Colombia reopens homicide investigations against U.S.-backed security forces

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Colombia reopens homicide investigations against U.S.-backed security forces
By Joshua Goodman
ASSOCIATED PRESS

9:33 a.m. June 10, 2007

BOGOTA, Colombia – The five soldiers who killed Maria Elena Rios in a hillside slum of the city of Medellin said she was a guerrilla who died in combat. After a swift investigation, the army closed the case.
But if Rios was a fighter, why was she wearing 3-inch platform shoes when soldiers shot the 25-year-old in the head and back?

That is one of many questions being raised three years later by the public prosecutor's office, which has reopened 131 disciplinary investigations of killings of civilians presented as deaths of leftist rebels in action.

Most of these were shelved after internal investigations by the U.S.-backed military that typically went no farther than gathering testimony from troops involved, said an official in the public prosecutor's office who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the issue's political sensitivity.

The renewed investigations come as the U.S. Congress refuses to ratify a bilateral trade pact over concerns about human rights in Colombia.


Read more: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20070610-0933-colombia-armyabuses.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Colombia ordered to pay $7.8 million to families

Colombia ordered to pay $7.8 million to families
The Associated Press
Posted June 10 2007

BOGOTA, Colombia · Colombia must pay $7.8 million in damages to 99 relatives of 12 judicial investigators killed in a 1989 massacre by army-backed paramilitaries, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ordered.

The May 11 ruling made public by the victims' lawyers Friday is the largest yet against Colombia by the Costa Rica-based court, which investigates human rights violations when justice cannot be guaranteed in national courts. The judgment cannot be appealed.

"It's the first time that the state has been found guilty of collaborating in the murder of other agents of the state," Rafael Barrios, a lawyer for the victims, told The Associated Press.
(snip)

The 12 victims of the La Rochela massacre were killed while investigating another paramilitary massacre of 19 merchants in Santander state. Three judicial workers survived the massacre.


More:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/caribbean/sfl-hcolombia10jun10,0,4953528.story?coll=sfla-news-caribbean

[Judi Lynn]

2. Drunken Colombian soldiers kill 6 civilians

Drunken Colombian soldiers kill 6 civilians
The Associated Press
Published: June 10, 2007


BOGOTA, Colombia: Two drunken soldiers shot and killed six civilians, including a nine-year old boy, after arguing with guests at a party in southern Colombia, the army said.

The two men were captured by other soldiers immediately after carrying out the killings early Sunday, said Gen. Gustavo Matamoros, commander of the army's fifth division.

The two soldiers were already drunk when they arrived at a party at a local school in the province of Caqueta, some 320 kilometers (200 miles) south of the capital. After arguing with guests, the soldiers opened fire killing three people, Matamoros said.

The soldiers then ran to a nearby store, where they killed a nine-year old boy and two other adults.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/10/america/LA-GEN-Colombia-Soldier-Killings.php

[Judi Lynn]

3. International Labour Conference silent on Colombia

International Labour Conference silent on Colombia

PSI deeply regrets that the situation in Colombia will not be discussed within the
Committee on the Application of Standards, now taking place during the 96th session of
the International Labour Conference in Geneva. Given the continuing seriousness of the
situation in Colombia, PSI is disappointed and saddened that employer and government
representatives to the ILC did not accept that Colombia be included in the final list of
cases to be discussed.

Colombia had appeared on the preliminary list of cases to be examined during the
conference, in relation to violations of ILO Conventions 87 (Freedom of Association) and
98 (Collective Bargaining).

Colombia holds the record of being the country in which the most men and women
have been murdered as a direct result of their trade union work. In 2005, 70 trade
unionists were assassinated. In 2006, the figure rose to 72 trade unionists. Acts of
violence against trade unionists further include kidnappings, attempted
assassinations, disappearances, threats, detentions, tortures and forced
displacement, all in a climate of impunity.

A report produced by the International Confederation of Trade Unions (ITUC) in
November 2006 highlighted the fact that in practice, few workers in Colombia can
enjoy their fundamental rights to form and join a union, to bargain collectively and to
strike, despite the fact that those were all enshrined in Colombia’s 1991
Constitution. Employers’ illegal anti-union acts usually go unpunished while the
government’s practices during restructuring and privatisation of public companies
can only be considered deliberate anti-union strategies.
(snip)

http://www.world-psi.org/TemplateEn.cfm?Section=Whats_New&CONTENTID=17617&TEMPLATE=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm