REUTERS Thursday, 15 April 1999 Colombia's rights record worsens -U.N.'s Robinson -------------------------------- By Andrew Gray GENEVA -- U.N. human rights chief Mary Robinson said on Thursday that Colombia's already notorious human rights record had worsened in the past year. A report from Robinson, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said most government attempts to combat problems such as paramilitary killings with the complicity of the state's security forces had achieved nothing. The report was based on accounts from the seven U.N. human rights officers deployed to monitor violations in Colombia, one of the High Commissioner's largest field operations. ``The High Commissioner is deeply concerned at the continued violence in Colombia, where violations of human rights and breaches of international humanitarian law, far from diminishing, have increased over the last 12 months,'' it said. Robinson, a former president of the Irish Republic, voiced anxiety about a growing number of paramilitary groups, which she said were the main perpetrators of rights abuses and war crimes. ``She regrets the continued reliable evidence of the participation and complicity of the security forces in the crimes committed by these illegal armed groups,'' said the report, submitted to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights. The 53-member state forum winds up its annual six-week session in Geneva at the end of this month. ``Also of concern is the fact that state officials implicated in killings, disappearances and torture and other atrocities continue to occupy their posts indefinitely,'' Robinson said. Colombia is in the grip of a three-decade-old conflict between government forces and Marxist rebels which has claimed 35,000 lives in the last 10 years alone. ``During 1998, most government initiatives to improve the human rights situation in Colombia led nowhere, as either they were not carried through or they were insufficient to bring about significant changes,'' Robinson's report said. Colombian Vice President Gustavo Bell Lemus told the U.N. Commission that his government recognised violence was still a part of life in the country but it was committed to a peace process which would improve the situation. ``The concerted and priority action of the government, the investigative and control bodies of the state and civil society is continually gathering strength,'' he said in a speech. Robinson, who visited Colombia in October last year, called on the government of President Andres Pastrana to draw up an action plan to improve the human rights situation. Her 38-page report also made 16 other recommendations to the Colombian government, including the adoption of an effective policy to disband paramilitary groups. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited *********************************************************************** * COLOMBIA SUPPORT NETWORK: To subscribe to CSN-L send request to listserv@postoffice.cso.uiuc.edu SUB CSN-L Firstname Lastname * * (Direct questions or comments about CSN-L to csncu@prairienet.org) * * Visit the website of CSN's Champaign-Urbana (Illinois) chapter at * * http://www.prairienet.org/csncu Subscribe to the COLOMBIA BULLETIN * * For free copy and info contact CSN, P.O. Box 1505, Madison WI 53701 * * or call (608) 257- 8753 fax: (608) 255-6621 Email: csn@igc.apc.org * * Visit the COLOMBIA SUPPORT NETWORK at http://www.igc.org/csn * Visit the COLOMBIAN LABOR MONITOR at http://www.prairienet.org/clm * ***********************************************************************