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of the killing, have been occassionally accompanied by active members of the Colombian military, and have been using "false positives" (identifying ordinary Colombian citizens they have murdered as FARCs). Conscientious DU'ers who want to know more about this can find more than enough material to investigate both online and in books on Colombia, and directly from Colombian citizens living in the United States. Don't take the word of Fascist Americans, DU'ers, look for the answers yourself and keep looking until you fill in all the missing pieces on your own. A quick reference: Newsworthy and Non-Newsworthy Massacres in Colombia
By Garry Leech · June 22, 2004 ·
On June 15, guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) massacred 34 coca farmers in Norte de Santander. The rebels woke the victims in the middle of the night, tied their hands and feet, and then executed them with automatic weapons. Most U.S. mainstream media outlets immediately broadcast the news of this brutal act. While the FARC were rightfully condemned in the media for this slaughter of civilians, coverage of two recent large-scale paramilitary massacres was virtually non-existent. Following a long established pattern, the mainstream media continues to emphasize human rights abuses by leftist guerrillas, while often ignoring those perpetrated by right-wing paramilitaries allied with the Colombian military.
On April 18, in the department of La Guajira in northern Colombia, paramilitaries massacred 12 Wayuu indigenous people and “disappeared” 30 more, at least 20 of who were children. According to Amnesty International, another 300 Wayuu fled across the border to Venezuela. “They burned (my two sons) alive inside my pick up. Also, they beheaded my mother and cut my nephews to pieces. They didn’t shoot them; they tortured them so we would hear their screams, and they cut them up alive with a chainsaw,” said one of the survivors. There was little mention of the La Guajira massacre in the U.S. mainstream media, even though the final tally likely totaled more than 40 victims.
Last month, paramilitaries massacred at least 13 peasants and “disappeared” six more in the department of Arauca in eastern Colombia. According to the Arauca Department Campesino Community (ADUC), soldiers from the Colombian Army’s 18th Brigade and 5th Mobile Brigade routinely collude with paramilitaries in the region. As was the case with the La Guajira massacre, the U.S. mainstream media barely mentioned the May 20 slaughter in Arauca.
The lack of coverage of the two recent paramilitary massacres stands in stark contrast to the virtual media blitzkrieg about the FARC’s massacre. The emphasis on the rebel atrocity comes as no surprise to longtime observers of U.S. media coverage of Colombia’s conflict. Mainstream journalists repeatedly cover issues raised by official sources. They routinely attend press conferences held by Colombian government, military and U.S. embassy officials. They are regular recipients of government, military and embassy press releases and junkets, after which they dutifully report on the topics that these officials deem to be newsworthy.
This modus operandi is evident in the coverage of the recent massacres. Like the media, the administration of President Alvaro Uribe did not highlight the two paramilitary massacres. But immediately following the FARC’s massacre, Uribe criticized Amnesty International for not condemning the rebels. Even though Amnesty had responded by saying it does not issue condemnations before conducting investigations, the Colombian president again attacked the human rights group only three days after the massacre: “While (Amnesty International), through its words and actions, wants terrorism to triumph in Colombia, we are going to craft … the most beautiful victory: security for the Colombian people.”
While the total number of massacres—defined as three or more people killed at the same time in the same place for the same reason—has diminished, large-scale slaughters appear to be on the rise. There were 317 massacres in 2003, according to the Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CPDH), a Colombian non-governmental organization. This compares to 544 the previous year. However, most of the massacres in 2002 and 2003 were smaller in scale than those perpetrated in previous years.
According to CPDH, right-wing paramilitaries—the majority of who were allegedly participating in a unilateral ceasefire and negotiations with the Uribe government—were responsible for 70 percent of last year’s massacres, compared to 27 percent by the guerrillas. Despite the fact that the paramilitaries are responsible for an overwhelming percentage of Colombia’s massacres, the mainstream media still focuses on guerrilla atrocities. Clearly, the magnitude of the FARC’s massacre made it newsworthy, but the paramilitary massacre in La Guajira—with its corresponding forced disappearances—was on the same scale, and yet it was virtually ignored by the media. More: http://colombiajournal.org/colombia187.htm~~~~~~~~~~~Amnesty: Amnesty International Report 2002 - Colombia
Covering events from January-December 2001
Republic of Colombia
Head of state and government: Andrés Pastrana Arango
Capital: Santafé de Bogotá
Population: 42.3 million
Official language: Spanish
Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colombia's internal conflict continued to escalate. Systematic and gross abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law persisted. Paramilitary groups acting with the active or tacit support of the security forces were responsible for the vast majority of extrajudicial executions and "disappearances"; many of their victims were tortured before being killed. Armed opposition groups were responsible for violations of international humanitarian law, including arbitrary or deliberate killings. More than 300 people "disappeared" and more than 4,000 civilians were killed outside of combat for political motives by the armed groups. Over 1,700 people were kidnapped by armed opposition groups and paramilitary forces. All parties to the conflict were responsible for the forced displacement of large numbers of civilians. The security situation of those living in conflict zones, particularly human rights defenders, trade unionists, judicial officials, journalists, members of Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities and peasant farmers, continued to worsen. Evidence emerged of the strong links between the security forces and the paramilitaries. Judicial and disciplinary investigations advanced in several high-profile cases, implicating high-ranking officials in human rights violations, but impunity remained widespread.
