By Ricky Zamora
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

 

BOGOTA, Colombia – While Colombia has made efforts to combat unlawful killings, its security forces continue to be implicated in such acts.

Colombia, long plagued by armed conflict and the deadly drug trade, is no stranger to human rights violations.  While the country has taken steps to reduce unlawful killings, it has been an uphill battle against decades of unlawful killings committed with virtual impunity.

Recently, Professor Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions, reported that the rate of impunity for alleged killings by Colombian security forces may be as high as 98.5%.

An investigation led by Alston revealed that while these killings are not committed pursuant to official policy, many victims were murdered by the military, often for soldiers’ personal benefit or profit.  In fact, within the military, success was equated with ‘kill counts’ of guerrillas and promoted an accountability-free environment.

The investigation revealed that while Colombia’s efforts to reduce such killings include dismissal of senior military officers and the monitoring of military activity by the UN, they appear to be ineffective.

This indicates that current efforts are undermined by the very policies set forth to reduce unlawful killings.  Alston reported that there is an “alarming level of impunity for former paramilitaries.”

He added that “The vast majority of paramilitaries responsible for human rights violations were demobilized without investigation, and many were effectively granted amnesties. Today, the failure in accountability is clear from the dramatic rise in killings by illegal armed groups composed largely of former paramilitaries.”

Alston believes that “unless the Government ensures effective investigation and prosecution of killings by security forces, it will not be able to accomplish the goals it seeks to achieve and family members deserve justice. Colombian society and the international community need to know that security operations are lawful, or they will not be considered legitimate.”

This problem is not merely a threat to those typically vulnerable to guerrilla exploitation – the poor and ignorant.  In fact, human rights defenders, trade unionists, and other rights activists have fallen victim to the guerillas, paying with their lives.  This, then, tends to cause grave instability not only in Colombia’s remote areas, but everywhere, including the political arena, Alston added.

The Rapporteur did, however, commend the Colombian government for the part is has done; namely, that it is open to external suggestions for reform and willing to open itself to international scrutiny of its security policies.  This, he noted, is especially important as it sets an example for neighboring states to embrace the notion of transparency in regards to their security policies.

Professor Alston was appointed UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions in 2004 and reports to the United Nations Human Rights Council and the General Assembly. He has had extensive experience in the human rights field, including eight years as Chairperson of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, principal legal adviser to UNICEF in the drafting of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and Special Adviser to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. He is Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at New York University School of Law.

For more information, please see:

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – UN Expert finds progress, but also pattern of unlawful killings and ongoing “serious problems” with Colombia’s Security Policies – 27 May 2010

UN News Centre – Colombia takes steps on killings but security forces still culpable – 27 May 2010

Huffington Post – Colombia Commits “Crimes Against Humanity” as Free Trade Pacts Are Debated – 13 May 2009

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BRASILIA, Brazil – In recent years, Brazil has become a haven for agro-toxins that are shunned by other industrialized countries.  According to O Estado de Sao Paulo, the National Agency for Sanitary Monitoring, the United Nations and the Brazilian Development, Industry and Commerce Ministry claim that Brazilian farmers make unabridged use of ten to twelve chemicals that are specifically banned in other parts of South America, the United States, and the European Union.

While legislation currently exists to limit the use of these dangerous toxins, the government is “dragging their feet” and has failed to take appropriate actions to reassess the chemicals or take them off of the market completely.  More specifically, the government has failed to act even though many of these substances, including metamidophos, have long been associated with endocrine problems in humans.

Despite Brazil’s movement toward genetically modified crops, the use of toxins have not subsided.  In fact, recent studies have shown that more toxins have been used to treat genetically modified crops than were used to treat non-genetically modified crops.  Businesses that sells genetically modified seeds, including Bayer and Dow, are the same companies who manufacture the agro-toxins.  These companies place a great deal of pressure on Brazil to purchase the chemicals along with the genetically modified crops.

