Report: Gangs tied to paramilitaries spur Colombia violence

[Judi Lynn]

Source: CNN

Report: Gangs tied to paramilitaries spur Colombia violence
By Arthur Brice, CNN
February 3, 2010 -- Updated 1658 GMT (0058 HKT)

(CNN) -- Criminal gangs that emerged from Colombia's former paramilitary organizations are carrying out massacres, rapes and extortion, a human rights group said Wednesday.

Nowhere is that violence more pronounced than in Medellin, which recorded more than 200 slayings in January alone. The city's homicide rate also more than doubled in 2009 from the previous year.

Bogota, the nation's capital, also is seeing a surge in violence, with more than 100 killings reported last month.

A report released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch details widespread abuses by successor groups to the paramilitary coalition of 37 armed groups called the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, better known by its Spanish acronym AUC.

The Colombian government has said it decommissioned more than 30,000 AUC members from 2003 to 2006, but Human Rights Watch said many of those demobilizations were fraudulent. Large numbers of heavily armed paramilitaries never left the organizations, or new recruits took the place of those who stepped down, the rights group said.

Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/02/03/colombia.violence/index.html

[ck4829]

1. Everyone talks about FARC, but AUC was the more murderous and dangerous group

It is responsible for the lion's share of the political/drug violence in Colombia.

[Tempest]

2. La Sierra

A good documentary about the paramilitary and leftist guerrilla groups fighting it out in Columbia.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0439810/

[Judi Lynn]

3. Report outlines atrocities in Colombia

Report outlines atrocities in Colombia
Published: Feb. 3, 2010 at 11:02 AM

BOGOTA, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- Violent groups in Colombia are committing atrocities in communities they control including mass murder, rape and extortion, a report says.

The 122-page document released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch calls on the Colombian government to take action against successor groups to the dismantled paramilitary coalition known as the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia.

"Like the paramilitaries, these successor groups are committing horrific atrocities and they need to be stopped," said Miguel Vivanco, Americans director for Human Rights Watch.

More:
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/International/2010/02/03/Report-outlines-atrocities-in-Colombia/UPI-30681265212955/

[Judi Lynn]

4. SOA Graduates from Colombia, implicated in atrocities:

Notorious Graduates from Colombia

1LT Pedro Nei Acosta Gaivis, 1986, Cadet Arms Orientation Course Murder of 11 peasants, 1990: Ordered the massacre of 11 peasants, had his men dress the corpses like guerrilla forces, and then dismissed the killings as an armed confrontation between the Army and guerrillas.
(TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN COLOMBIA, 1992)

LT Carlos Alberto Acosta, 1992, Curso de Orientacion de Infanteria para Cadetes (Commandant’s List)
Massacre, 1994: Fled after receiving notice of a 58-year sentence for his participation in the massacre of three people in Lebrija in June 1994. (Vanguardia Liberal, 11/15/97)

GEN Norberto Adrada C?rdoba, 1978, Training Management Course; 1975, Special Maintenance Administration Disappearance, 18 June 1986: Covered-up of the murder of William Camacho Barajas and Orlando Garcia Gonz?lez, who were last seen alive in
the hands of soldiers under Adrada C?rdoba's command. (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN COLOMBIA, 1992)

CPT Delmo William Alba Rinc?n, 1984, Cadet Arms Orientation Course
Ram?rez massacre, 1986: Implicated in the murder of 6 individuals (4
were tortured) from the home of the Ram?rez family. (TERRORISMO DE
ESTADO EN COLOMBIA, 1992)

CPT Juan Carlos Alvarez, 1987, Curso de Operaciones Psicologicas
Death Squad Activity: According to testimony given by Alvarez’ fellow
officers to the Colombian attorney general, Alvarez was the officer who
gave the go-ahead for death squad killings. (Human Rights Watch Report:
Colombia’s Killer Networks and Covert Action Quarterly)

CPT Jos? Ismael Alvarez D?az, 1980, Cadet Arms Orientation Course
Disappearance, 26 May 1982: Covered-up the murder of Gustavo Alveiro
Mu?oz Hurtado, last seen alive with soldiers under Alvarez D?az'
command. (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN COLOMBIA, 1992)

MAJ Alejandro de Jes?s Alvarez Henao, 1984, Joint Operations
Paramilitary death squad activity (MAS), 1982: Principal member of
"Muerte a Secuestradores" (MAS), a paramilitary death squad responsible
for numerous assassinations and disappearances. (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN
COLOMBIA, 1992)

