“Criminal armies” that are being called “heirs” to various paramilitary groups which the Colombian government has attempted to disband over the last half decade have deepened their presence in the country, engaging in what the New York Times calls “a broad range of rights abuses, including massacres, rapes and forced displacement.” The story comes out of a new Human Rights Watch report detailing the rights abuses carried out by so-called “successor groups.” The report was released yesterday and is the product of some two years of HRW investigation. According to HRW Americas director José MiguelVivanco, “whatever you call these groups - whether paramilitaries, gangs, or some other name - their impact on human rights in Colombia today should not be minimized.” The number of individuals actively involved in such groups ranges from 4000 (the government’s figures) to as many as 10,200—an estimate used by many NGOs. Further, the “successor groups” operate in 24 of Colombia’s 32 departments. And perhaps most frustratingly, notes the report, the emergence of such groups was indeed “predictable” because of the “Colombian government's failure to dismantle the paramilitary coalition's criminal networks during the demobilization process, between 2003 and 2006.”
“The government's inadequate implementation of the demobilizations also allowed paramilitaries to recruit civilians to pose as paramilitaries for the demobilization, while keeping portions of their membership active.”
In Colombia the report is being greeted with strong words of rebuke from the Colombian government. According to the Times, Defense Minister Gabriel Silva cancelled a meeting with José Miguel Vivanco after the report’s release, adding that HRW “completely ignored the public security forces’ efforts in combating these criminal groups.” In the US, Reuters says HRW is recommending that there be no approval of any US-Colombia free trade deal until the Colombian government deals with on-going human rights violations—many of which have had trade unionists as their victims.
Also on Colombia, via Plan Colombia and Beyond, more details are emerging on last week’s reports of a mass grave near La Macarena. Sources in the country tell the CIP team that the “site in question is an official cemetery in the La Macarena town center, not a clandestine area where bodies were dumped.” Also, the original figure of 2000 unidentified bodies may be changing. More developments as they come.
Other stories this morning:
· The LA Times reports that seizures of drug shipments in Ecuador hit an all-time high last year as the country becomes an ever-more important hub for trafficking to the US and Europe. In 2009, Ecuadorean officials seized 63 tons of cocaine (double the amount seized in 2008) while also destroying seven drug-processing laboratories (up from two in ‘08). Interestingly, the LAT notes that Russia, where cocaine sells for 4 times its price in the US, has become the world’s “hottest market.” And while the drug’s origin is most frequently Colombia, experts now estimate that 1/3 of the cocaine produced in Colombia passes through Ecuador (4 times the amount that went through the country one decade ago). Interestingly, the report also adds that “Ecuador received $7 million in U.S. anti-drug aid last year, less than half the amount received by Peru or Bolivia, yet seized more than twice the tonnage of cocaine confiscated by either of those countries.” This according to US counter-narcotics officials who have “consistently praised [the Correa government’s] assistance in anti-drug operations,” despite being recently expelled from the military base in Manta.
· Also on Ecuador, BBC Mundo writes that Rafael Correa has reinitiated work on his government’s Yasuní project which seeks international contributions to keep its oil in the ground. Correa recently announced that his National Patrimony minister would become the new coordinator of the project which is currently seeking increased support from Arab and Asian countries. The announcement comes after the resignation of foreign minister, Fander Falconí, who left his post over disagreements with the president’s handling of the project.
· The latest from Haiti includes a new Christian Science Monitor report detailing the plans of some African nations to resettle displaced Haitians. According to the paper, Senegal has agreed to settle at least 50 Haitians while the country’s president intends to persuade other African Union countries to do the same at an AU summit this week. The Progressive Policy Institute has a new report out about reconstruction in Haiti. Among its recommendations: upgrading the MINUSTAH mandate to one of full “nation-building” for 10 years; turning “peacekeepers” into “police;” and moving the Haitian capital out of Port-au-Prince to Cap-Haïtien. And finally, a spokesman for Haiti’s PM said yesterday that the death toll from the quake has now surpassed 200,000.
· Speaking from the DR, former Honduran President Mel Zelaya said Wednesday that the new government of Pepe Lobo has done nothing to remove from government those who carried out the June coup against him. These words come as OAS representatives touched down in Tegucigalpa Wednesday to aid in the construction of a truth commission. However, in many ways this process looks simply like a formality in order that Honduras gain re-admittance into the inter-regional body. According to Lobo, OAS Sec. General José Miguel Insulza told him this week that “we are on our way to normalizing everything with Honduras.” Meanwhile, the OAS’s Inter-American Human Rights Commission issued a statement critical of the amnesty bill signed by Pepe Lobo as he took office. The organization says the document is “confusing,” “ambiguous” and contradicts the international obligation of Honduras to investigate the June coup and its after-effects. And on the ground, the National Resistance Front (FNRP) announced its first major mobilizations since Lobo took office, marching against a possible mass layoff of Honduran teachers.
· In Argentina, Central Banker Martin Redrado was formally dismissed by President Cristina Kirchner yesterday after stepping down some days ago. Kirchner also officially named Mercedes Marcó del Pont as the bank’s new head. Marcó del Pont formerly served as the president of the state-owned Banco de la Nación Argentina and was a congresswoman from Ms. Kirchner’s Front for Victory Party from 2003 to 2007.
· The OAS set a date of March 24 for the election for a new Sec. General. So far, current head José Miguel Insulza is the only candidate in the running.
· And finally, an interesting and somewhat bizarre development from Mexico where the Mexican government is threatening to crackdown on the use of Twitter and other social networking sites. In Mexico City, Twitter has been used by drunk drivers seeking to avoid random breathalyzer checkpoints. And now, says a report at Global Post, “the Mexican government is considering a bill to restrict social networking websites and to set up a police force to monitor them,” out of fear that kidnappers and drug cartels are also using the sites to communicate with one another. The proposed legislation is being modeled partially after a controversial Spanish bill that “would allow judges to shut down websites that, according to the government, help people break copyrights and other laws.”
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