Rosany Bochner, coordinator of Brazil’s National System of Toxic-Pharmacology, fears that Brazilians are being exposed to potentially dangerous substances that the rest of the world has rejected.  Although data does not currently exist that studies the health repercussions of these agro-toxins, few deny that they will have long-term negative side-effects.

According to Researcher Frioruz Marcelo Firpo, Brazil is under mounting pressure to keep up with the world’s economy.  As pressure mounts to ban these chemicals across the world, additional pressure is being put on Brazil to purchase the toxins.

While Firpo openly acknowledges that Brazilians are paying a heavy “invisible” cost as a result of ingesting these toxins, there does not appear to be a great deal of optimism that practices will change.

For more information, please see:

Merco Press – Brazil has become a “haven” for the use of world-banned agro-toxins – 31 May 2010

O Estado de Sao Paulo – Brasil é destino de agrotóxicos banidos no exterior – 30 May 2010

Check Biotech – Uruguay and Brazil: Genetically Modified Products and Agro-toxins Go Hand in Hand-18 August 2009

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

POTOSI, Bolivia — In a public meeting, members of five indigenous communities in northern Potosi, Bolivia, admitted to lynching four police officers on Sunday.  Responding to accounts that the officers were tortured and killed, indigenous leaders described them as “thieves disguised as police.”  The leaders said they would not hand over the bodies until the police conduct an investigation into the alleged “murder” by police of several area residents that took place months ago.  They also accuse the police of stealing seven cars from their community and voted to retain the bodies until those cars are returned.

The BBC reported that Potosi Police Chief Orlando Avila said his officers could not enter the area because “there were sharp shooters stationed all along the highway” threatening to kill anyone trying to retrieve the bodies.  Avila estimated that about 10,000 people were mobilized to prevent authorities from entering.

Members of the indigenous clans accused the four hanged officers of charging between $200 and $1,000 to ignore the smuggling of cars from neighboring Chile.  At a local meeting on Wednesday, one indigenous leader announced, “Brothers, we did not kill police officers, we killed thieves disguised as police officers.”

The slain officers belonged to a unit responsible for tackling car theft in neighboring Oruro province.  They may have been in Potosi on a search to recover stolen vehicles.  Many indigenous residents believe the officers were in Potosi to extort car smugglers.  It is also possible that the indigenous members who killed them mistook them for criminals in a route commonly used by smugglers.

Avila said he wants to arrange a meeting with indigenous leaders to begin an investigation of the lynching.  Bolivia’s deputy minister for public safety, Gen. Miguel Vazquez, said that the government’s current priority is “to calm” the population in Uncia.

The indigenous communities of Aymara and Quechua Indians are called the Ayllus Guerreros, or Warrior Clans, because of a 200-year history of  bloody conflicts over land.  Each of the five clans has about 8,000 to 10,000 residents in the area where the officers were lynched.  Clashes among these groups have been blamed for about 10,000 deaths since 1830.  The most recent violence occurred nine years ago, resulting in 57 deaths.

For more information, please see:

Latin American Herald Tribune–Bolivian Indians: Lynched Men Were Thieves, Not Police–28 May 2010

BBC–Indigenous Group Lynches Four Policemen in Bolivia–27 May 2010

UPI–4 Police Officers Lynched in Bolivia–27 May 2010

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

 

BOGOTA, Colombia – According to a retired Colombian police major, President Alvaro Uribe’s younger brother, Santiago Uribe, commanded a death squad in the early 1990s that killed nearly fifty people, including petty thieves, suspected guerillas, and their sympathizers. Santiago Uribe allegedly led the right-wing group from the Uribe family’s cattle ranch in the Antioquia state municipality.

Although there is little evidence to support the allegations, the ex-officer, Major Juan Carlos Meneses, stated that Santiago Uribe claimed that Alvaro Uribe, a senator at the time, was aware of the illegal militia.  When recently asked about his knowledge of the death squad after the report was first published in the Washington Post, Alvaro Uribe’s stated “I don’t read international newspapers.”

