Tense times

There is a tense and worrisome air in the Colombian human rights world these days. Just a few weeks ago, the Colombian government reopened an investigation into the case of Mapiripan, and called into question the veracity of one of Colombia’s most historically important massacres that clearly shows the collaboration between the paramilitary death squads and the Colombian military. This week, the same government office is claiming that the community of Las Pavas, another high profile case involving state restitution to victims, is another example of victim fraud. Both actions aim to delegitimize victims and their supporters, and both seem to point to a concerted effort to paint the Victims law, and the plan for land restitution, as unrealistic and unsustainable and therefore should be weakened or abolished.

No one denies the massacre of Mapiripan happened, and no one denies that the paramilitaries used a military plane to fly from a military base, arrive at Mapiripan and spend three days killing its citizens. However, the press generated by the re-opening of the investigation has inverted what is important and is focusing on whether the death toll stands at 49 or 13. Of course, it is always important to have the most accurate account of what happened, including the number who died. However, the government is not merely in pursuit of accuracy, but rather they are using it to defame both the Interamerican Court on Human Rights and one of the most respected lawyers collectives in the country, the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers Collective. These entities, according to the government, are responsible for pushing victims to give false testimonies, obstructing justice and twisting the case so as to win more reparations money. In reality, the Colombian government was, from the beginning, fully aware of every bit of information that the NGOs had and even used the witnesses in other state legal cases. Despite this, the government still is doing what it can to cast a shadow of doubt not only on the victims of state violence, but also the Human Rights defenders that support them.

The case of Las Pavas is another example of de-legitimization. As you can read here, Las Pavas is a farm of over 1,000 hectares that has been worked by the community of farmers for the past 13 years. Since they inhabited the land, they have been displaced three times by the paramilitaries and the Colombian police working with the Palm Oil company of Daabon. The fact that they won their land back was a significant victory in the long process of returning displaced communities to their lands. Now, based on the fact that one man has retracted his testimony regarding the displacement of the Las Pavas community, the attorney’s general is citing this case as another example of victim fraud against the state. In doing so, that office is turning the victims of displacement into the victimizers of the state and is turning public opinion away from sympathizing with the community who has suffered so much while instead viewing them (and by extension all the victims claiming state reparations) as suspects of fraud looking only to milk the state of money they don’t deserve.

While it might be too early to tell for sure, with the way that the state is using Las Pavas and Mapiripan to delegitimize the victims, their supporters and the process of land restitution, there is concern that the State might eventually use these cases to argue that land restitution law is too ambitious or food difficult and thus push to weaken it or all together abolish it.

ahhh back from vacation...never a good feeling

My life has been a bit of a whirlwind these days. Last night was the first time in over two weeks where I havent had between 3 or 4 guests sleeping in my bed, on my couches or in any little cubby hole they could find. Dont get me wrong, it has been great. Just tiring. I did get an awesome vacation in with two really good friends from Seattle, Jenny and Emily. We biked through Bogota dodging people and carts, we cook a whole thanksgiving feats and then celebrated with 14 people from 5 countries speaking 4 languages and then took off for four days on a beach that backs into a jungle covered mountain and flows into ocean colored a marble between green and blue. It was amazing by many counts. Pictures to come

Now I am happy to report that the apartment is back to its organized normal, I am back to sleeping in my own bed and things, personally, seem to be calming down a bit.

Things in Colombia, however, are not.

First, the Community.
The big news is the dramatic presence of paramilitaries around two villages a couple hours north of where we live in La Union. While paramilitaries have always been present, they are being much more obvious this time around, and we have actually been there to attest to it. They are forcing the people into meetings and threatening total control and food rationing.

Also, in this same area, there are been series combats between the paramilitaries and the guerrillas. Outside of the fact that combat is always worrisome, this instance in particular is dangerous because it seems like there might be a shit in the balance of power.

Cant give much analysis right now, but it is really worrisome for us and the community.

Second, happendings in the are of irregular military recruitment. Basically, the Constitutional Court ruled that the street round ups the military often does to prove military status are ilegal. I might have explained it already before, but in Colombia, military service is obligatory and every male hast o register with the brigade in his district before he turns 18 so that when he does so, he can immediately start is one to two years of military service. Then the military often goes out into the streets and sets up check points in which they question every young male about their military status. These you havent presented themselves and have to military card, are then borded onto a truck, taken to the nears battalion and immediately tested for suitability and, if deemed fit, incorporated at once into the army.

Human rights organizations have ben fighting for several years now that this be recognized as ilegal detention and in violation of a young mights freedom of movement. The court took a large step toward doing so with this most recent ruling.

