USA: UNHCR welcomes House resolution on Colombian displacement (humanitarian crisis)

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

USA: UNHCR welcomes House resolution on Colombian displacement
17 Jul 2007 09:46:56 GMT

UNHCR welcomes a resolution passed by the US House of Representatives last week in solidarity with millions of displaced people in Colombia. The resolution – which received widespread backing – recognizes 2007 as the Year of the Rights of Displaced People in Colombia and offers support to help the victims rebuild their lives. It is the first time the US Congress has singled out forced displacement in Colombia as one of the worst humanitarian crises on the American continent.

Victims of one of the world's longest internal armed conflicts, an average of 18,000 Colombians are uprooted by violence every month – more than 1 million in the past five years alone. The resolution, which next goes to the US Senate for approval, calls on the Colombian government and the international community to prioritize discussion of the humanitarian consequences and internal displacement. It recommends that the US government increase aid for emergency and long-term assistance to the victims.

The House resolution also commends UNHCR for its work in Colombia and its support to the 2007 Campaign for the Rights of Displaced People. The campaign is a broad initiative run by UNHCR, the Catholic Church and CODHES, a leading Colombian non-governmental organisation. It aims to raise awareness, both within Colombia and in the rest of the world, of the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis and to increase solidarity with its victims.

The campaign also supports a draft bill currently in the Colombian Parliament that would strengthen existing legislation giving displaced people comprehensive rights to protection and assistance. But despite the government's efforts, implementation remains patchy and difficult. As the country prepares to celebrate tomorrow (Wednesday) the tenth anniversary of a pioneering law to protect them, many internally displaced people still do not enjoy their rights in practice.


Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/UNHCR/82f60e0d710550beeea2938aee229c2f.htm

[Judi Lynn]

1. Colombia: Using the US Military to Boost Investor Confidence

Colombia: Using the US Military to Boost Investor Confidence

• Bush overhauled US policy on Colombia to allow military aid (previously allocated exclusively for anti-narcotics operations) to be used by Colombia's military directly against guerilla groups.
  
  
• Bush dispatched US Special Forces operatives and slated $98 million to train and equip Colombian soldiers to guard pipelines and facilitate oil exploration largely for US-based companies. 10
  
  
• Bush praised Colombia's military, which is accused of human rights abuses and cooperation with paramilitary death squads. In fact, paramilitary activity has increased dramatically in areas patrolled by US and Colombian troops: rates of civilian deaths and forced displacement have nearly doubled under Bush's policy and record numbers of people have been disappeared.11
  
  
• Threatening to withdraw military aid, Bush bullied Colombia and over 90 other countries into signing an agreement to guarantee US citizens immunity from prosecution by the International Criminal Court.* Bush thus severely undermined efforts to hold Colombia's government (and many others) accountable to international law protecting the rights of civilians in war zones.
  (snip/...)

http://www.madre.org/articles/int/confrontingthebushagenda.html

[Judi Lynn]

2. UN refugee agency welcomes US House resolution on Colombia’s displaced

UN refugee agency welcomes US House resolution on Colombia’s displaced


17 July 2007 – The United Nations refugee agency today welcomed a resolution recently passed by the United States House of Representatives calling for an increase in aid from Washington for millions of displaced people in Colombia.

“The resolution – which received widespread backing – recognizes 2007 as the Year of the Rights of Displaced People in Colombia and offers support to help the victims rebuild their lives,” said Ron Redmond, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

“It is the first time the US Congress has singled out forced displacement in Colombia as one of the worst humanitarian crises on the American continent,” he noted.

An average of 18,000 Colombians are uprooted by violence every month, with more than 1 million forced to flee in the past five years alone, according to UNHCR. The resolution, which next goes to the Senate for approval, calls on the Colombian Government and the international community to prioritize discussion of the humanitarian consequences and internal displacement and recommends that the US increase aid for emergency and long-term assistance to the victims.
(snip)

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23258&Cr=Colombia&Cr1=

[Peace Patriot]

3. Thanks for this info--yet another example of heinous impacts of the murderous,

corrupt U.S. 'war on drugs.'