These accusations are coming shortly before the highly contested May 30 presidential election involving Alvaro Uribe’s former defense minister, Juan Carlos Santos.  Alvaro Uribe’s interior minister, Fabio Valencia, has suggested that Meneses’ comments are politically motivated to discredit Santos’ candidacy; a claim which Meneses denies.

Meneses claims that he attended meetings with Santiago Uribe where the group would decide who would be killed.  Additionally, Meneses claimed that Santiago Uribe paid him approximately $700 monthly for a four month period so that Meneses would allow the death squad to operate in the area where Meneses was the top law enforcement officer.  Meneses claims to have personally witnessed at least fifteen men armed with semi-automatic firearms participating in obstacle course training on the Uribe family ranch.

Alvaro Uribe was elected Colombia’s President in 2002 and has since been given significant financial assistance from the U.S. to defeat leftist rebels in the country.  While president, Alvaro Uribe has been criticized by international humanitarian groups for suspected human rights violations.  These violations include Colombian soldiers allegedly murdering more than 1,000 citizens under the guise that they were rebels.

Colombian law enforcement officials have investigated the death squad claims on at least two occasions and have not discovered enough evidence to prosecute Alvaro Uribe; however, Meneses’ claims may be enough to reopen the case.  Meneses claims that he and his family have been forced to leave Colombia and seek asylum in Venezuela after receiving written and telephoned death threats because of the accusations against Santiago and Alvaro Uribe.

Santiago Uribe has been unavailable for comment; however, he denied the allegations in a previous interview with the Washington Post.

For more information, please see:

CBS News – Ex-cop Claims Uribe’s Brother Led Death Squad –  24 May 2010

Time –Ex-cop: Alvaro Uribe’s Brother Led Death Squad–24 May 2010

Colombia Reports – Uribe’s brother led paramilitary death squad – 23 May 2010

By Sovereign Hager
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

QUITO,Ecuador–A controversial water bill has led to unrest as indigenous communities in Ecuador protest what they view as an unconstitutional intrusions into their rights to water. Protests began several weeks ago when the Ecuadorian government released a new bill on water regulation. The initiative includes provisions of water for industries such as mining and agribusiness. Indigenous communities argue that this “privatization” will damage their small farms.

The bill has been postponed for several months and the head of Parliament, Fernando Cordero has proposed a “non-binding pre-legislative consultation” with Ecuador’s indigenous peoples. Indigenous communities make up forty percent on the population. This proposal led to temporary suspension of demonstrations and roadblocks that have been ongoing for the last two weeks in seven provinces.

Consultations with indigenous communities on the impact of industrial projects are required by the Ecuadorian constitution, which has been in effect since 2008. This was meant to align with the International Labor Organization’s Convention Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, which requires prior, free and informed consent, and participation by indigenous peoples in the benefits generated by such projects.

Ecuador’s Constitutional Court confirmed that the consultation was mandatory under the constitution, however the incorporation of the results is not required. There are three indigenous associations opposed to the bill: the Ecuadorian Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities, the National  Federation of PEasant, Indigenous and black Organizations, and the Federation of Evangelical Indigenous Peoples and Organizations of Ecuador. Native leaders demand that the results of the participation be binding.

Modifications proposed by indigenous groups include a  mandated respect for the order of priorities for water use established by the new constitution. This provision establishes that water resources must go first to human consumption, then to irrigation for domestic food production, next to maintaining adequate levels of water in the ecosystems, and finally to non-food productive activities. The interpretation that water use in export-oriented industry is not contemplated in constitution is opposed by the Congress.

Indigenous communities accuse the government of trying to privatize water resources, which the constitution establishes are a national good for public use. Private companies are only allowed to administer supplies of water through government concessions. However, indigenous associations insist that the concession system should be replaced by a permit system which would be subject to discretionary renewal.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera-Ecuador Water Law Sparks Protest-20 May 2010

Alternet-Water Conflict Mounts in Ecuador-20 May 2010

IPS-Native Standoff Over Water Bill On Hold-19 May 2010