The precautions are sever. First, it isn't clear as to whether the ruling is applicable only to those younger than 18. Second, the ruling establishes no disciplinary action for violations; the court views that as the job of the military. In essence, then, no one really expects the round ups to end as their is no incentive for he military to do so.

Coming next is the even more important cases of Las Pavas, which is an continuation of the worries I talked about in the Mapiripan case in the post before last.

Lots of stuff.

Last weekend was one of those weekends where place and people combined to create a moment where you cant imagine being more comfortable.

We had planned the trip in September, when my friend Johanna and I were camping with some friends of hers and we were all commenting on how much we loved camping, but how rarely we did it.

Two months passed and despite being certain that his plans was going to go the way of most well intentioned plans made amongst people will a million commitments; I was sure it wasnt going to happen.

Lo and behold, hours after sending a reminder message, Johanna had suggested a place and Anita, Isaac, Mika and Juanita had all committed to going.

We ended up going to Villa de Leyva in Boyaca, a 4 hour trip north east of Bogota. It was rainy, it was cold and it was by most objective measures pretty shitty weather. However, me being the cold, damp weather person that I am, thought that the Grey skies contrasted with he green mountains serving as a background for the town of all white buildings was pretty damn gorgeous.

So we spent the weekend walking through the woods, seeing ponds turned a milky green-blue by the excess of copper sulfate and wondering how a place that receives so much rain can look so arid in some places.

The nights were spent drinking aguardiente, playing pool and then moving to the plaza where we enjpyed making a bit of a scene playing various games that adults dont normally play. It was one of he more fun nights I have had.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of the weekend. I didnt have my camera, but these are from Mika and I am hoping that Johanna and Anita get theirs up soon.



From left to right: MIka, Anita, Isaac, Juanita, me. In front of the water fall we discovered.


One of the streets of Villa de Leyva


Anita and I walking up to the mountain path


Another street


the first brook we found on the mountain hike. I thought it was the coolest thing...until I walked a little further.


Mika with Villa de Leyva in the background


Isaac with Villa de Leyva in the background


Johanna and me on the way to the mountain


the hidden waterfall I found looking for a place to pee without falling off the cliff.


Mika and Isaac enjoying the perfect mushroom from Mario Kart


Town center

US involvment in Colombian scandals

Yesterday I mentioned the US involvement in the scandal surrounding the closure of the Colombian version of the CIA and FBI.

Here is the Washington Post article publish on August 20 on the findings.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/national-security/us-aid-implicated-in-abuses-of-power-in-colombia/2011/06/21/gIQABrZpSJ_story.html

Back to reality....

In the previous post I had mentioned talking about more personal, 'light-hearted material.' Well, Turns out that such an approach risks giving my mother a heart attack. So maybe this time around I'll focus again on the more work related topics. The switch is also motivated my the fact that this week, shit has kind of hit the fan.

Below is an excerpt taken from an incident brief released by the Colombian Government in 2005.

"On July 12, 1997, approximately one hundred members of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, AUC) landed at the San José de Guaviare airport. The Colombian Army allowed the planes to land and provided its trucks to transport the paramilitaries to Mapiripán. At dawn on July 15, 1997, more than 100 armed men surrounded Mapiripán by land and river. The paramilitaries wore clothing used exclusively by military forces, carried short- and long-range weapons whose use was restricted to the State, and used high-frequency radios. Upon arrival at Mapiripán, the paramilitary forces took control of the town, the communications, and the public offices, and proceeded to kidnap, kill, and intimidate the inhabitants. The Army collaborated in supplying munitions and communications. The Office of the Attorney General of Colombia concluded that the commanders of Brigade VII and of Mobile Brigade II demonstrated complete functional and operational inactivity despite knowing about the massacre.

The testimonies of the survivors indicate that on July 15, 1997, the AUC separated out 27 individuals who were tortured and dismembered by a member of the AUC known as "Mochacabezas." The paramilitaries stayed in Mapiripán from July 15 to 20, 1997, during which time they impeded the free movement of the municipality's inhabitants and continued to torture, dismember, eviscerate, and decapitate individuals and throw their remains into the Guaviare River. Once the crimes had been committed, the AUC destroyed much of the physical evidence, in order to obstruct the gathering of proof. The Mapiripán massacre was carried out with logistical support from and with collaboration, acquiescence, and omissions on the part of members of the Colombian Army. The Army's omissions included failing to cooperate with the judicial authorities who tried to reach the scene of the crime."

Why is it important now?

