In Colombia, a dubious disarmament

In the midst of a relentless conflict, Colombia's government and its ally, the Bush administration, are hailing the demobilization of 32,000 fighters from right-wing paramilitary groups–a disarmament that authorities say is larger than any of those that closed out Central America's civil wars in the 1990s. But another, far more critical picture of the disarmament has emerged in recent months, drawn from the accounts of rights groups, victims of Colombia's murky, drug-fueled conflict, and even a report from the Attorney General's Office. Paramilitary commanders, according to these accounts, have killed hundreds of people in violation of a cease-fire, trafficked cocaine and stolen millions of dollars from state institutions they had infiltrated. A handful of lawmakers on Capitol Hill have also voiced concerns about the disarmament, which is partly funded by the United States. "The demobilization process has been as much about avoiding justice and consolidating ill-gotten gains as it has been about disarming the paramilitaries," said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT), the ranking member of the subcommittee on foreign operations. "The government needs to stop appeasing the leaders of these outlaw militias and listen more to their victims." Across Colombia, victims and rights groups have been shaken by revelations in the press about paramilitary-related outrages, from wealthy commanders patronizing elegant stores in shopping malls to disclosures of paramilitary ties to Colombia's Congress. In the latest scandal, one of the more powerful paramilitary commanders, Rodrigo Tovar, recruited peasants to play the part of paramilitary fighters in demobilization ceremonies, according to a 29-page internal investigative report by the Attorney General's Office. The report, based on records that were kept in Tovar's computer and that detailed crimes committed by his paramilitary unit, was first disclosed in El Tiempo, the country's leading newspaper. According to its findings, a special bank account was set up to disburse money to unemployed peasants so they could "pass themselves off as militiamen, the more the better." Tovar, the report continues, "gives instructions so that they are ready for demobilization day, that they know how to march, sing the hymn [of the AUC] and respond to prosecutors' questions." At the same time, Tovar ordered underlings to make sure some bands of fighters remain armed to guard "vulnerable zones." Tovar's hit men killed 558 people in one coastal province, Atlantico, at the same time he was participating in disarmament negotiations, according to the report. The victims included shopkeepers who failed to deliver extortion payments, leftist activists, common criminals and even a university professor. The report says that "men, women, children and passersby from all social and professional levels have become victimized." Tovar kept detailed records of cocaine shipments to the United States and Europe, the Attorney General's Office said. The office's report also recounted how rogue police units took payoffs to permit cocaine deliveries and how Tovar helped senators and congressmen close to him win reelection. Under the government's Justice and Peace Law, approved by Congress last year, generous benefits were granted to commanders accused of atrocities in exchange for disarming units of fighters. The government also announced that those who participated in the process would not be extradited to the United States on drug-trafficking charges–the paramilitary commanders' greatest fear. In the face of international outrage, Colombia's highest court struck down some provisions in May and made the terms more stringent. Still, the law shields the commanders from serving time in prison. Though there are no exact figures, government officials have calculated that Colombian paramilitaries and drug traffickers control a swath of territory three times the size of New Jersey.