December 10, 2020
Truth, Coexistence, and Non-Repetition Commission (CEV)
Cra. 9 No. 12c-10
Bogotá, Colombia
Honorable Commissioners of the Truth, Coexistence, and Non-Repetition Commission:
We, the undersigned organizations and persons, write to you in support of the recommendations detailed in this letter, which are from the report “From the beginning to the end: The United States in the Colombian Armed Conflict,” which was presented October 7, 2020 by FOR Peace Presence, the Óscar Romero International Christian Service in Solidarity with the People of Latin America (SICSAL), and School of the Americas Watch (SOA Watch). In the search for truth and non-repetition, it is crucial to analyze the role of U.S. military and police assistance during the Colombian armed conflict and the impacts of this assistance on human rights.
The report shows that U.S. military training has been the principal doctrinal and operational reference that has guided the Colombian military’s handling of the armed conflict, and at the same time, has served to empower and protect military personnel with complaints of grave human rights violations against them. An analysis of declassified U.S. military documents shows how Colombian military and police forces were trained in the counterinsurgency national security doctrine, based on the construction of an internal enemy, which had disastrous consequences for human rights in Colombia. These patterns are particularly clear in relation to the School of the Americas and the Western Hemispheric Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC). The report also analyzes how U.S. military training of the Colombian police has contributed to the militarization of the police.
Additionally, the report illustrates the forms in which U.S. political and military support fostered and justified human rights violations by the Colombian military and encouraged impunity for the military and paramilitary personnel responsible for these violations. The report analyzes how the U.S. influenced Colombia’s strategic military decisions to establish the conditions for foreign investment and natural resource extraction in areas of interest to U.S. companies. Finally, the report describes the internationalization of the U.S. military training received by the Colombian military and police forces, through the use of Colombian instructors to train third countries, including training financed by the U.S.
Grounded in this analysis, the report contains a series of recommendations for the CEV that seek to guarantee the right to truth, justice, and reparation, as well as the guarantee of non-repetition, to the victims and Colombian society.
First, the report recommends that the CEV request the definitive suspension of training of Colombian military and police forces by the United States, especially at WHINSEC (previously the School of the Americas) as well as the definitive suspension of military and police training of third countries by Colombia.
Second, several of the recommendations seek to guarantee the right to truth through access to information. The report recommends that the names and other relevant information about the Colombian military and police personnel who have received training by the United States or who have provided training to students from other countries be made public, as should the information on the members of security forces of other countries who have received training by Colombian military or police trainers. Additionally, the report recommends that the Colombian state declassify military and police training manuals. Similarly, it requests the Colombian government use the pertinent channels to ask the U.S. to declassify files related to the armed conflict and human rights in Colombia.
Third, the report includes recommendations to guarantee the right to justice and non-repetition with respect to the interference of private companies in Colombia’s security policies as well as to end the privatization of Colombian police and military forces. In this sense, it recommends that the Colombian state oblige U.S. contractor companies that operate in Colombia to respond to the Ministry of the Interior, with oversight by the Ombudsman’s Office (Defensoría del Pueblo). It also recommends that the CEV request the Colombian Congress adopt a measure to sanction interference by private companies in public security policies and practices and that agreements between public security forces and U.S. based extractive companies be cancelled.
Fourth, there are recommendations to call for an evaluation and modification of the military and police forces in the country, in order to guarantee respect for human rights. In this sense, it recommends the creation of a commission to review and propose modifications to the doctrine and manuals of the Armed Forces, as well as the demilitarization of the police and the conversion of the police in a civilian institution with civilian leadership and orientation without weapons of war.
We appreciate the interest with which the Commission has received the report and its commitment to understand the multiple ways the United States participated and deepened the Colombian armed conflict, as well as the effects of this intervention on Colombia’s human rights. We recognize the valuable work of the CEV to contribute to the clarification of the armed conflict and ensure that society understands its complexity. We urge the CEV to include analysis of the role of the United States in the Colombian armed conflict, especially the role of U.S. military training and assistance to the Colombian military and police.
The undersigned people and organizations urge the CEV to adopt the recommendations described above, with the goal of guaranteeing the rights of the victims and all of Colombian society to truth, justice, and non-repetition.
Respectfully,
Agrupación de Familiares de Ejecutados Políticos, Chile
Alianza CONVIDA20
Asamblea Vecinal Nos Queremos Vivas Neza, México
Asociación de ex Presos Políticos chilenos en Francia
Asociación de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos y Víctimas de Violaciones a los Derechos Humanos en México (AFADEM FEDEFAM).
