Stop Paramilitaries in Tibu

Nizkor Int. Human Rights Team
Derechos Human Rights
Serpaj Europe
Urgent Solidarity
16mar00

URGENT APPEAL IN ORDER TO PREVENT A PARAMILITARY CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION
FROM ACTING IN NORTHERN SANTANDER, COLOMBIA.

To:
General MARTIN ORLANDO CARRENHO
Commander of the V National Army Brigade

Once more we are contacting you in order to inform you that during the
past hours our office has been receiving multiple telephone calls
informing us that a numerous paramilitary group has seized the area of
Campo Dos, pertaining to the jurisdiction of the Municipality of Tibu,
Northern Santader. These actions started today at about 07:00 a.m.. The
paramilitaries conducted a violent search among the houses of this
hamlet and proceeded to concentrate all its inhabitants in a sport
facility. They have also set up a check point on the Cucuta-Tibu road,
thus impeding free circulation of persons and vehicles.

In view of these facts, we urge you to deploy all necessary military
efforts, from both the troops of the Brigade under your command and the
Air Force, in order for them to verify this information and, if it turns
out to be certain, in order to protect the inhabitants of Campo Dos and
neutralize the paramilitary group.

Also, we have placed on record that given your refusal to personally
answer to our call, we have talked with Captain Camargo, member of your
command, who promised us to immediately and urgently adopt the necessary
measures.

Sincerely,

GLORIA INES FLOREZ SCHNEIDER
Directora Ejecutiva de MINGA (MINGA Executive Director)
Santa Fe de Bogota D.C., March 16, 2000

EQUIPO NIZKOR ARGUMENTS:
Paramilitary groups are carrying out a planned extermination of civil
population in Colombia.

1) According to the Nuremberg Statute and judgments, as well as
subsequent judgments of the ad-hoc International Criminal Tribunal for
the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), particularly the Tadic verdict dated
15jul99, military commanders and civil servants who control the area
where the paralimitaries act must be held responsible for not preventing
paramilitary crimes, as if they had directly ordered the operations
within their command area.

The commanders of the militarized zones who are at the top of the chain
of command and who are therefore the superiors to the Battalions and
their commanding officers, are responsible for not halting the
activities of the criminal organizations that make up the paramilitary
groups. Allegations of territorial subordination are not sufficient when
the offenses involved are of such a nature. Those responsible must be
brought before a tribunal. In this case we are referring to Gral.
Orlando Carrenho, Commander of the V Army Brigade.

They must be brought to court not only on the basis that "they should
have known but that they are in a duty to know" what takes place within
their command area, as it has been established in the TIHOMIR BLASKIC
verdict dated 03mar00, issued by the ICTY.

2) Paramilitary forces in Colombia use the "modus operandi" of covert
military actions and counterintelligence operations, therefore the
military division area commanders and Colombian Army General Staff are
both responsible for war crimes, kidnappings, enforced disappearances
and other serious crimes against humanity.

These offenses, under the rules used by International Criminal Courts
and according to current doctrine on International Humanitarian Law,
neither prescribe, nor may they be subject to any sort of amnesty. The
same has also been said regarding the Atlacatl Battalion in El Salvador
by the Inter-American Human Rights Commission through its recent
decision on the Jesuit case.

3) The paramilitaries must understand that according to the Geneva
Conventions, mercenaries can never enjoy the legal status of combatant
or of prisoner of war.

4) There is an obvious pattern of civilian population extermination,
utilizing modern "social control" techniques (such us computer
simulation techniques). Lists of civil, political, social and cultural
activists are made and: a) these persons are targeted; b) they are
publicly threatened, to identify them to the paramilitaries, and at the
same time, to grant impunity to the command chain; c) security coverage
zones in rural and urban areas are cleared in preparation for
executions; d) communications and logistical support are arranged and
the moment of execution is determined.