CPT Gilberto Alzate Alzate, 1983, Cadet Arms Orientation Course
Segovia Massacre, 1988: Implicated in the massacre at Segovia in which
43 people died, including several children. (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN
COLOMBIA, 1992)

1LT Luis Enrique Andrade Ortiz, 1983, Cadet Arms Orientation Course
Massacre of a judicial commission, 1989: Believed to be the
intellectual author of the paramilitary massacre of 12 officials,
including 2 judges, who were investigating military/paramilitary
cooperation.
Assassination, 1988: Ordered the assassination of farmer Jorge Ram?rez,
carried out by a military/paramilitary patrol under his command.
Assassination, 1988: Ordered the assassination of Jos? S?nchez, also
carried out by military/paramilitary soldiers under his command. Then
he had the corpse put on display for the benefit of the public.
Ram?rez family massacre, 1986: Andrade Ortiz was one of officers in
charge of military/paramilitary soldiers who broke into the home of the
Ram?rez family, killed two members outright; and captured 4 others whose
bodies were found later with signs of torture. (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN
COLOMBIA, 1992)

LTC Virgilio Anzola Montero, 1967, Cadet Orientation Course
Torture, murder of 5 peasants, 1986: Covered-up the torture and murder
of five peasants by soldiers under his command. (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN
COLOMBIA, 1992)
Paramilitary death squad activity (MAS), 1982: Anzola Montero used a
paramilitary death squad, "Muerte a Secuestradores" (MAS), to carry out
assassinations and disappearances.

GEN Jos? Maria Arbelaez Caballero, 1954, Communications Officer
Disappearances, 1982: Arbelaez Caballero provided false information to
investigators, the media and human rights organizations in order to
protect army and police personnel responsible for 13 disappearances in
the Cundinamarca department. (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN COLOMBIA, 1992)

1LT Jaime Gabriel Arcos Negret, 1986, Cadet Arms Orientation Course
Disappearance, 18 January 1988: Implicated in the disappearance of
H?ctor Su?rez. (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN COLOMBIA, 1992)

GEN Agustin Ardila Uribe, 1984, Command and General Staff College
(Commandant's List)
lmprisoned town mayor for publishing poem against violence, 1993: In
1993, commander Ardila had town mayor Tirso Velez of Tibu arrested and
imprisoned for being a terrorist. His crime? Publishing a poem against
both guerrilla and army violence. (Americas Watch Report: State of War:
Political Violence and Counterinsurgency in Colombia, 1993)
Commander, Mobile Brigade 2: Colombia's "Mobile Brigades" are unique in
that they have no permanent base; their commanders answer only to the
Army high command in Bogot?. Mobile brigade soldiers wear distinctive,
U.S. Army-style camouflage and no name patches. A "broad, consistent
and often shocking" pattern of serious human rights violations follows
the Mobile Brigades - including Ardila's Mobile Brigade 2 - throughout
the Colombian countryside. (Americas Watch Report: State of War:
Political Violence and Counterinsurgency in Colombia, 1993)

CPT Carlos Javier Arenas Jim?nez, 1987, Cadet Arms Orientation Course
Torture of 19, 1988: Participated in the detention and torture of 19
individuals in June 1988, one of whom sustained permanent damage to both
arms. (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN COLOMBIA, 1992)

2LT Julio Arenas Vera, 1985, Combat Arms Orientation Course
Assassination, 1986: Implicated in the revenge-killing of communist
Gustavo Alfonso Macias Borja. (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN COLOMBIA, 1992)

GEN Victor Julio Ar?valo Pinilla, 1975, Special Maintenance
Administration;1971, Engineer Officer Course
Torture, murder, 1989: Strongly implicated in the torture and murder of
Reinaldo Cuenca Wilson and Liliana Camacho Ipuz, and in the attempt to
make their deaths appear guerrilla-related. (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN
COLOMBIA, 1992)

MAJ Julio Elias Barrera Bustos,1982, Joint Operations Course
Paramilitary death squad activity (MAS), 1981-82: Protected and aided
the military/paramilitary death squad MAS.

GEN C?sar Eugenio Barrios Ram?rez, 1968, Military Intelligence Officer
Course
Murder 1987: Protected and covered for soldiers responsible for the
extrajudicial execution of 3 peasants, and the attempt to disguise the
incident as an armed confrontation with guerrillas. (TERRORISMO DE
ESTADO EN COLOMBIA, 1992)

LTC Luis Felipe Becerra Boh?rquez, Not "formally enrolled." (See below.)

