Tell Secretary Clinton: Support Human Rights in Colombia!

On August 6, Colombian soldiers on trial for the 2005 massacre of two families in the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó were set free, despite confessions and testimony by an Army captain and half a dozen paramilitary gunmen who participated in the violence.

In the next few weeks, the State Department will decide whether or not to certify that the Colombian government is doing enough on human rights to meet the conditions tied to a portion of U.S. aid to Colombia. If they say no, then the Colombian government will not receive that funding until it cleans up its act on human rights— to bring the soldiers responsible for the killing of more than 3,000 innocent civilians to justice, to support not stigmatize human rights defenders, and to protect not displace indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities.

Sounds simple, right? Here’s the catch: the U.S. government has never used this powerful tool. When the massacre occurred in February 2005, the State Department suspended certification, but eventually granted it six months later. With the Bush Administration, it wasn’t surprising that they would throw human rights to the sidelines. But now that the Obama Administration has all its people in place at the State Department, there is no reason why they shouldn’t use this critical leverage. Still, it will take a strong push from us to make them use it.

FOR's report "Military Assistance and Human Rights" demonstrates that the United States has supported Colombian military units responsible for many hundreds of executions of civilians, with impunity for more than 98% of these killings. U.S. aid, and especially human rights certification, gives implicit legitimacy to the military's actions. The acquittal of soldiers for the San José massacre illustrates more outrageously than ever how deep impunity in Colombia reaches. Urge Secretary Clinton to read this report and heed its recommendations, and start with a decision not to certify human rights conditions in Colombia.

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Subject:

Your Letter:

Dear Secretary Clinton,

I write you as a concerned citizen to urge you to support human rights in Colombia by withholding certification on the human rights conditions connected to U.S. aid. I am especially upset by the recent acquittal of soldiers for the 2005 brutal massacre in the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó.

With the new Colombian government in office, it is more important than ever that the U.S. government send a strong human rights message to the new administration. The best way to send this message is by telling the truth: Colombia’s government has not made enough progress on respecting human rights during the past year.

It would be unacceptable for the State Department to indicate that there has been progress when:

•	There has been a disturbing lack of progress on the cases of the killings of over 2000 innocent civilians by the Colombian military—even in the notorious Soacha case, where young men were told they were being hired for a job, then taken away and murdered so that their bodies could be dressed up in guerrilla fatigues to show success in the war.

•	 The government’s intelligence agency not only spied on judges, journalists, union leaders, and human rights defenders, but also carried out dirty tricks, and even death threats, to undermine their legitimate, democratic activities.

•	There has been a recent upsurge of death threats against hundreds of human rights, Afro-Colombian, indigenous, internally displaced and labor rights organizations and individuals across Colombia—and some of these threats have been realized. In May, seven human rights defenders were murdered, including  Rogelio Martinez of the national victims’ movement and Alexander Quintero, who worked closely with Afro-Colombian communities. The Colombian government should be working to protect these threatened groups and to find and prosecute those responsible, but has failed to do so.

•	Colombia is still the most dangerous country to be a union leader. Of the 101 reported union leaders murdered in the world in 2009, 48 were Colombian.

These are just a few of the many examples of ways in which the Colombian government has not only failed to make human rights a priority, but in some instances has actively worked to disrupt the work of human rights defenders. Please show that our country cares about human rights by taking this important stance towards the serious human rights crisis in Colombia.

Sincerely,

Hillary Clinton

US Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C St. NW
Washington, DC 20520
US

Fax:(202) 647-2283