 Friends,
I'm in Washington today with Colombian human rights defender Rosa Liliana Ortiz, meeting with State Department officials and congressional staff to present our findings about the human rights outcomes of billions of dollars of U.S. military assistance in Colombia.
The Rise and Fall of 'False Positive' Killings in Colombia: The Role of U.S. Military Assistance, 2000-2010, undertakes to document and analyze the impact of the billions of dollars that the United States spends each year to strengthen the military and police forces of other countries.
The study focuses on Colombia, which U.S. officials cite as a model they are proud of and exporting to Mexico and Central America. Critics say it's an example of U.S. aiding gross abuses and war.
Neither has compiled comprehensive evidence. So how would we know?
This study takes on this question, relevant to U.S. policy from Afghanistan and Israel to Egypt and Honduras.
 We identified Colombian Army officers with the largest number of extrajudicial executions under their brigade command, and found that four of six with the most such killings under their command were subsequently promoted to command the Army. This includes current Army commander General Jaime Lasprilla Villamizar, who oversaw at least 75 killings of civilians when he led the brigade in southern Huila Department in 2006-2007.
As Rosa said today, instead of being held accountable, officers like Lasprilla have received extensive U.S. assistance and risen in rank.
Yet the Leahy Law requires Washington to suspend military assistance to foreign units whose commanders have committed serious abuses, unless those responsible are brought to justice. Even if he was not personally involved, General Lasprilla oversaw a pattern of more than six dozen civilian killings that is a gross human rights violation.
Please take action by calling on the United States to press for justice for the crimes committed under General Lasprilla's command, and until then to comply with the Leahy Law by suspending U.S. assistance to the Army that General Lasprilla commands.
I invite you to join us by reading this report, sharing it with others, and acting on our findings.
FOR peace,
John Lindsay-Poland |
