South America - Friday, May 8, 2009 5:38 - 0 Comments
Toxic fallout of Colombian scandal
The toxic fallout of a grisly army scandal continues to spread in Colombia, as more soldiers are arrested over their alleged roles. In recent days another three colonels have been arrested, bringing the total number of military personnel captured to at least 22.
The “false positives” scandal has revealed that the army murdered civilians, who were then dressed in rebel uniforms or given guns. They were then presented as guerrillas or paramilitaries killed in combat.
These allowed units to fabricate results, and officers to gain promotion.
The number of victims is believed to be in the thousands. “The issue of the false positives puts into doubt the doctrine of the security forces with respect to human rights,” said Maria Victoria Llorente, director of the think-tank Foundation Idea for Peace. “This puts at risk a prized value for the military: legitimacy.”
Demand for results
By certain measures, the “democratic security” policy of President Alvaro Uribe has been a great success. It has pushed back Marxist rebels from around the cities and deep into their mountain and jungle strongholds.
It has demobilised 30,000 members of an illegal right-wing paramilitary army, the United Self Defence Forces of Colombia. It has seen a massive drop in kidnapping and a fall in the murder rate, once among the highest in the world.
But Mr Uribe’s demand for results has pushed his security forces to the limit – and this appears to have provoked this scandal of the false positives. The scandal broke last October when it was found that poor, young men had been recruited from the slums of Bogota, promised well-paying jobs in the province of Norte de Santander, then murdered in cold blood and presented by the army as having been killed in combat.
The attorney general’s office has evidence that 30 young men were murdered in such circumstances, and so far 17 soldiers have been arrested in connection with these extra-judicial killings. Continue…
Other Recent Articles
- Zimbabwe Activists Jailed Again
- Karadzic Claims Promised Immunity By USA
- Congo ex-rebel ‘working with UN’
- CAR soldiers blamed for killings
- UN employee with child pornography at Halifax
Most Popular Content
- Toxic fallout of Colombian scandal
- Zimbabwe Activists Jailed Again
- Karadzic Claims Promised Immunity By USA
- Congo ex-rebel ‘working with UN’
- CAR soldiers blamed for killings
- UN employee with child pornography at Halifax
- Free Roxana Saberi
- “Kenyan police are a law unto themselves. They kill often, with impunity”
- Finnish resident tied to Rwandan genocide
- HRW Rwanda expert killed in plane crash
- Kony rebels burn hundreds in church
South America - May 8, 2009 5:38 - 0 Comments
Toxic fallout of Colombian scandal
The toxic fallout of a grisly army scandal continues to spread in Colombia, as more soldiers are arrested over their alleged roles. In recent days another three colonels have been arrested, bringing the total number of military personnel captured to at least 22.
The “false positives” scandal has revealed that the army murdered civilians, who were then dressed in rebel uniforms or given guns. They were then presented as guerrillas or paramilitaries killed in combat.
These allowed units to fabricate results, and officers to gain promotion.
The number of victims is believed to be in the thousands. “The issue of the false positives puts into doubt the doctrine of the security forces with respect to human rights,” said Maria Victoria Llorente, director of the think-tank Foundation Idea for Peace. “This puts at risk a prized value for the military: legitimacy.”
Demand for results
By certain measures, the “democratic security” policy of President Alvaro Uribe has been a great success. It has pushed back Marxist rebels from around the cities and deep into their mountain and jungle strongholds.
It has demobilised 30,000 members of an illegal right-wing paramilitary army, the United Self Defence Forces of Colombia. It has seen a massive drop in kidnapping and a fall in the murder rate, once among the highest in the world.
But Mr Uribe’s demand for results has pushed his security forces to the limit – and this appears to have provoked this scandal of the false positives. The scandal broke last October when it was found that poor, young men had been recruited from the slums of Bogota, promised well-paying jobs in the province of Norte de Santander, then murdered in cold blood and presented by the army as having been killed in combat.
The attorney general’s office has evidence that 30 young men were murdered in such circumstances, and so far 17 soldiers have been arrested in connection with these extra-judicial killings. Continue…
More In
Most Wanted - Apr 30, 2009 7:45 - 0 Comments
Congo ex-rebel ‘working with UN’
An indicted war criminal is playing a leading role in the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to documents seen by the BBC.
A Congolese army paper suggests ex-rebel leader Gen Bosco Ntaganda has a major part in the command chain, says a BBC correspondent in the country.
The UN-Congolese force is fighting Hutu rebels in the eastern DR Congo.
The force says Congolese authorities have given assurances that Gen Ntaganda is not involved in joint operations.
Gen Ntaganda – known as “the Terminator” – is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged forced enrolment of child soldiers in 2002-2003.
‘No name’
The BBC’s Thomas Fessy in the capital, Kinshasa, has seen an internal Congolese army document, dated 4 April 2009, which refers to Gen Ntaganda as the deputy co-ordinator for the joint mission’s operations.
 |
 Rather than denying or ignoring the role being played by Bosco Ntaganda, the UN should be actively seeking his arrest and transferring him to The Hague  Anneke Van Woudenberg
Human Rights Watch  |
Our correspondent says the paper – which notes that Gen Ntaganda spoke during an operations meeting – proves he is playing a major role in the chain of command.
A high-ranking Congolese army official confirmed the former rebel leader was involved in the operations, describing him as an adviser to the operations commander.
The UN’s peacekeeping force in DR Congo, which is known as Monuc, denied the report.
“Monuc has been in very close touch with the Congolese authorities working with the Congolese military,” spokesman Kevin Kennedy told the BBC’s Network Africa programme.
“A document has been shared with Monuc concerning the command for the operations that Monuc is working on with the FADRC (Congolese national army).
“Bosco Ntaganda’s name does not appear on that document, so we have from our Congolese counterparts an assurance that he is not part of the command.” Continue…
More In
Africa - May 6, 2009 6:06 - 0 Comments
Zimbabwe Activists Jailed Again
Zimbabwe human rights campaigner Jestina Mukoko has been ordered back to jail for plotting to topple President Robert Mugabe, her lawyer said.
Ms Mukoko is among 18 leading activists to be detained just two months after they were released on bail. The activists say they were tortured into making false confessions. The party of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has warned that the move could threaten the future of Zimbabwe’s power-sharing government.
“Today’s ruling seriously threatens not only the life and health of the inclusive government, but its longevity and durability,” a statement from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said. It added that the decision “threatens the goodwill” Zimbabwe has received from the international community.
Torture claims
Magistrate Catherine Chimanda in Harare said she was revoking bail because a formal indictment had been filed a day earlier. It accuses Ms Mukoko and the others of sabotage, terrorism and banditry. The suspects – who include several MDC members – were detained in December for three months.
They were charged with attempting to overthrow Mr Mugabe’s government and replace it with one headed by Mr Tsvangirai. Some had fallen ill and were put under police guard in hospital. Ms Mukoko, the director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, was granted medical treatment at a previous court hearing after she said she had been tortured.
The latest detentions will be seen as another blow to the authority of Zimbabwe’s new power-sharing government, which has been struggling to resolve a plethora of political and economic issues, says the BBC’s Southern Africa correspondent, Peter Biles.
More In News
- Top Kagame Aide Arrested in Germany over Genocide Case
- French Officers Sue over Rwanda Genocide Report
- Sudan: War Crimes Investigations Are Mere ‘Window Dressing’
- Brazilian secret police head guilty of torture
- Argentine rallies for missing man