As drug czar Barry McCaffrey and Congressional drug warriors push for a massive increase, up to one billion dollars, in funding for anti-drug efforts in Andean nations, an Amnesty International report providing solid evidence of the link between the Colombian Army and the guerrilla paramilitary forces -- responsible for thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of political murders over the past decade -- has been highlighted by members of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. The aid package being considered by Congress earmarks significant resources for the Colombian Army.
"Barrancabermeja: A City Under Siege" was distributed to the entire House and Senate by Reps. Tom Lantos (D-CA) and John Porter (R-IL), co-chairs of the caucus. The report, issued last May, focuses on a May 16, 1998 massacre, subsequent killings, and disappearances by the paramilitaries in this city, a strategic oil port, and exposes the atrocities that paramilitary forces carried out, outlines their strategy, and highlights the Army's complicity in the attacks.
"This report exposes the unavoidable -- and tragic -- reality that helping the Colombian Army will inevitably help the paramilitary forces," said Carlos Salinas, Advocacy Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at Amnesty International U.S.A. "Our report documents the link between the paramilitary forces and the Colombian Army, and should serve as a warning to the United States government that it should not fund a military involved in killing its own citizens. In short, the United States government should removed itself from death-squad politics."
"Barrancabermeja: A City Under Siege" can be found online at http://www.amnesty.org/ailib/aipub/1999/AMR/22303699.htm.
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| Issue #108, 9/17/99 Court Reverses Self: No Warrant Needed for Thermal Imaging | US Appeals Court Rules for Cannabis Clubs, Clears Way for Distribution to Patients With Medical Necessity | Amnesty International Report Shows Collusion Between Colombian Army and Murderous Paramilitary Forces | Once Covert, Practice of US Coast Guard Firing on Suspected Drug Boats Revealed | House Committee: Feds Fabricated Drug Charge to Bring in Army at Waco | CONFERENCE: Preventing Heroin Overdose: Pragmatic Approaches, Seattle, Year 2000 | Editorial: Those Helicopters |
This issue -- main page This issue -- single-file printer version Drug War Chronicle -- main page Chronicle archives |
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StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNet)
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