Urab? massacre, 1988: Colombian records indicate Becerra Boh?rquez
attended the U.S. Army School of the Americas in the early 1990's while
a warrant was out for his arrest for his leading role in the massacre of
20 banana workers. The SOA claims Becerra Boh?rquez was never "formally
enrolled" in officer training there. Like Victor Bernal Casta?o (next
page), and other officers in this section (indicated by #), it appears
the Colombian Army sent Becerra Boh?rquez to the SOA to avoid criminal
investigations at home.
Riofr?o massacre, 1993: Becerra eventually led another massacre, this
time murdering 13 civilians at Riofr?o. In November 1993, under intense
international pressure, Colombia dismissed Becerra from the military.
(MFIR, AW:SW, TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN COLOMBIA, 1992)

GEN Harold Bedoya Pizarro, 1978-79, SOA Guest Instructor;1965, Military
Intelligence Course
Paramilitary death squad activity, 1965 - present: "Throughout Bedoya's
entire career, he has been Implicated with the sponsorship and
organization of a network of paramilitary organizations. Bedoya, who
has never undergone any investigation for his involvement in the
massacres of non-combatants or other dirty-war crimes, is an articulate
proponent of the continued "legal" involvement of local populations in
counterinsurgency operations." (Ana Carrigan, NACLA Report on the
Americas, March/April 1995)
Paramilitary death squad activity ("AAA"), 1978: Believed to be the
founder and chief of the paramilitary death squad known as "AAA"
(American Anti-communist Alliance). (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN COLOMBIA,
1992)

CPT Pedro Vicente Berm?dez Lozano, 1981, Cadet Arms Orientation Course
Urab? massacre 1988: Implicated in the massacre of 20 banana workers.
Although an investigation called for the dismissal of the soldiers
involved, a military court acquitted them, citing lack of evidence.
Berm?dez was even promoted (along with Becerra Boh?rquez, above) during
the army's Investigation" of the massacre. (TERRORISMO DE ESTADO EN
COLOMBIA, INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, 1992, AW:SW)

LTC Victor Bernal Casta?o, 1992, Command and General Staff College
Fusagasug? massacre, 1991: Colombian legislature asserts that Bernal
Casta?o was enrolled at the SOA to avoid having to answer to
investigators about the Fusagasug? massacre of a peasant family.
(Charles Call, Miami Herald, 9/9/92) The SOA enrolled him in its longest
and most prestigious course, the Command and General Staff College, and
made him "Jefe del Curso," (Chief of Course)
Disappearance, 1989: Implicated in the disappearance of peasant Sandra
V?lez V?lez.

Much more:
http://www.soaw.org/article.php?id=235

(These creatures from the world's worst nightmares were "educated" in the "art" of warfare by US instructors, in US facilities, at the expense of the US taxpayers, and at the expense of all that is sacred, taken violently from the Colombian people unlucky enough to have been born without social and politically powerful connections.)

[Judi Lynn]

5. Executing justice: Which side are we on?

Executing justice: Which side are we on?
An interview with Colombian human rights activist Padre Javier Giraldo, S.J.

by Ruth Goring

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The government of Colombia has long been engaged in a war with two Marxist insurgent groups, the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) and the ELN (National Army of Liberation). The U.S. government currently bolsters the Colombian armed forces through Plan Colombia, but most Americans receive little news of the conflict and fail to realize that nearly all its casualties are civilians.

In 1988 Padre Javier Giraldo, a Jesuit priest, was instrumental in founding a human rights organization, originally Catholic and now ecumenical: the Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz (Interchurch Commission for Justice and Peace, generally shortened to Justicia y Paz). Over the years Padre Javier has helped compile Proyecto Nunca Más (the Never Again Project), a massive database of human rights violations in his country.

Last year 4,900 political homicides and 734 forced disappearances were recorded in Colombia, according to the Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights of Colombia. Organizations such as Human Rights Watch and United Nations reporting agencies state that 70-80 percent of political murders in that country are the work of right-wing paramilitary forces supported by major economic interests. The government claims to oppose the paramilitaries as well as the guerrillas, yet according to many eyewitness reports the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, AUC) works hand in hand with the army. A key theme of Padre Javier's work has been impunity--the Colombian government's failure to punish, or even properly investigate, crimes committed by paramilitaries, army personnel, and officials of the state.

