern Valle who were exhorted to leave the area and give up their union activities or face death. These union leaders are now in hiding and are unable to pursue their union work.
In addition, according to the Colombian Commission of Legal Experts, early in the morning of 21 October - that is, 5 days before the elections 31 individuals were arbitrarily arrested in Arauca. Most of the victims of this mass arrest action were leaders of political organisations and political and social movements.
http://www.laborrights.org/press/ICFTU_colombia_1103.htm
WOLA Deplores Uribe Attack on Human Rights Defenders
Washington, September 9, 2003--Yesterday Colombian President Alvaro Uribe went on record before a military audience, attacking unnamed human rights organizations as "politickers at the service of terrorism." In a stunningly strident speech, Uribe lashed out at critics of his security and social policies, and defended the government tactics, including the granting of judicial police powers to public security forces, arbitrary detentions, and raids of civil society organizations, that have prompted strong expressions of concern from international human rights groups and the United Nations.
The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) deplores the president's statements linking human rights defenders to terrorism. The statements are indiscriminate and unjust. If the government has evidence to suggest that any particular organization is engaged in illegal activity under Colombian law, that evidence should be presented to a court of law and judged accordingly. In the absence of such judicial action, statements characterizing human rights organizations as linked to terrorism are simply irresponsible and place the lives of all Colombian human rights defenders at risk.
There can be no question that President Uribe's statements will feed international concern about his commitment to human rights. His comments are the latest in a long string of public statements made by high-ranking government officials, casting aspersions on the motives and actions of national and international human rights organizations, UN officials, judges, and even Colombian government officials who dissent from official policies. The clear conclusion is that the current Colombian government deeply misunderstands the essential role of dissent in democracy.
In his remarks, Mr. Uribe lauded the military's commitment to ending terrorism.
But every credible human rights agency in Colombia and internationally continues to report evidence of ongoing collusion between sectors of the Colombian armed forces and illegal paramilitary groups, identified as terrorist organizations by the U.S. Department of State, and responsible for the majority of human rights violations in Colombia. In Mr. Uribe's speech, "terrorist" is used only in reference to insurgent guerrilla forces; the paramilitaries are referred to as "private justice groups." We beg to differ. The most important step Colombia could take to end terrorism within its borders is to investigate, prosecute and sanction all those responsible for violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, including the paramilitaries and their military allies. It is impunity, not human rights defenders, that is eroding any prospect for rule of law in Colombia.
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http://www.wola.org/Colombia/press_release_uribeattacks_eng.htm>