Extraditions cause concern for victim's rights

The extradition of 14 ex-paramilitary leaders in early morning of May 13 to the US for trial has caused victims’ rights organizations, human rights organizations and legal associations to question the interests of the Colombian government in the unprecedented move.

President Alvaro Uribe Velez ordered the extradition of the 14 chiefs under the pretext of continued illegal activities being carried out by the chiefs from their jail cells as they go through the legal process of the Justice and Peace law implemented to facilitate the demobilization process of some 30,000 paramilitary combatants in 2006.

The concerns that are being voiced by various sectors of civil society, both in Colombia and the United States, are varied. The first concern is that under US jurisdiction, the paramilitary leaders will only be tried for charges of drug-trafficking to the US. Crimes against humanity, homicide, extortion, and kidnapping will not be on the judicial agenda, as these crimes have not affected the US public directly therefore US legal measures cannot reach these crimes.

Secondly, given the increasingly revealing testimonies that the paramilitary chiefs were pronouncing regarding political ties to paramiltarism – particularly as they related to the President and his family – some analysts are naming the extradition a way to silence the leaders in their confessions of collusion with public servants and political figures. Although some commitment have been made for the Peace and Justice process to be continued in the US by Colombian lawyers via satellite and travel, there is little guarantee that the leaders will continue confessing as candidly as they had been, given that now their trial will be focused solely on drug trafficking.

Thirdly, the extradition is in violation of international norms for processes of transitional justice, as victims now have lost their right to confront the paramilitary leaders who are guilty of orchestrating the massacres and homicides that have disappeared their loved ones. There is also absolutely no guarantee of reparation for the victims and their families, as the legal process will focus on crimes of drug trafficking and there is no longer any legally binding framework for reparations. Although organizations like the Collective of Lawyers José Alvear Restrepo have pronounced their intention to work together with lawyers and legal associations in the US sympathetic to the victims’ cause, there is little guarantee that goods and properties taken from victims by paramilitary networks will be returned.

The last concern has to do with the norms of US legal process in general. The system in which US common law procedure has been developed permits the payment of crimes through fines and indemnities for damages caused. Effectively, the paramilitary leaders will be able to pay down their jail terms, with illicit moneys, that will stay in US coffers instead of repairing damages caused to the victims who rightfully should be compensated for their suffering.

Some political analysts see this move as fishing for a vote of confidence from the US democrat congress in hopes that the current Colombian administration’s shamed reputation for human rights violations will be salvaged and talks of the free trade agreement will be re-opened.

As the Peace and Justice Process has revealed intimate relationship between paramilitary structures and political leadership, the extradition raises concern that the full breadth of the para-state scandal will not be revealed and victims of crimes of the state and paramilitarism will be left without recourse for reparation and recuperation.

Currently over 50 members of congress are under investigation for collusion with paramilitaries. Magistrates investigating said members of congress are denouncing threats to their lives for their work in revealing the truth, by the governmental security department, DAS.

As the current administration continues to push for the free trade agreements and possibly a third re-election, the political climate makes the need for critical analysis and international collaboration for justice, peace and truth all the more urgent.

Canadian Mining in Colombia

Watch this CBC special report on a Canadian mining company exploring gold deposits in Colombia and the connection mining has with displacement in this country.

watch here

Currently Colombia is home to the world’s second largest population of internally displaced persons (IDPs), after Sudan. The United Nations has named Colombia the “worst humanitarian catastrophe in the Western Hemisphere” as over 3 million people have been made homeless refugees in their own country.

According to an MCC partner report on human rights violations of church leaders and members, “displaced persons testify that their lives become si­milar to that of a fugitive sought by the authorities. They are forced to flee constantly, moving from one place to another to avoid being found by those loo­king to kill them, and having members of the armed group that displaced them show up in the place they were displaced to. They speak of lists of names of persons sentenced to death, and of infiltration by armed groups of the government agencies where they have gone seeking help or protection…They live in fear, forced to remain virtually imprisoned in their homes, terrified by the sight of men on mo­torcycles or vehicles that pass by or stop near their residences.”[1]

Approximately 30,000 – 40,000 Colombians apply for refugee status in Canada each year. Many of those are internally displaced persons seeking safety on foreign soil. Of those 30,000, fewer than 2,000 are accepted by the Canadian government on a yearly basis and many are sponsored by churches in Canada.

Although the Canadian government has demonstrated genuine concern for the humanitarian situation in Colombia, and has devoted significant amounts of money to organizations working with IDPs, there has been a conspicuous limitation in regards to analyzing the roots causes of displacement. In particular, there seems to be lack of political will to consider the causes of displacement from regions of the country where there are significant natural resource deposits and where Canadian business is or could potentially be, investing in the extraction of said resources.

The current Free Trade Agreement being negotiated between Colombia and Canada bases its legitimacy upon the premise that the current administration of President Alvaro Uribe has improved security in the country and has made significant headway in respect for human rights. Contrary to this affirmation, the Colombian Consulting organization for Human Rights and Displacement (CODHES) found that the highest number of newly displaced persons in the last five years of internally displaced persons was recorded in 2007, at 305,996.

Since the inauguration of Alvaro Uribe as President in 2002 and the implementation of his “Democratic Security” policy, some 70% of the currently displaced population has been forced from its land, (CODHES, 2006). Not only do partners claim that a free trade agreement with Canada would worsen the situation of the IDP population, but they also question why Canada would negotiate an agreement with a government that has not taken responsibility for mass internal displacement and impunity for human rights violations.

Given that the majority of Canadian investment is in the extractive industry and the majority of human rights violations occur in areas of the country rich in natural resources, partners have expressed concern that Canadian corporations are not being held responsible for their complicity in displacement of communities and other human rights violations. As the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) reports, since the 1980’s, Colombia’s vast natural resources have attracted multinational investment interests. Paramilitary, state and guerrilla armed forces have all capitalized on Colombia’s natural wealth in different ways, but always with the same result: victimizing the civilian population.

“While defending the interests of the state and the companies operating in these districts, the paramilitaries have committed the majority of the human rights violations reported in the past few years; they are notorious for extreme brutality, involving massacres, torture, kidnappings, extortion and massive displacements of civilians (CERAC, 3 November 2005). These violations have been committed mainly as part of an explicit strategy to separate the guerrillas from their perceived popular support base and gain control over land, natural resources and strategic roads. This largely explains the strong co-relation between internal displacement and the presence of multinational companies in Colombia. The regions richest in natural resources are also the ones most prone to internal displacement.” (ADMC, 2007)

As a source within the foreign affairs department shared with The Star, (Allan Woods, July 12, 2007) in negotiations with Colombia, “Canada will insist on non-binding references to corporate social responsibility,” further adding, “It’s just basically to raise the visibility of it (corporate social responsibility).”

Currently, various foreign extractive companies are under investigation for employing paramilitary death squads in the protection of foreign business infrastructure, including the assassination of union leaders and death threats and forceful displacement of local communities to allow companies to freely explore resource deposits. Implementing references which are non-binding is not an adequate strategy to prevent serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, especially from a government which lauds itself as a world leader in respect for human rights and human security.

Many of the Colombian refugees in Canada are IDPs who have been forced from their lands because of foreign corporate interests, or because of fighting among the different armed groups vying for control of the natural resources the land might offer. The more emphasis that is placed on opening trade and the less that is placed on assuring humanitarian well being and human security, could create a humanitarian situation much worse than the current crisis, and many more thousands of displaced persons and refugees forced to seek asylum in countries like Canada.

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[1] “A Prophetic Call: Colombian churches document their Suffering and Hope” Vol. 2, August, 2007.