COLOMBIA: CPT releases report documenting violations of International Humanitarian Law in Colombia during 2008
February 25th, 2009
in:
CPTnet
25 February 2009
COLOMBIA: CPT releases report documenting violations of International Humanitarian Law in Colombia during 2008
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) in Colombia has released its compilation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) violations witnessed by or reported to the Colombia team in the calendar year of 2008. The full report is available at http://www.cpt.org/content/violations-international-humanitarian-law-colombia-december-2007-november-2008
The Colombian government officials maintain that paramilitary groups are now “extinct.” CPT’s documentation provides evidence that paramilitary activity continues in regions of Colombia where CPT works. New generations of paramilitary groups continue to commit the majority of the violations. Allied with the Armed Forces, they operate with impunity. Many of these violations are directed at human rights workers, community leaders, and union organizers. Team members report, “We have yet to see any real progress toward the rule of law and a negotiated peace.”
In the document, CPT outlines violations of IHL observed in Colombia’s Magdalena Medio area (Bolivar and Santander provinces) and Nariño province from December 2007 through November 2008. This report includes only cases related to Colombia’s armed conflict of which CPT has direct knowledge, either by having witnessed the violation or by taking information directly from victims or witnesses. By citing only examples related to the armed conflict, the Colombia team does not mean to minimize the ongoing problem of government inattention to other forms of human rights abuses in Colombia.
Three principle actors in Colombia's armed conflict committed the IHL violations that this report covers: the Armed Forces with 20 violations documented; the paramilitary groups with 21 cases documented; and the guerrilla groups with 5 cases documented.
In light of these statistics, CPT urges citizens of the U.S. and Canada to contact their government officials to advocate for the following changes in Colombia policy:
The United States Congress and President Obama's administration must continue to cut military and police aid and increase economic and social aid. The United States cannot continue to fund a war whose participants continue to violate IHL. Instead, the US should provide social and humanitarian assistance to Colombia’s 4 million internally displaced people.
Canada and the U.S. must refuse to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Colombia. While extrajudicial killings and other violations of IHL continue, The United States and Canada cannot support an FTA with a country that fails to provide basic protection to its union organizers, community leaders, and human rights workers
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) Colombia is a community made up of trained volunteers from different cultures that forms part of the international, ecumenical organization, CPT. We work together on grassroots initiatives to expose and transform structures of domination and oppression through active nonviolence in order to make possible a world grounded in respect, justice and love, even of enemies.
25 February 2009
COLOMBIA: CPT releases report documenting violations of International Humanitarian Law in Colombia during 2008
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) in Colombia has released its compilation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) violations witnessed by or reported to the Colombia team in the calendar year of 2008. The full report is available at http://www.cpt.org/content/violations-international-humanitarian-law-colombia-december-2007-november-2008
The Colombian government officials maintain that paramilitary groups are now “extinct.” CPT’s documentation provides evidence that paramilitary activity continues in regions of Colombia where CPT works. New generations of paramilitary groups continue to commit the majority of the violations. Allied with the Armed Forces, they operate with impunity. Many of these violations are directed at human rights workers, community leaders, and union organizers. Team members report, “We have yet to see any real progress toward the rule of law and a negotiated peace.”
In the document, CPT outlines violations of IHL observed in Colombia’s Magdalena Medio area (Bolivar and Santander provinces) and Nariño province from December 2007 through November 2008. This report includes only cases related to Colombia’s armed conflict of which CPT has direct knowledge, either by having witnessed the violation or by taking information directly from victims or witnesses. By citing only examples related to the armed conflict, the Colombia team does not mean to minimize the ongoing problem of government inattention to other forms of human rights abuses in Colombia.
Three principle actors in Colombia's armed conflict committed the IHL violations that this report covers: the Armed Forces with 20 violations documented; the paramilitary groups with 21 cases documented; and the guerrilla groups with 5 cases documented.
In light of these statistics, CPT urges citizens of the U.S. and Canada to contact their government officials to advocate for the following changes in Colombia policy:
The United States Congress and President Obama's administration must continue to cut military and police aid and increase economic and social aid. The United States cannot continue to fund a war whose participants continue to violate IHL. Instead, the US should provide social and humanitarian assistance to Colombia’s 4 million internally displaced people.
Canada and the U.S. must refuse to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Colombia. While extrajudicial killings and other violations of IHL continue, The United States and Canada cannot support an FTA with a country that fails to provide basic protection to its union organizers, community leaders, and human rights workers
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) Colombia is a community made up of trained volunteers from different cultures that forms part of the international, ecumenical organization, CPT. We work together on grassroots initiatives to expose and transform structures of domination and oppression through active nonviolence in order to make possible a world grounded in respect, justice and love, even of enemies.
