State of War
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STATE OF WAR Political Violence and Counterinsurgency in Colombia Human Rights Watch/Americas (formerly Americas Watch) Human Rights Watch New York Washington Los Angeles London Copyright 8 December 1993 by Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 93-80982 ISBN: 1-56432-118-5 Human Rights Watch/Americas Human Rights Watch/Americas, fomerly Americas Watch, was established in 1981 to monitor and promote observance of internationally recognized human rights in Latin America and the Caribbean. Peter D. Bell is chair; Stephen L. Kass and Marina Pinto Kaufman are vice chairs; Juan E. Méndez is the executive director; Cynthia Arnson and Anne Manuel are associate directors; Robin Kirk is the Andean researcher; MaryJane Camejo,and Gretta Tovar Siebentritt are research associates; Vanessa Jiménez and Ben Penglase are associates. COLOMBIA, A DREAM OF PEACE So that in the fields Today, he's a grown man the barking of dogs full of hope, at any dawn he joined the army carrying a flag, not be the sinister prowl symbol of our nation. of wandering death, Don't cut short his path let it be a hand clasp, setting ambushes let it be the warm smile because you yourself must then of an arriving friend carry the news that will part the soul and not the dark jaws of that poor mother of a threatening rifle. who lives next door. Hunger also So that soldiers and guerrillas beats the war drum not be for each other spawning weapons. grim death sniffing out Each rifle takes (in price alone) tremulous life. a year of food Let bombs of bread and toys explode from a family or house and our children run among the debris of and serves up breakfasts of hatred and kisses. bullets. Lancita... dear soldier... Peace, they have dressed you in black remember that Jacinto, son of that old although you are white, white; peasant, or in the blue of shipwrecks joined the guerrillas or the sinister red searching for dawns, of spilled blood. the birth of new days. You are neither the green hurricane of the Let him not return dead, mountains. don't quench his flame. Let all the politicians today cover their faces Because the old woman waits and every untouched bride remove her gown clutching her rosary to array you in the white dress of a white begging the spirits cloud. to let nothing harm him. -Tirso Vélez, Mayor of Tibú, Norte de Dear friend... comrade... Santander Do you remember Chuchito, "Un alcalde en Apuros," Cien Días, Vol. 6, No. the one who played cops and robbers 22, April-June, 1993, p. 27. Translation by with you and the other neighborhood boys? Americas Watch. Following the publication of this poem, Tirso Vélez was charged with terrorism and imprisoned. CONTENTS Acknowledgments ........................................................................................vii Introduction...................................................................................................viii PART I A Panorama of Violence...........................................................................3 The Declaration of the State of Internal Commotion..........................6 From State of Emergency to Total War ...............................................11 Impunity ...................................................................................................16 Urabá ..................................................................................................20 Trujillo ................................................................................................22 El Nilo.................................................................................................23 Los Uvos.............................................................................................25 Fusagasugá ........................................................................................26 UNASE..................................................................................................27 Senior Military Involvement with Paramilitary Group............28 The Report of the Procuraduría ..............................................................29 Irregular Use of the "Public Order" Courts.........................................35 The Erosion of Constitutional Guarantees..........................................40 The Law to Regulate States of Exception ............................................43 Tutela .........................................................................................................46 Attacks on Human Rights Monitors....................................................48 The Drug War ..........................................................................................51 PART II The Mobile Brigades ...............................................................................65 A Pattern of Violations....................................................................69 Mobile Brigade 2 and The Middle Magdalena...........................73 A Case Study: Meta.................................................................................84 Climate of Violence..........................................................................97 Impunity ..........................................................................................106 Guerrilla Abuses in Conflict Zones....................................................113 The FARC...........................................................................................118 The ELN.............................................................................................121 The EPL..............................................................................................125 PART III United States Policy ..............................................................................130 Appendix I .....................................................................................................140 Appendix II....................................................................................................146 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This report was written by Cynthia Arnson, Associate Director of Americas Watch, and Robin Kirk, Andean Researcher for Americas Watch. It was edited by Americas Watch Executive Director Juan E. Méndez. The Report is based on three fact-finding trips to Colombia: in June and October 1992 by Kirk, and in February-March 1993 by Arnson and Kirk. Additional research and editorial assistance was provided by Stephen Goose, Washington Director of the Arms Project; Allyson Collins, Human Rights Watch Research Associate; Vanessa Jiménez, Americas Watch Associate; and Stephen Crandall, Americas Watch intern. We would like to extend a special and heartfelt thanks to the individuals and groups that helped us gather information and review our findings. They include Reinaldo Botero, Gustavo Gallón, and other members of the Comisión Andina de Juristas-Seccional Colombiana; Diego Pérez and the Human Rights team at the Centro de Investigación y Educación Popular; the Colectivo de Abogados "José Alvear Restrepo;" Father Javier Giraldo and Juan Carlos Gutiérrez of the Comisión Intercongregacional de Justicia y Paz; the Comité Cívico del Meta; the Instituto Latinoamericano de Servicios Legales Alternativos; the Comité Regional para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos; Carlos Vicente de Roux, Presidential Counselor for Human Rights; Jorge Orlando Melo, former Presidential Counselor for Human Rights; the office of the Defensor del Pueblo; and Hernando Valencia and the Oficina de Investigaciones Especiales of the Procuraduría General de la Nación. Finally, we wish to thank all the Colombians who spoke with us on condition of anonymity. Their names are marked in this text with an asterisk (*). vii INTRODUCTION On November 8, 1992, Colombian President César Gaviria Trujillo declared a "state of internal commotion," invoking provisions of the Colombian Constitution empowering him to adopt emergency measures in the event of "serious disruption of the public order imminently threatening institutional stability, the security of the state, or the peaceful coexistence of the citizenry."1 A series of emergency decrees restricted civil liberties, granted additional powers to the military, and punished contact or dialogue with insurgent groups. The decrees marked a reversion to authoritarian patterns of rule supposedly left behind with the passage of the 1991 Constitution.2 Despite the adoption of emergency measures, however, the government has failed to achieve its central goal: winning a decisive upper hand in the war against Colombia's approximately 7,000 guerrilla insurgents. Indeed, in a military build-up that began even as successful peace talks with the guerrillas were taking place, the Colombian government has devoted ever more resources to war since 1990. A centerpiece of army strategy has been the creation of three Mobile Brigades, elite units of professional soldiers that receive special training and operate in areas of greatest insurgent activity. Although the government claims that Mobile Brigade soldiers commit fewer human rights abuses than regular troops, information 1 Article 213, Constitución Política de Colombia (Bogotá: Presidencia de la República, 1991), p. 81. 2 As described below, several of the emergency decrees were ruled unconstitutional by Colombia's Constitutional Court, which automatically reviews the legality of rulings issued during a state of exception. Others, however, have been or are in the process of being converted into permanent legislation. President Gaviria renewed the