Asociación Mexicana de Abogados del Pueblo-Guerrero
Asociación Nacional de Ayuda Solidaria – ANDAS, Colombia
Centro de Amigos para la Paz (CAP), Costa Rica
Centro Oscar Arnulfo Romero, Cuba
Centro Popular para América Latina de Comunicación (CEPALC), Colombia
Colectivo Sociojurídico Orlando Fals Borda, Colombia
Comité de Familiares de Detenidos-Desaparecidos en Honduras (COFADEH)
Comite de Solidaridad Monseñor Romero, Washington, EUA
Comité Óscar Romero de Valladolid, España
Comité Oscar Romero, Valparaíso, Chile
Consejo Federal Ejecutivo Nacional e Internacional del Frente Mexicano Pro Derechos Humanos, A.C. (FREMEXDEHU)
Corporación Jurídica Libertad, Colombia
Denver Justice and Peace Committee, EUA
Fellowship of Reconciliation: Peace Presence
Frente de Organizaciones Democráticas del Estado de Guerrero, México
Grupo de Investigación GIDPAD Universidad de San Buenaventura Medellín, Colombia
Grupo de investigación y Editorial Kavilando, Colombia
Me Muevo por Colombia: Asamblea de Colombianxs en México
Movice Nacional, Colombia
Movimiento por la Paz, la Soberanía y la Solidaridad entre los Pueblos, MOPASSOL, Argentina
Observatorio por el Cierre de la Escuela de las Américas en Chile
Red Antimilitarista de América Latina y el Caribe
Red de Esperanza y Solidaridad, Puerto Rico
Red Interuniversitaria por la Paz Redipaz, Colombia
School of the Americas Watch (SOA Watch)
Servicio Internacional Cristiano de Solidaridad con los pueblos de América Latina «Óscar Romero» (SICSAL)
Servicio Paz y Justicia (SERPAJ) – Chile
Servicio Paz y Justicia (SERPAJ) – Colombia
Servicio Paz y Justicia (SERPAJ) – Coordinación Latinoamericana
Servicio Paz y Justicia (SERPAJ) – Costa Rica
Servicio Paz y Justicia (SERPAJ) – Paraguay
Sínodo Luterano Salvadoreño
Somos Abya Yala, Somos una América
Tejidos del Viento, Colombia
Unibautista, Colombia
Unión de Familias Resilientes Buscando a sus Corazones Desaparecidos Morelos, México
Martín Almada, Premio Nobel Alternativo, Paraguay
Maria Stella Caceres, directora Museo de las Memorias: Dictadura y DDHH. Paraguay
Alicia Lira, Presidenta de la Agrupación de Familiares de Ejecutados Políticos (AFEP), Chile
Adrián Ramírez López, presidente de la Liga Mexicana por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos, Limeddh
Valter Pinheiro, Comitê pelo Direito à Memória, à Verdade e à Justiça, Brasil
Marcelo Chalréo, Miembro del Consejo de Derechos Humanos de Brasil
Purificacion Gonzalez de la Blanca, Ojos para la Paz, España
Julio Yao, Analista Internacional, ex Asesor de Política Exterior y escritor, Panamá
Patricio Vejar, Comunidad Ecuménica Martin Luther King, Chile
Hervi Lara, Comité Oscar Romero, SICSAL-Chile
Carlos González, Corporación 3 y 4 Álamos: Un Parque por la Paz, la Memoria y la Justicia, Chile
Ana Maria Vasquez, Red de Víctimas de la Patrulla Fronteriza, EUA
Gerardo Dure, Comité Óscar Romero, Argentina
Carolina Robledo Silvestre, CIESAS, Ciudad de México
Indalecio Cañas Medina, Colectivo Colombia en Rosario, Argentina
Willian Ferney Aljure Martínez, presidente, Asociación Comunidades Construyendo paz en Colombia – CONPAZCOL
Felipe Ogaz Oviedo – Acción Jurídica Popular, Ecuador
María T Pizarro Colectivo Universidad Catolica Chile
Rosa Lila Rodríguez, Iglesia Cristiana Ágape, Honduras
Jhon Jairo Gutiérrez. Corporación Yurupari, Colombia
Yarima Merchan Rojas, Escuela Nacional de Antropología, México
Vidal Rivas, sacerdote Parroquia de San Mateo en la ciudad de Hyattsville, Maryland, EUA
Sol Ángela Hoyos Pérez – Mesa Ecuménica por la Paz (MEP); Coalición de Movimientos y Organizaciones Sociales de Colombia – (Comosoc)
Mario F. Venegas – CCESLA (Coalición en Chicago en Solidaridad con Latinoamérica), EUA
Isaac Christiansen – Midwestern State University, EUA
Martha Helena Montoya Vélez, COLPAZ, México
Andrea Toro, Defendamos la Paz, Chile
Roberto Rodríguez de Rozas, Colectivo ANSUR-Colombia
Rev. Luis Carlos Marrero – Centro O.A.Romero, Cuba
