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Ex-fighters don't always find peace

From the Miami Herald stories of a grim reality for some ex combatants.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/americas/

COLOMBIA-Posted on Sun, Jan. 16, 2005
Ex-fighters don't always find peace
Leftist and rightist fighters in Colombia's civil war are demobilizing at a torrid pace, creating a large number of problems equally quickly.

BY STEVEN DUDLEY-sdudley at herald.com

BOGOTA - It may have been the most embarrassing moment of President Alvaro Uribe's 2-year-old presidency: At a public function, Uribe hailed a leftist guerrilla who was captured, escaped and then surrendered as an example of those who seek peace in this war-torn nation.

''Hernando,'' the president began, using a familiar tone to address former rebel Hernando Buitrago, ``it's so great that you've found the good life -- happiness with your family, your friends.''

As a prize, the president offered Buitrago and his family a room at the luxurious Tequendama Hotel in Bogotá.

But Buitrago turned out to be something less than a shining model of the rapidly growing number of leftist rebels and right-wing paramilitary fighters who are turning in their weapons in hopes of putting the war behind them and winning amnesty.

His former commanders in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, wanted his head because they believed he had stolen money from them. Residents of the area where he once operated said his nickname was ''Torture Czar.'' And many Colombians wondered why Uribe would celebrate a man who started a kidnapping gang after he deserted the FARC.

Buitrago's history illustrated just how deep the pitfalls of demobilizing rebel and paramilitary fighters in Colombia's civil war can be. The brutal war is now more than four decades old and has left tens of thousands dead.

In the last two years, nearly 10,000 fighters from myriad factions have handed over their weapons. Many stand accused of war crimes such as kidnapping, torture and the murder of unarmed civilians. Others have psychological scars that often emerge only when they return to civilian life, or drug or alcohol problems that require counseling.

In all of these cases, the government must balance the need for justice for the victims of the gunmen with the desire to remove the fighters from the battlefield. Making things even more complicated is the fact that with an estimated 30,000 mostly young men still fighting, the temptation to return to battle remains strong.

AID, ACCOUNTABILITY

There are currently two ways for combatants to return to civilian life. One is for deserters, which is handled by the Defense Ministry. The other is for paramilitary fighters who surrender as part of ongoing peace talks with the government, which is run by the office of the peace commissioner, the government's negotiator.

Both programs eventually channel the ex-fighters into educational and rehabilitation programs, run by the Interior Ministry.

All are subject to legal scrutiny of their past. Those who are under suspicion of committing war crimes or nonpolitical crimes such as drug trafficking can be jailed while they are investigated.

After his stay in the luxurious hotel, the ex-FARC guerrilla Buitrago found himself back in jail for kidnapping. He did, however, leave the government with a whopping hotel bill.

The Defense Ministry's program alone has handled more than 6,000 former combatants, and not without many problems.

After they surrender, the fighters are usually interrogated, sometimes for days, before being transferred to larger facilities in one of several major cities, where they meet with psychologists. They are later transferred to safe houses, where they are evaluated for security risks.

''These guys arrive hot,'' said Andrés Piñate, the vice minister of defense and head of the military's desertion program. ``They're under grave risk. As time goes on, that risk goes down.''

One 24-year-old who called himself Johnnys was fairly typical of those leaving the war. He had been with a paramilitary group for six years and had worked his way to command of his own unit before negotiating his desertion with fellow fighters.

''I made a pact with them so they wouldn't come after me,'' he told The Herald, ``because if they go after me, then I'll go after them.''

Left-wing rebels who desert are in more danger from both their guerrilla brethren and paramilitary foes, program administrators said, and tend to keep a lower profile than the paramilitary fighters who leave the war. To further protect the defectors, former guerrillas and paramilitary combatants are housed in different places.

Still, the system isn't flawless. Piñate said 13 deserters have been killed since the program began two years ago.

Critics say the military has increased the risk for the defectors by sometimes recruiting them from safe houses to act as informants and as scouts in sweeps for arms caches and secret camps.

Piñate defends the recruitment as voluntary. Johnnys, for example, said he has refused to be a scout. The information obtained through the recruitments, Piñate added, has helped authorities thwart attacks, find kidnap victims and make breakthroughs on important human rights cases.

As a reward for collaboration, the military gives the deserters cash, which can lead to even more problems, said a program administrator who asked to remain anonymous.

HELL-RAISING

On one occasion, the administrator said, a former paramilitary defector returned from a mission with the military with an $80 check that he cashed before inviting friends from his safe house to a bar. After several bottles of liquor and a few lines of cocaine, they returned to the safe house to burn mattresses, throw chairs out of the windows and threaten the personnel with knives and broken bottles.

Neighbors of some of the safe houses have complained about increases in drug abuse, noise and delinquency in their areas since the arrival of the ex-combatants.

And some Colombians note with concern that some fighters demobilized after civil wars in El Salvador and Guatemala have gone on to engage in sophisticated criminal activities such as bank robberies and for-profit kidnappings.

PITFALLS

Several ex-combatants in one safe house told The Herald that the temptation to move into criminal activities is high because many entered the war when they were teenagers and have few skills aside from carrying and firing high-caliber weapons.

Some, mostly ex-paramilitary fighters, are struggling with drug addiction, while others worry that they cannot support their families. Johnnys said his salary as a paramilitary fighter allowed him to send some money to his family. But now that he is taking a class in welding, he barely has the resources to keep himself afloat.

GRIM OUTLOOK

''This is a ticking time bomb,'' the program administrator said.

Piñate disagrees. He acknowledges some of the problems but argues that the program is learning from its mistakes by adding more psychologists, more security at the safe houses, and better-trained personnel. He also says that most of the money paid by the military to collaborators goes to their families, not to drugs.

''One of the biggest motivators in demobilization is the hope to have a family,'' Piñate said in an interview. ``Most of the money is invested in houses for their mothers, starting a new business, beginning a new life.''

And overall, he added, demobilization is helping Colombia scale down the war.

''Even though we're not done with the fight, we're entering in the postconflict period,'' Piñate said. ``This is good news. The patient was sick, but he's starting to get better.''

By Sam Salmon on Jan 16, 2005, 21:21 in Politics & the war.

umm says on Jan 16, 2005, 22:05:

The biggest problem if ex-fighters have nothing to do after stop fighting.
Give the people an occupation, something to do, ameans to earn money and to take care of their family, then they dont have so much time to think about nonsense.
UMM

UMM

My Forum

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Sam Salmon says on Jan 16, 2005, 23:07:

Nonsense? The only 'nonsense' is contained in your post.
Drug/alcohol addiction, alienation because of decade long incarceration or separation from society are very very real problems (not to mention the guilt from crime and murder).
Perhaps you haven't lived in the real world long enough to meet people who've had to deal with serious challenges like these.
Certainly your flippant and altogether inconsequential posts are worth the paper they are printed on.

' a la orden!'

' a la orden!'

0 funny, 0 helpful.

umm says on Jan 16, 2005, 23:11:

Seems you like talking to yourself :)
UMM

UMM

My Forum

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juancegomez says on Jan 17, 2005, 13:19:

These people definitely need more aid and attention ...unfortunately it appears that international and national agencies/contributors/etc. aren't especially interested in dealing with this problem with the proper degree of funds/ attention/ etc...a problem which will become more serious every passing year and will still be with us even after the violence "officially" stops, no matter who "wins" or "gives up".

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