Military Aid Update

UK military aid is supposedly contingent on the Colombian government improving its human rights record. But the UN High Commission for Human Rights (HCHR) concluded the government has not complied with any of twenty-four agreed conditions, and has also introduced legislation that directly contravenes ten of them.

The UN, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch say that most human rights violations are carried out by paramilitary death squads linked to the official armed forces, who also commit a growing number of abuses.

Colombian President Uribe has branded local NGOs as “terrorists”. Thousands of people, including social activists and trade unionists, have recently been detained under anti-terrorism legislation.

Uribe’s Democratic Security Policy further contravenes military aid conditions. The policy includes vast new powers for the armed forces; impunity for paramilitaries; a 15,000-strong peasant militia; and a 1 million-man informer network.

Supposedly aimed at the insurgency, the policy will exacerbate the conflict, and do nothing to tackle the real problems: almost total impunity from prosecution, widespread collusion of state and paramilitary forces, and a culture of indifference to human rights.

Trade unionists and civil society activists are killed every week in Colombia. It is unconscionable that the British taxpayer should be funding those who target innocent civilians, trade unionists and human rights defenders.