Consejo Directivo del Servicio Internacional Cristiano de Solidaridad con los pueblos de América Latina «Óscar Romero» (SICSAL): Mons. Raúl Vera, Presidente, México; Rev. Emilie Smith, Presidenta. Canadá; Sean Cleary, Australia; José Manuel Mira, España; Vidal Rivas, EUA; Maricarmen Montes, México; Julín Acosta, Rep Dominicana; Kora Martinez, Nicaragua; Armando Márquez, El Salvador, Cosecretario; y Abilio Peña, Colombia, Cosecretario
Claudia Lucero, Executive Director, Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America – CRLN, EUA
Evan King, Colombia Program Director, Witness for Peace Solidarity Collective, EUA
Chrissy Stonebraker-Martinez, co-Director, InterReligious Task Force on Central America and Colombia
Alison Wood, Accompaniment Coordinator, Presbyterian Peace Fellowship
Mike Tork, Treasurer, School of Americas Watch (SOA Watch)
Maha Hilal, Council Member, School of the Americas Watch (SOA Watch)
Candice Camargo, School of the Americas Watch (SOA Watch)
Adrian Bernal, Council member, School of the Americas Watch (SOA Watch)
Michaela Soellinger, IFOR, Austria
Thomas Power, Consultant on political advocacy, Fellowship of Reconciliation: Peace Presence
Cristina Espinel, Colombia Humans Rights Committee, EUA
Francisco Ramirez Cuellar,Abogado responsable de acciones legales internacionales, Colombia
Ana Carolina Marrugo, PhD Student- Member of the Colombian Human Rights Committee,
Aura Angelica Hernandez Cardenas, Estudiante de doctorado en Sociología, The New School, Colombia
Kate Speltz, Coordinator, SOAW Puget Sound, EUA
Julio Bedoya, Movement for Peace in Colombia, EIUA
Emily Schmitz,Operations Forpp, FORPP, Colombia
Kati Hinman, Communications and Development Coordinator, FOR Peace Presence, Colombia
Nancy Miller,St. Patrick Church Social Justice Committee, EUA
Lisa Dennison, EUA
Pauline Young, School of the Americas Watch supporter, EUA
Chris Covert-Bowlds, Family doctor, EUA
Rebeca Zúniga, director Denver Justice and Peace Committee, Council Member SOAWatch, EUA
Janet Stecher, EUA
Aaron Schneider, Professor University of Denver, Colorado, EUA
George Keefe, EUA
Morgan Galloway, EUA
Sandra Keefe, EUA
Maura Fallon, EUA
Elliot Williams, EUA
Amy Czulada, Board Treasurer, Denver Justice and Peace Committee, EUA
Adina Meyer,Ms., Portland Seminary, EUA
Patrick Barredo, Director of Social Outreach and Advocacy, St. James Cathedral, EUA
Ana María Arenas Romero, Costa Rica
Ana Melisa Pardo Montaño, México
Anton Castro Rivera, México
Aurora Marinero San Miguel; España
Beatriz Gil Sánchez, España
Beatriz Torres Abelaira, México
Berta Camprubí Pàmies, España
Blanca Inés Arcila, Colombia
Carlos Perezmurphy, México
Carmen Judith Arcadia Cuevas, México
Catalina Rincon, Colombia
Cecilia Olmos, Francia
Claudia Viviana Rocca, Argentina
Francisco José González Álvarez; España
Fredis Sandoval, El Salvador
Gabriel Coderch Diaz, Cuba
Harry Abrahams, Chile
Héctor Vásquez, Francia
Joel Guerra Castañeda, México
José Miguel Guzmán, Chile
Josefina Díaz Serrano, Chile
Judith Kelly, Estados Unidos
Julio Mata Montiel, México
Lina Rosa Berrio Palomo, México
Lola Vidal Suarez, España
Lucy Magali Millán Ferrer, Puerto Rico
Luís Villavicencio Cristi, Chile
Marcela Porras Urrego, Colombia
María Isabel Mazo, México
María Julia Pérez Tort, Argentina
Mariella Tapella, El Salvador
Mario Alberto Martinez Rosario, Francia
Mario Gil Capmo, Canadá
Mario Rey, México
Melania Hernández Ramírez, México
Miguel de Frutos Reyes, Puerto Rico
Moritz Tenthoff, Colombia
Paola Andrea Vargas Moreno, México
Pedro Lázaro Pérez, España
Pilar Reyes, Chile
Ricardo Mayol Bracero, Guatemala
Roberto Montoya, España
Saaid Jamis Tovar, Colombia
Sara Sofía Carreño Neira, México
Sonia Sallvador, Chile
Verónica Espinoza, Chile
Victoria Cáceres, Chile
Ana María Lozano, Colombia
Theresa Edwards Paralegal, Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project, United States
Michael Ramos, Executive Director Church Council of Greater Seattle, USA
Elizabeth – please select – Hansen Mrs. St. Patrick Church, Seattle, Washington United States
Barbara Anderson, Keystone United Church of Christ, United States
John Preston, Keystone United Church of Christ, United States
Lynn Holland, PhD Dr. University of Denver/DJPC, US
Jenny Farrell Parishioner, St. Patrick Parish, USA
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