What really happened in Colombia?

[Joanne98]

By Berta Joubert-Ceci

Published Jul 13, 2008 10:26 PM
Colombia made prime news around the world on July 2 like never before. We learned that former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt had been freed from a Marxist guerrilla group along with three U.S. Pentagon contractors—Tom Howes, Marc Gonsalves and Keith Stansell—and 11 members of the Colombian army and police.

They had been taken prisoner by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) at different times in an effort to force the government toward a political, negotiated solution of the 60-year-old Colombian conflict. FARC had proposed exchanging 500 of its members held in Colombian prisons and three in federal jails in the U.S. for the several hundred people it had held in the jungle.

More importantly, the negotiated solution would involve a treaty whereby the FARC would sit down with the Colombian government to seek avenues for a real peace with economic and social justice for the majority of the Colombian masses, who are overwhelmingly poor.

Freedom in three versions

However, the news on prime time was a distortion of the facts, concocted by the Colombian government, which is very experienced in releasing half-truths and false propaganda. It dubbed the action “Operation Jaque” (checkmate).

http://www.workers.org/2008/world/colombia_0717/

[Judi Lynn]

1. Colombian military used Red Cross emblem in rescue

updated 5:40 a.m. EDT, Wed July 16, 2008
Colombian military used Red Cross emblem in rescue

By Karl Penhaul
CNN


BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) -- Colombian military intelligence used the Red Cross emblem in a rescue operation in which leftist guerrillas were duped into handing over 15 hostages, according to unpublished photographs and video viewed by CNN.

Photographs of the Colombian military intelligence-led team that spearheaded the rescue, shown to CNN by a confidential military source, show one man wearing a bib with the Red Cross symbol. The military source said the three photos were taken moments before the mission took off to persuade the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rebels to release the hostages to a supposed international aid group for transport to another rebel area.

Such a use of the Red Cross emblem could constitute a "war crime" under the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law and could endanger humanitarian workers in the future, according to international legal expert Mark Ellis, executive director of the International Bar Association.

"It is clear that the conventions are very strict regarding use of the symbol because of what it represents: impartiality, neutrality. The fear is that any misuse of the symbol would weaken that neutrality and would weaken the {Red Cross}," Ellis said.

"If you use the emblem in a deceitful way, generally the conventions say it would be a breach. {Based on the information as explained to me} the way that the images show the Red Cross emblem being used could be distinguished as a war crime, " he added.

More:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/07/15/colombia.red.cross/index.html?eref=rss_topstories