Colombia's Uribe Denounces Rights Groups as Cowards and Terrorist Sympathizers

AP ^ | September 08. 2003 | MARGARITA MARTINEZ

[Tailgunner Joe]

President Alvaro Uribe on Monday said human rights groups critical of his crackdown on leftist rebels are cowards and terrorist sympathizers.

Uribe's sharp words, delivered during a speech at a military ceremony in the capital, came the same day a group of 80 human rights groups and other non-governmental organizations released a report critical of Uribe's crackdown. International human rights officials condemned Uribe's remarks.

Since being elected by a landslide and taking office in August 2002, Uribe has led a campaign to restore order in a country afflicted by 39 years of guerrilla warfare that takes about 3,500 lives a year.

"When the terrorists begin to feel weakened, they immediately send their spokespeople for the human rights (groups)," Uribe said, challenging them to "take off their masks ... and drop this cowardice of hiding their ideas behind human rights."

In the speech, Uribe said his government is committed to human rights norms and respects criticisms of legitimate groups, but not others, which he did not name.

The report released Monday, titled "The Authoritarian Curse," said Uribe's "strategies of war and repression have been directed against the civilian population."

Among the 80 groups that contributed to the report are Colombia's most respected human rights organizations, including the Colombian Commission of Jurists; the Consultancy for Human Rights, or CODHES; and the Jesuit-affiliated Center for Popular Education and Investigation, known as CINEP.

A top representative for Amnesty International, who attended the release of the report Monday evening, said Uribe should be careful of what he says.

"Statements of this type can be dangerous because they can be understood by sectors that traditionally view non-governmental groups with suspicion as a signal too attack them," Susan Lee, Amnesty International's director for the Americas, told The Associated Press.

In Colombia, where rebels are battling government forces and a handful of right-wing militias, branding individuals or groups as supporters of one of the outlawed warring sides can prove fatal. The rebels and their paramilitary foes frequently execute civilians suspected of working for the other side.

[Tailgunner Joe]

Human Rights Fifth Column

[risk]

Can't we ask President Bush to send some help to Uribe? He might need some "independent observers." I'd bet the CIA and special forces would be happy to join him. I wouldn't trust a pro-FARC "rights activist" to give an impartial opinion about the time of day, let alone who's violating whose rights.

[Caipirabob]

Heaven help this President, a true leader, the likes that Colombian hasn't seen in so long, they're still trying figure it all out.

Uribe has shown a strength and courage in the face of the cowardly attcks, bombings and kidnappings promoted by terrorists and guerillas which is not only impressive, it's inspiring.

[jimtorr]

U.S. military has been working with Columbia for years, now. Regular forces and special forces.

[livius]

Uribe's been very good, and he was right on target with his words on the NGOs. There was a great article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal about the harm done by "charitable agencies" and their sympathy for left-wing causes, including terrorism. Somebody (maybe Tailgunner Joe) posted it here on FR, and it's worth reading.

[RippleFire]

bump

[Libertarianize the GOP]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[hchutch]

How about maybe taking the United Self-Defense forces of Colombia *OFF* the State Department's bad list?

[Clemenza]

Uribe is a great guy who unfortunatly lacks the resources and manpower to deal with the FARC.

Expect more Upper and Middle Class Colombians in the Condos of Key Biscayne and the gated communities of Weston.

[Clemenza]

How about maybe taking the United Self-Defense forces of Colombia *OFF* the State Department's bad list?

AMEN!

[hchutch]

Isn't it amazing what turning Carlos Castano loose can do? Just ask Pablo Escobar...

Wait, Pablo Escobar is no longer with us, thanks in no small part to the work that Mr. Castano did with "Los Pepes". In fact, I believe Pablo Escobar is now a good drug lord.

[Clemenza]

Colombia Ping!

[ctonious]

Uribe is exactly right. These international "rights" observers in those meddling NGO's are thinly disguised revolutionaries hiding behind the mantra of rights for "the people, man." They are mostly pampered elitist "progressives", looking at their meddling as something really cool to do for awhile. They have absolutely NOTHING to say when leftist guerillas massacre whole villages and kidnap grandmothers - but scream like stuck pigs when the army kills the armed FARC-heads committing these deeds.

Just as an example, I met a US lawyer documenting voting abuses in the Ukraine whose next consulting assignment is documenting human rights abuses in Guatemala. He said he was hired by a Finnish organization, not an EU or UN organization, but some meddling little socialist bastards who told him to not only collect reports in Guatemal but to "stir things up a little".

These pampered, sniveling little leftists need to be considered part of the revolutionary opposition - and treated accordingly.

[El Conservador]

How about maybe taking the United Self-Defense forces of Colombia *OFF* the State Department's bad list?

Wouldn't be better. The AUC are as bloodthirsty and crooked as the FARC or the ELN, and, as the former, are actively involved. Besides, they're dissolving, except for some fanatical units

[El Conservador]

Or in townhomes in West St. Louis County, Missouri!!!

;)

[hchutch]

Carlos Castano, the leader of that group, aided us in taking down Pablo Escobar. I have a great deal of difficulty with the treatment he has received at the hands of the State Department, and feel he is no threat to the interests of this country.

[Tailgunner Joe]

"We are not going to launch any witch hunt here," Interior Minister Fernando Londono told local radio, "But we can't accept that in a country terrorized by sinister armed bands that commit crimes like the one in Chita many keep a complicit silence while they accuse the state security forces of crimes they have not committed" - Reuters