PRISM: Tell us about the work you have done to bring to light human rights abuses in Colombia.

JG: I worked for some years with CINEP, the Center for Investigation and Popular Education, founded by Jesuits in the late 1960s. Its purpose is to promote education and justice among Colombia's people. However, it became increasingly evident that Colombia needed a small church-based organization that would confront issues of human rights very directly. Most of the Catholic bishops were very tied to the government; they didn't denounce any abuses except those committed by guerrillas.

Among progressive religious orders we began exploring how we might protect the human rights of victims of the Colombian state. The bishops were not interested in helping, but in early 1988 the superiors of 25 orders (which we call congregations) came together to found the Comisión de Justicia y Paz. Its goal was to provide humanitarian and legal support, especially in areas of intense conflict--Santander, Valle del Cauca, Magdalena Medio, Putumayo, and Urabá. We would gather facts about human rights abuses in a databank and would publicize situations of crisis. Some cases we would take to the courts. Our staff developed close relationships with some impoverished communities that were suffering in the midst of the armed conflict and that gained courage to declare themselves peace communities.

I served as the general secretary of Justicia y Paz until the end of 1998 and was often the spokesperson for victims in cases brought before Colombia's courts. In those eleven years I did not witness a single act of justice. Not one government or military official who committed crimes was sanctioned.

PRISM: How would you summarize your analysis of Colombia's crisis?

JG: In the late 1990s I wrote an article, "Lo que en Colombia se llama justicia" (What Is Called Justice in Colombia), published in our Justicia y Paz journal. It recounts 10 exemplary cases that reveal the mechanisms of impunity in our country--how testimony is manipulated, victims or their families are threatened and silenced, false testimony is presented, essential documents are "misplaced." Then I pose a global question. We turn to the state to sanction human rights violations, assign reparations, bring about justice--but the state itself has committed the crimes and is the criminal. How can we turn to the victimizer for justice? It's a terrible contradiction.

My conclusion was that the Colombian state is contradictory. It tries to fulfill two functions. On the one hand it's a violent, discriminatory institution that must favor a small wealthy minority. Even basic necessities are denied to the great majority of its people. By its very nature, at its core, it is not democratic. On the other hand, in public discourse it presents itself as a state based on law, one that respects and implements justice, human rights norms, democratic laws.

How do government functionaries manage this contradiction? They maintain a duality: the parastate, a structure that is illegal and clandestine, increasingly takes over the dirty work, the repression. It doesn't appear to be part of the state. For many years now Colombia's government has been creating and maintaining these structures. The legal, constitutional structure exists parallel to structures of a parastate and paramilitary.

More:
http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/colombia/doc/giraldo1.html

[Judi Lynn]

6. Colombia: Protect Witnesses in Paramilitary Cases

Colombia: Protect Witnesses in Paramilitary Cases
Government Needs to Stem Skyrocketing Violence in Medellin
December 23, 2009

http://www.hrw.org.nyud.net:8090/en/sites/default/files/imagecache/scale-300x/media/images/photographs/2007_Colombia_AlexPulgarin.jpg

Alexander Pulgarín.
© 2007 Human Rights Watch

(Washington, DC) - The Colombian government should act swiftly to protect witnesses in criminal cases against members of groups that are successors to demobilized paramilitaries in the city of Medellín, Human Rights Watch said today.

Human Rights Watch called on the government to investigate attacks on witnesses and to bolster law enforcement efforts to stem the rapidly rising violence in the city attributed to the successor groups.

On December 20, 2009, unidentified armed men repeatedly shot and killed Alexander Pulgarín, a community leader in the La Sierra neighborhood of Medellín. Pulgarín was a key witness in the prosecution of John William López (known as "Memín"), a demobilized paramilitary member who was recently convicted of ongoing criminal activity. Pulgarín had been receiving frequent threats as a result of his testimony and community work.

"Alexander Pulgarín took enormous risks in testifying against the demobilized paramilitaries who brutally controlled his neighborhood," said Maria McFarland, Washington deputy advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "His shooting in broad daylight shows that the government is not protecting witnesses adequately or providing desperately needed security in Medellin."

Local authorities told Human Rights Watch that several armed men accosted Pulgarín as he stepped out of a community soccer game that he had helped to organize in La Sierra. The men shot him multiple times, killing him.

More:
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/12/23/colombia-protect-witnesses-paramilitary-cases

[bemildred]

7. New gangs, same as the old gangs.

"De-commissioning" was just a load of horseshit.