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Paramilitary Impunity in Zones Under Military
Control
By Nizkor Int. Human Rights
Team.
More than a year ago,
the Colombian government committed itself to investigating and putting
an the end to paramilitary operations in the Magdalena Medio region of
the Republic of Colombia. The government never followed through with this
promise, and paramilitary groups are using new methods to become more efficient
and deadly than ever.
In view of the silent genocide
taking place, in a civil war that many refuse to accept as real, in a framework
of increasing drug traffick- ing, which necessarily strengthens the criminal
groups, we declare the following:
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Paramilitary division area commanders
and Colombian Army General Staff are both responsible for war crimes, kidnappings,
enforced disappearances and other serious crimes against humanity. These
offenses, under the rules used by International Criminal Courts and according
to current doctrine on International Humanitarian Law, neither prescribe,
nor may they be subject to any sort of amnesty.
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According to the Geneva Conventions,
mercenaries can never enjoy the legal status of combatant or of prisoner
of war.
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According to the Nuremberg Statute
and judgments, as well as subsequent judgments of the ad-hoc International
Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, particularly the Tadic verdict
dated July 15, 1999, military commanders must be held responsible for not
preventing paramilitary crimes, as if they had directly ordered the operations
within their command area.
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There is an obvious pattern
of civilian population extermin- ation, utilizing modern "social control"
techniques. Lists of civil, political, social and cultural activists are
made and;
a) these persons are
targeted;
b) they are publicly threatened,
to identify them to the paramilitaries, and at the same time, to grant
impunity to the command chain;
c) security coverage zones
in rural and urban areas are cleared in preparation for executions;
d) communications and logistical
support are arranged and the moment of execution is determined.
The systematic pattern of
the extermination of civilian populations in Colombia is a matter of historical
fact. It is evident that the paramilitary forces in Colombia use the 'modus
operandi' of covert military actions and counterintelligence operations.
5) Airborne communications
interception systems, including low frequency helicopter-based systems,
extend the reach of a larger communications interception network which
violates international conventions on civil rights. Intercepted conversations
are processed through a computer network programmed to intercept and record
the conversations of the targeted individuals.
By linking these systems
to military intelligence and private databases, extensive files are kept
on the targets, including family and personal relationships, financial
transactions and other types of personal information.
Colombian naval aircraft
collect high definition images of the ground, which are used in planning
the paramilitary executions.
Equipo Nizkor is not in possession
of evidence to prove all of this, but what appears obvious to us, from
the impunity with which the paramilitaries act, is that such well-orchestrated
massacres could never occur without the existence of an organi- zational
system making use of techniques similar to those used in other countries
with similar problems. In Colombia, the combination of military and intelligence
techniques has resulted in a campaign of "civilian population extermination
operations".
We call upon all concerned
parties to suspend the military and financial aid that ultimately underwrites
this terror campaign. In particular, the US government, which provides
more training and weapons to the Colombian military than the Colombian
government itself, and the Spanish government, influencial in defining
the European Union's policy on Latin America, have special responsibilities
to Colombia.
Justice must be applied
without condition and without impunity. The State of Colombia must take
responsibility for the acts of its military forces, and eliminate the use
of paramilitary organizations, which do nothing but provoke the crisis.
EU, September 27, 1999
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
- Colombia: human rights
reports, information and resolutions by inter- national bodies, articles
on human rights, Colombian Legislation, etc. http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/colombia/
<nzkspain@derechos.org>
Information is an Urgent
Solidarity service edited and disseminated by Nizkor International Human
Rights Team. Nizkor is a member of the Peace and Justice Service-Europe
(Serpaj), Derechos Human Rights (USA) and GILC (Global Internet LibertyCampaign).
Mailbox: Desenganho, 12 -
5 Piso - 28004 - Madrid - Espanha. Telephone: +34.91.526.7502 Fax: +34.91.526.7515
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