Winter/Spring 2001 Vol. 12, No. 2 Colombia Human Rights Network Colombia In this issue... Peace Process Survives, War Spreads . .1 Peace Process Survives, The Govenors of the South Visit Washingtong . .2 War Spreads Comisión Colombiana de Juristas Reports . .3 Human Rights ly-motivated violent deaths climbing THE TWO-YEAR PEACE PROCESS between the Violations . .3 FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces from 1997 to date from 10 persons CHRN Spring Tour . .4 of Colombia) guerrillas and the killed each day to 20 persons Colombian government sur- killed each day (see p.3). Even Stop the Fumigation . .5 so, Colombians of all walks vived a January 31 deadline Reflection on Returning to of life continue to pursue set by the Pastrana adminis- Colombia . .6 tration on the previous alternatives to war. These Phone Tapping in extension of the arrange- include local and regional Medellín . .7 ment whereby government elected officials. In March forces have agreed to 2001 the four governors, Nunca Más . .7 absent themselves from five representing their own Human Rights Workers municipalities in southern departments of Putumayo, Under Threat . .8 Colombia. This time, it has Cauca, Nariño, and Tolima (who were also speaking on behalf An S.O.S. from Cauca and been extended for an additional Narinño . .9 eight months. The search for a similar of the governors of Caquetá and peace arrangement with the ELN (National Huila) visited Washington, D.C., to protest the An Interview with Carlos Rosero . .10 Liberation Army) went forward, but as of this fumigation and the military thrust of Plan writing in mid-March is at a critical impasse. Colombia, and to promote alternative policies Afro-Colombian National Even as peace agreements are pursued, (see p.3). Speaking Tour . .11 paramilitary offensives continue in many parts In addition to addressing the above, this The African Heart of of Colombia. Long affected by encroaching issue features interviews with Afro-Colombian Colombia . .12 leader Carlos Rosero, about how the Afro- paramilitarism has been the city of Interview with CSPP . .14 Barrancabermeja, in north central Colombia, Colombian communities have been affected, where the situation has been especially critical and with human rights workers Marta Ascuntar Forced Aerial Eradication in recent weeks (see article by Régulo Madero, and Fernando Sánchez of Cali (p.14), as well as of Illicit Crops . .16 president of CREDHOS, p.3). Yet it is especially an article by Luis Gilberto Murillo (p.12), the Colombian NGOs Call for in southern and southwestern Colombia where former governor of Chocó, about Colombia’s Further UN Action . .17 African roots. the paramilitary forces have opened new fronts U’wa Struggle in the last year or so. These are areas targeted by As usual, a newsletter such as this can Continues . .18 Plan Colombia’s “push into the south,” the barely begin to convey the Colombia’s complex situation and the dramatic humanitarian crisis. Colombian Combat fumigation-and-helicopter-based crop eradica- Operations . .19 tion program that has great potential for bring- The resource list (p.20) suggests starting points ing U.S. military advisers and U.S. corporate for further research. Delegations such as those Witness for Peace . .19 military consultants into direct confrontation organized for May (p.19) and July by Witness for Amnesty International . .19 with FARC forces (see p.19). Peace offer the chance to see the situation for Reources . .20 Nationwide the crisis of human rights oneself. ❖ and international humanitarian law has wors- ened as never before, with the toll of political- ments in the decisions related to the peace process, the antidrug policy, The Governors of the South and the policies that affect their regions. Visit Washington 2. Opposition to drug trafficking but also to the fumigation of the econom- ic base of the peasant coca growers, and the demand for peaceful and THE US AID PACKAGE, approved in July 2000, contains effective alternatives to resolve the social crisis, with social and agrarian primarily security assistance for the Colombian reform programs, infrastructure, technical support, and access to markets. armed forces and National Police. The plan is the Support for manual eradication of the industrial-scale crops and the ear- result of a bilateral alliance between the Colombian marking of these lands to social programs. government and the government of the United 3. Support for the peace processes, respect for human rights and interna- States: The Colombian government receives more tional humanitarian law, and rejection of assistance for the war. resources for the counter-insurgency war, while the 4. Rejection of policies that provoke the social and environmental deteriora- U.S. government imposes General McCaffrey’s tion