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Colombia Casts a Wide Net In Its Fight With Guerrillas - 3/30 - Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/29/AR2008...

Some interesting snippets from this article:

"But under intense pressure from Colombian military commanders to register combat kills, the army has in recent years also increasingly been killing poor farmers and passing them off as rebels slain in combat, government officials and human rights groups say."

"955 civilians were killed between mid-2002 and mid-2007 and classified as guerrillas fallen in combat -- a 60 percent increase over the previous five years, when 577 civilians were reported killed by troops."

"U.S. Congress. Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations foreign operations subcommittee, said he is holding up $23 million in military aid until he sees progress in the fight against impunity and state-sponsored violence."

By rhydewithdis on Mar 29, 2008, 12:40 in Politics & the war.

rhydewithdis says on Mar 29, 2008, 12:41:

From my vantage point, this seems like a biased article from the WaPo which is probably against the FTA with Colombia.

They said I couldn't play football I was too small / They say I couldn't play basketball I wasn't tall / They say I couldn't play baseball at all / And now everyday of my life I ball.

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juancegomez says on Mar 29, 2008, 14:58:

Part of a series of related articles addressing essentially the same subject. I think this one, when taken as a whole, is fairly decent.

Evidently, what lies behind this is a worrying problem that deserves attention, regardless of whatever U.S. political interests may also factor into its press coverage or, for that matter, the possibility that at least a fraction of these cases may actually refer to valid kills and not to accidents, confusions, barbaric executions or premeditated setups (which may presumably amount for many of the rest). But the reports alone, even if not all allegations end up being equally valid, are troubling and serious enough.

On the other hand, it would be interesting to check for historical figures that go much further back than four or five years, if available, to make a more comprehensive comparison.

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