CPTnet
8 May 2005
COLOMBIA URGENT ACTION: Demand a thorough investigation of American military
involvement with paramilitary groups
Two U.S. soldiers stationed in Colombia were arrested on 4 May 2005, because
the authorities suspected them of trafficking American military supplies to
illegal right-wing paramilitary groups. In a raid on a house in the central
town of Carmenda de Apicala, Colombian police seized 32,000 rounds of
ammunition. The American soldiers, Alan Tanguary and Jésus Hernández,
were detained along with three Colombians, including Will Gabriel Aguilar, a
retired police sergeant with reported paramilitary ties. The American
Embassy here has said that the accused US soldiers will be deported to the
United States and tried in the military justice system.
A Colombian national newspaper, _El Tiempo_, reported on 5 May 2005 that an
investigation is currently underway to determine if the supplies were
destined for the Magdalena Medio region, within which Christian Peacemaker
Teams has accompanied rural fishing and farming communities for the past
four years. The area is one of the most heavily paramilitarized in the
country.
American soldiers cannot be tried in Colombia under the provisions of a 1962
treaty, ratified in 2000, that grants them diplomatic immunity.
Christian Peacemaker Teams urges supporters to call their elected
representatives to demand a thorough investigation into American military
involvement with paramilitary groups in Colombia. Contact information for
the United States and Canada follows.
For further details of the arrests, see the Google News Colombia page:
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=&q=Colombia&btnG=Search+News.
BACKGROUND
Tanguary and Hernández are two of approximately 500 American military
personnel currently stationed in Colombia. The soldiers are part of a 3.3
million military aid package that purports to provide training and other
support to the Colombian military for combatting narco-trafficking and the
paramilitary and guerrilla forces who profit from it. The American State
Department has identified both the AUC, a paramilitary organization, and the
FARC and ELN, both guerrilla organizations, as terrorist groups. The
Colombia government under Alvaro Uribe, however, has used American aid to
intensify military action against the guerrillas, while engaging in a
controversial process of negotiating a demobilization with the AUC.
Many of the civil society groups with whom Christian Peacemaker Teams works
in Barrancabermeja and Bogotá believe that the amnesty and reduced penalty
provisions which the AUC negotiations allow do not address the concerns of
victims of paramilitary violence and their families, nor of civil society.
The arrest of Tanguary and Hernández is only the latest evidence of
American military collaboration with paramilitary groups who have
longstanding ties to the Colombian police and military.
The United Nations has repeatedly named impunity as a key factor in the high
incidence of human rights violations in Colombia. including in an April 14,
2005, report on Colombia by the. A 14 April 2005 report by U.N. High
Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, noted that the policy on
demobilization of the AUC, and negotiations between the Government and the
paramilitary groups, had not prevented groups from committing serious
breaches of international humanitarian law. The High Commissioner reiterated
the need for a negotiated solution to the internal armed conflict.
AUC paramilitary forces took control of Barrancabermeja on December 23,
2000, and continue to dominate the area. In the rural areas around the
city, including the Opón River where CPT accompanies the La Florida and
Los
Ñeques communities, the FARC is also active. CREDHOS, a local human
rights organization, has documented ninety assassinations in the region
since January of 2005, including thirty-nine in Barrancabermeja alone.
Christian Peacemaker Teams has observed an increased paramilitary and
guerrilla presence along the Opón River recently. For the last year, La
Florida and Los Ñeques have been formally organizing to establish a
humanitarian space in which they can live in peace, free from the
interference of armed groups. The increased movement of illegal armed
groups in the zone has increased fears of a return to active conflict.
Please contact your elected representatives to demand a thorough
investigation into American military involvement with illegal paramilitary
groups in Colombia:
IN THE UNITED STATES:
Secretary of Defense:
Donald Rumsfeld: 703-697-9080 (Fax) U.S. Senate Foreign Relations
Committee: Senator Richard G. Lugar, Chair: (202) 224-4651 (Ph) Senator
Joseph R. Biden Jr., Ranking Minority Member: (202) 224-3953 (Ph) U.S.
Senate Armed Services Committee: Senator John Warner, Chair: 202-224-2023
(Ph) Senator Carl Levin, Ranking Minority Member: 202 224-6221 (Ph)
The following links may help you identify and contact your U.S.
representative:
Find your Congressman: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
Find your Senator:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Congressional Switchboard: 202-224-3121
IN CANADA: Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pierre Pettigrew: 613 995-1851 (Ph)
613-996-3443 (Fax)
The following link may help you identify and contact your political
representative:
Members of Parliament (MP) and the Senate:
http://canada.gc.ca/directories/direct_e.html
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Christian Peacemaker Teams is an initiative of the historic peace churches
(Mennonites, Church of the Brethren, and Quakers) with support and
membership from a range of Catholic and Protestant denominations.
Supporting violence-reduction efforts around the world is its mandate.
Contact CPT, POB 6508 Chicago, IL 60680; Telephone: 773-277-0253 Fax:
773-277-0291; e-mail: peacemakers@cpt.org.
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