uribe immunity -- two more weeks

[rabs]

U.S. Department of Justice today asked for two more weeks to render a decision on the question of "soverign immunity" for alvarito in the Drummond case.

The latest date now would be March 31. It was to have been announced today. Hil and the DOJ have been stonewalling for three months now.

El Tiempo reports that such a long delay "leaves the taste" that the decision is divided.


--------- El Tiempo blurb -----------




PIDEN PLAZO EN EE. UU. PARA DEFINIR INMUNIDAD DEL EX PRESIDENT URIBE

Por: REDACCIÓN ELTIEMPO.COM | 5:53 p.m. | 14 de Marzo del 2011

La prórroga máxima sería hasta el próximo 31 de marzo.
El plazo se vencía este lunes, pero el Departamento de Justicia pidió un mes más. Aún se sigue evaluando si se le va a solicitar al juez, que en últimas es el que define, si se le respeta al ex presidente Álvaro Uribe su inmunidad.

Una ONG quiere que el ex mandatario declare en el proceso que se le sigue a la Drummond por el caso de los sindicalistas de esa empresa asesinados por los 'paras' de 'Jorge 40'. La ONG dice que el Gobierno de Uribe fue tolerante con los 'paras' y de allí su interés en sentar en el estrado al ex presidente.

El Departamento de Estado lleva tres meses estudiando el caso y el hecho de que se haya tardado tanto tiempo debatiéndolo deja el sabor de que aún la decisión está dividida.

El pedido de inmunidad lo hizo el embajador de Colombia en EE. UU., Gabriel Silva.

-------------------------

[Judi Lynn]

1. Does this mean the trial will have to proceed without Alvarito as a witness?

This is a wild misuse of power, isn't it?

Just waiting it out, until the deadline has passed?

Obscene.

Thank you for the latest, rabs. Sure hope something will happen to prevent his avoiding his duty in this lawful, necessary trial.

[Bacchus39]

2. and what if he doesn't show up? is the case against Drummond dependent on

Uribe testifying?? it doesn't seem to be a very coherent strategy.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Memory refresher info. on Drummond Coal Company:

http://www.sourcewatch.org.nyud.net:8090/images/thumb/e/ea/Drummond_-_Uribe_Drummond_%2B_Jimenez.jpg/567px-Drummond_-_Uribe_Drummond_%2B_Jimenez.jpg

~snip~
Drummond charged in the murders of 67 Colombians
,
In May 2009, law firms Conrad & Scherer LLP (of Florida) and Ivey Law Firm (of Jasper, Alabama) filed a federal lawsuit against Drummond for the company's involvement in the murders of sixty-seven Colombians.<17> Drummond paid millions of dollars to the paramilitary terrorist group United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (the AUC) to protect the company's property and U.S. workers, and according to the lawsuit, "allowed the AUC terrorists to set up a military base of operations on its property, and supplied electric, food and fuel."<17> The sixty-page lawsuit documents many allegations of violence against people who were perceived as sympathetic to leftist guerilla groups and supportive of local union organizations, including "how hundreds of men, women, and children were terrorized in their homes, on their way to and from work… innocent people killed in or near their homes or kidnapped to never to return home, their spouses and children being beaten and tied up, and people being pulled off buses and summarily executed on the spot."<17> The lawsuit also describes a meeting between Drummond and the AUC in November 2000 where the company ordered the execution of two union leaders.<17>

The law firms represent 252 plaintiffs, who are relatives of the sixty-three men and four women that were murdered.<17> Their names were withheld from the lawsuit in order to prevent repercussions.<17>

The lawsuit was filed in the in US District Court for the Northern District of Alabama Western Division asks for a trial by jury.<17> Defendants named include Drummond Company, Inc., Augusto Jimenez (President of Drummond Ltd. in Colombia), Alfredo Araujo (Drummond's Director of Community Relations in Colombia), and James Atkins (Drummond Chief of Security in Colombia).<17> The charges include wrongful death and violations of the U.S. Alien Tort Act and Torture Victim Protection Act.<17>

In a ruling hailed as a victory for the families of the murdered men, on February 3, 2011, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia found that the children of three of the murdered men have standing to bring their suit in court.<18>
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=File:Drummond_-_Uribe_Drummond_%2B_Jimenez.jpg

~~~~~
Drummond's Dark Ties to Uribe
Written by Becca Polk
Tuesday, 09 November 2010 20:56

~snip~
“Colombian people have been the victims of foreign companies, governments and institutions that want to take advantage of country’s mineral and energy resources.” (1) In this article, we will show the links between paramilitaries and corporate interests in exploiting the natural resources of Colombia—only possible with the cooperation of the U.S. and Colombian governments.

Bill Richardson, the Secretary of Energy under Bill Clinton, openly discussed the U.S.’ interests in Colombia: “The United States and its allies will invest millions of dollars in two areas of the Colombian economy, in the areas of mining and energy, and to secure these investments we are tripling military aid to Colombia.” (2) When the Colombian and U.S. governments joined forces to protect foreign investments, anyone or anything working against these interests began to be targeted.

According to a well-known Colombian trade unionist, Francisco Ramirez Cuellar, “his aid to ‘secure investments’ has produced 437 massacres in mining zones in the past eight years, as well as over 6,000 homicides in the regions. In addition, in the last ten years over 2,000 unionists have been assassinated and hundreds illegally detained. Some million Colombians have been displaced, and hundreds have been disappeared.” (3)

Along with the millions invested into military operations such as Plan Colombia, which strategically constructed “three antinarcotics military bases” in important mining and energy regions,4 multinational corporations have worked to manipulate or create investment laws that support their own interests in natural resource exploitation. Who bears the brunt of this top- down policy-making? The workers, union leaders and communities forcibly displaced from their homes so that corporations can begin exploiting the land.

More:
http://www.soaw.org/category-table/3549-drummonds-dark-ties-to-uribe