A recently published report by the
Fellowship of Reconciliation found a link between U.S. military aid and the
extrajudicial execution of civilians by the Colombian army.
Co-published by the U.S. office on
Colombia, the report focused on the Leahy Law, which supposedly prohibits U.S.
military assistance to foreign governments accused of gross human rights
violations. Trade unionists and peasants have been systematically killed by
death-squads for decades on behalf of the Colombian ruling class in their
campaign of repression against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia-People’s Army (FARC).
According to Lindsay-Poland,
research and advocacy director for FOR, “We found that for many military units,
reports of extrajudicial executions increased during and after the highest
levels of U.S. assistance.” Conversely, a decrease in such executions was found
amongst units that received decreased U.S. funding.
Military units in Colombia are rewarded financially according to the
number of FARC fighters they kill. Civilian executions are intended to inflate
these statistics.