of the Macizo Colombiano and the Amazon basin, and demand for antidrug strategy focused on repressing supply by alternatives based on shared responsibility. fumigating the illicit crops concentrated in south- 5. The U.S. government should turn away from Plan Colombia and instead ern Colombia. embrace a policy to support the peace processes and the reforms aimed at This package is not a result of the peace nego- overcoming poverty and political, social, economic, regional, and cultur- tiations or of any democratic effort to reach con- al exclusion. sensus with Colombian society at large or with the regional governments. It has been rejected nation- The governors who traveled to Washington are: ally and internationally, specifically because it Cauca: Floro Alberto Tunubalá Paja, Guambiano indigenous leader, elected by accords priority to escalating the war, does not offer the Bloque Social Alternativo. sustainable social alternatives to the peasant coca Nariño: Parmenio Cuéllar, independent, former justice minister of the growers, and generally contributes to the deteriora- Pastrana administration. tion of the social, environmental, and humanitari- Tolima: Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo, of the Partido del Socialismo an situation. Democrático, member of the Frente Social y Político. One of the most interesting political respons- Putumayo: Iván Gerardo Guerrero, Liberal party. es was seen in the October 2000 elections for gov- ernors and mayors in southern Colombia. These elections brought to power governors and mayors IT’S TIME TO RENEW YOUR SUBSCRIPTION! from independent political initiatives committed to Please let us know that you are reading Colombia Update. a mandate that is squarely opposed to the repres- Colombia Update is published twice yearly by the Colombia Human Rights sive fumigation of the illegal crops, which supports Committee of Washington, D.C., on behalf of the Colombia Human Rights the continuity of the peace processes and which Network. We seek to educate policy makers, the press, and the general demands the creation of democratic spaces and public on human rights-related events in Colombia, while reaching out to social solutions that are alternatives to the complex support Colombian communities and organizations seeking peace and social problems of poverty and exclusion that affect most justice by non-violent means. Visit our website at www.igc.org/colhrnet to of the population. This followed in the wake of the find out more about how you can become involved. voices of civil society that made themselves heard in an October 2000 meeting in Costa Rica, which helped to define a position by the European Union Subscription Form and other countries of not wanting to have any- ___ Please renew my subscription, check is enclosed. thing to do with Plan Colombia. Subscriptions are US $15.00 for individuals, $25.00 for institutions. Plan Colombia’s defect: Doesn’t take International, add $5 for air mail. Please make checks payable to “Colombia account of people Human Rights Committee” and send to CHRC, P.O. Box 3130, Washington, DC 20010. Four of these governors decided to visit Washington in March to denounce the negative Name______________________________________________________ effects of the fumigation operations carried out in Address ___________________________________________________ December and January mainly in Putumayo, and to City____________________State______Zip______________________ present alternative proposals. Their critique was put Country____________________________________________________ succinctly by Iván Guerrero, the governor of Putumayo: “Plan Colombia’s major defect is that it PLEASE MAKE A DONATION! You may make a tax-deductible donation to the doesn’t take into account human beings,” as it Colombia Human Rights Committee, a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Your donation will involves indiscriminate fumigation and fails to pro- help us continue to publish the Colombia Update, bring Colombian grass- roots leaders and human rights activists to the United States, and organize vide for human needs. Their proposal is based on delegations. the following points: 1. Demand the participation of society, the eth- ____$35 ____$50 ____$100 ____$200 ____other ______ nic minority groups, and the local govern- 2 Colombia Update Colombia Human Rights Network Comisión Colombiana de Juristas reports: Human Rights Violations: Sharp Upturn in Deaths due to Political Violence Manifestations of a Perverse The following communication was released by the Comisión Model of Governance Colombiana de Juristas, or Colombian Commission of Jurists (CCJ) by Régulo Madero, President of the on February 26, 2001. human rights organization CREDHOS THE COLOMBIAN COMMISSION OF JURISTS takes this opportunity to