Escalating conflict
The intensifying internal conflict affected most areas of the country. Nariño Department saw an intensification of the conflict. Paramilitary forces managed to establish several bases in the region, despite the heavy presence of the armed forces, and carried out a series of incursions into several communities unhindered. Most of the victims of human rights abuses were civilians. Hundreds of massacres, the majority by army-backed paramilitaries, were reported in different parts of the country and over 300,000 civilians were forcibly displaced. Guerrilla attacks on security force bases continued to place civilian communities at considerable risk. Guerrilla and paramilitary forces continued to use child combatants.
More: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/type,ANNUALREPORT,AMNESTY,COL,3cf4bc064,0.html~~~~~~~~~~~~Amnesty 2007: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA
PRESS RELEASE
February 20, 2007
Amnesty International and Activist Coalition to Rally at U.S. Capitol Feb. 21 to Mark 2005 Colombian Peace Community Massacre
Organizations to Call for New U.S. Policy Tied to Human Rights Accountability
Joint Press Release: Amnesty International USA and School of the Americas Watch, Washington office on Latin America, American Friends Service Committee, Fellowship of Reconciliation, U.S. Office on Colombia and Witness for Peace
(Washington, DC) -- Marking the second anniversary of the killings of eight members of the Colombian Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, a coalition of organizations plan a rally Wednesday, February 21, at the U.S. Capitol and are calling on Congress to overhaul U.S. policy on Colombia. The coalition wants the United States to redirect hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid for Colombia to social and economic programs and to support the establishment and protection of the rule of law. The activists will set off alarm clocks on the Capitol steps to symbolize their wake-up call to lawmakers to focus on human rights in Colombia.
Despite government assurances that the February 2005 massacre would be investigated and those responsible brought to trial, no arrests have been made. Witnesses have accused members of the Colombian Army of carrying out the killings. Those killed included three children, aged 11, 6, and 1 1/2, and five adults, among them, Luis Eduardo Guerra, a founder of the peace community and an internationally recognized peace activist.
"After more than $4 billion in U.S. aid to Colombia since 2000, some 80 percent of which has gone to security forces, human rights abuses remain common. Reports of extra-judicial executions by members of the Colombian military continue, as do death threats and attacks against human rights defenders who denounce those abuses. Amnesty International has received reports of ongoing paramilitary violence in areas where they were supposed to have demobilized and new paramilitary groups are emerging throughout the country," said Paul Paz y Miño, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) Country Specialist on Colombia. "In the midst of one of the worst political scandals of Colombia's recent history confirming evidence of links between military backed paramilitaries and Colombian state officials, U.S. military support continues unabated."
"This rally is not only an opportunity to remember peace community members killed in 2005, but to remember all the civilians who have lost their lives at the hands of security forces, paramilitaries and guerrillas during this decades-old conflict. Impunity for human rights violators in Colombia is not the exception but the rule. Colombian policy surrounding the paramilitary demobilization process is strengthening this impunity for paramilitaries, their third party backers, and in the future for guerrillas responsible for human rights abuses," said Renata Rendón, Advocacy Director for the Americas at AIUSA. "Support for Colombia at this time is essential but the U.S. needs to change course. We believe that the new Congress can shape a balanced and effective policy, finally bringing it in line with its own human rights criteria for Colombia."
This month, the San José de Apartadó community was nominated by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) for the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of its decade-long effort for peace in conflict-torn Colombia. The campaign has cost the lives of more than 160 members of the community since it was founded in 1997. The vast majority of these killings have been committed by the security forces in collusion with paramilitaries, and the rest by guerrilla forces. The cases remain unsolved. http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?lang=e&id=ENGUSA20070220002 |
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