These deeds fall under the figure of criminal organization and
systematic planning of civilian extermination. Following information
recorded by the Colombian Commission of Jurists, 77.8% of the most
serious human rights violations for 1998 were committed by paramilitary
criminal organizations. Of the 1,656 total incidents recorded, 81,8%
were committed by paramilitaries and
state security forces. Comparing 1994 and 1998, Military / paramilitary
violations more than doubled.

5) Extermination is a crime against humanity and therefore punishable
under international law. Extermination has been recognized as a crime
against humanity by article 6(c) of the Nuremberg Statute; article II(1)
(c) of Control Council Law No. 10; article 5(c) of the Tokio Statute and
Principle IV(c) of the Nuremberg Principles. It has also been included
in the Statutes of the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former
Yugoslavia (article 5) and Rwanda (article 3), and also in the Draft
Code of Crimes againsy the Peace and Security of Mankind [1954: article
2, 11 and 1996: article 18(b)].

6) We take note of and support in all of its terms, the Public
Declaration of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and
International Trade of the Canadian Parliament, dated 16dec99. This
declaration "Calls upon the Government of Colombia to intensify both its
investigation of the Barrancabermeja massacre and its activities to
reduce and prevent violence and the abuse of human rights in the country
and to end impunity especially with regards to crimes against humanity".

In concordance with this declaration, we ask other governments to adopt
a similar posture and that they revise their diplomatic and economic
relationships with the Colombian government, a government that has
demonstrated a failure to comply with its obligations under
International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law. In
order to implement these measures we think that the State of Colombia
should be asked to abide by the doctrine formulated by the
Inter-American Human Rights Commission as a conditionality clause.
EU, March 16,2000



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ANDRES PASTRANA ARANGO
Presidente de la Republica Presidencia de la Republica
Carrera 8 n. 7-26 Palacio de Narinho, Santa Fe de Bogota.
Telefono. 5629300 ext. 3550 (571 ) 284 33 00 Fax (571 ) 286 74 34 - 286
68 42 - 284 21 86
Mailto: pastrana@presidencia.gov.co

NESTOR HUMBERTO MARTINEZ
Ministro del interior Ministerio de Gobierno
Carrera 8 n. 8-09 Santa Fe de Bogota, Palacio de Narinho.
Tel-fax (571 ) 2868025, 3343960 ext. 0630
Mailto: prensamini@anticorrupcion.gov.co

LUIS FERNANDO RAMIREZ Ministro de la Defensa Ministerio de Defensa
Nacional Avenida El Dorado con carrera 52 CAN Santa Fe de Bogota
Tel-fax (571 ) 222 18 74
Mailto: infprotocol@mindefensa.gov.co

JAIME BERNAL CUELLAR
Procurador General de la Nacion Procuraduria General de
la Nacion Carrera 5 n. 15-80 Santa Fe de Bogota.
Tel-fax: (571 ) 342 97 23, 2817531
Mailto: pgnpre@col1.telecom.com.co

ALFONSO GOMEZ MENDEZ Fiscal General de la Nacion
Diagonal 22 B n. 52-01 Santa Fe de Bogota.
Tel fax (571 ) 570 20 22
Mailto: fiscal@colonsat.net.co

JOSE FERNANDO CASTRO CAYCEDO
Defensor del Pueblo Defensoria del Pueblo
Calle 55 n. 10-32 Santa Fe de Bogota
Fax: (571 ) 346 12 25
Mailto: oprensa@col1.telecom.com.co

GUSTAVO BELL
Consejeria Presidencial de Derechos Humanos Calle 7 No 6-54 Piso 3
Santafe de Bogota, D. C.
Tele fax: (571 ) 3371351

FERNANDO TAPIAS STAHELIN
Comandante de las Fuerzas Militares Avenida el Dorado con Carrera 52
Santafe de Bogota
Tele fax. 571-2222935
Mailto: pilaque@cgm.mil.co

United Nations - Kofi Annan, Secretary General
United Nations, Room S-3800 - New York, NY 10017
Mailto: ecu@un.org