Because it is now at the center of a blame game between the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (the international legal entity that makes recommendations to the Inter-American Court on Human Rights) and the Colombian state. This argument changes the focus of the horrible event from state sponsored violence, to numbers killed and faulty investigations and calls into question the international mechanisms for the protection of human rights.

After conducting an investigation into the crime, the Inter-American commission on human rights found that 50 people had been tortured, chopped up and thrown in the nearby river. It consequently ordered the Colombian state to pay millions of dollars in reparations to the victims' families...some of which actually has been paid.

Now, the Colombian Attorney General's office has re-investigated the crime using new data and demobilized paramilitary members that have admitted to participating the massacre and have found that there are at least 9 people who where reported as killed in the massacre but who are actually still living or died in other ways.

Juan Manuel Santos, the Colombian President, is now taking this case to the Organization of American States meeting and denouncing it as a flawed investigation that questions the credibility of the Inter-American Court on Human rights.

The Inter-American Court has replied saying that the State had always promoted the same witnesses and victims' testimonies as truth, even using them in future court cases, and that ultimately it is the responsibility of the state to conduct its own internal investigations regarding human rights violations.

It is important to never assume that any entity, including one designed to protect human rights, is incorruptible or infallible. However, I worry (maybe somewhat unnecessarily) that the government will use this to call into question the legitimacy of the Inter-American court system as a whole, thereby damaging the credibility of the institution whose ruling recognizing the validity of the CdP's rupture with the State we as accompaniers rely on heavily to legitimize the community's struggle.

Second, the Mapiripan event has been one of the events that most clearly shows the connection between the Colombian Armed forces and the paramilitaries in heinous massacres that often occurred over the last decade and a half. It would be heartbreaking if this new development were to detract from the guilt the State has for such links.

Third, this development comes at a time when it is finally starting to be realized that despite the fact that Santos represents a softer more enlightened discourse toward human rights, little has improved in terms of their actual protection.

(See also here. It is in Spanish, but the stat he opens with is that in the first semester of 2011, 38 human rights defenders have been killed-more than 6 per month)

I worry that this development used as fodder for the government to assert that civil society, human rights defenders included, can legitimately be excluded from future processes, like, for example a potential peace negotiations with the guerrilla. In other words, Santos says "Look what happened when I gave you respect and gave you space. Now I have no reason to trust you."

We'll see what happens.

In other news, the maximum leader of the FARC, Alfonso Cano, was killed this week in another step in the state strategy at destructing the guerrilla group through attacking its leaders. Makes sense, except for the fact that the guerrillas can replace leaders as if they were toothpicks. Plus, it seems to make equal sense to worry bout the decentralization and scattering that occurs when you cut off the head. Here is an article in English about the topic.

Also, one has to kind of think about how perverse it is that on a global scale (think Osama bin Laden or Gadhafi), societies are treating the deaths of iconic people as momentous victories that should be celebrated. Nothing like hoping for peace through celebrating murder.

Finally, the last few weeks has also seen the official 'dismantling' of the Colombian intelligence agency, the DAS, whose head has been convicted to 25 years of prison for leading the organization through a program of illegal wire tapping and participation in the persecution and murder of human rights defenders and judges. Interestingly, though not too surprisingly, wikileaks has shown that the US embassy had a significant hand in funding some of the worst DAS sections. With over 90% of the current DAS employees keeping their jobs in some other government sector, it is difficult to see this as a real change in how the government as a whole works. Like most things, I guess we'll see.

Completely unrelated to Human Rights

So I have made a promise to myself to write two blog entries a month at least. It would be nice to be more, but we'll start with this modest goal first. And, at the suggestion of a few people, I am try to start using this a bit as a journal as well as a political blog.

While it inst very interesting, what has been on my mind recently are medical school interviews, and medical school in general. Start with med school in general because it ties in a bit with my work here. It is amazing how I feel like my comfort level Bogota has skyrocketed recently. No longer do I look at this city and see a purely temporary holding spot until my real life begins. I have a rhythm. I have friends. I no longer feel like the pollution is killing me. Bogota no longer looks like a gray, ugly city and it's transportation system no longer seems like a maze made to confuse everyone.

Rather I look at Bogota and I see the incredibly acitivity that happens just under the surface. I appreiate the fact that within 10 blocks of my house I have two very active social/cultural centers organized by people ranging from ardent anarchists to progressive professionals. The pollution probably still is killing me, but ive gotten use to it, and now I see the transportation as one that values flexibility and convenience over rules and standards.

In fact, that is the coolest thing about Bogota. Here a person still has influence over things just because she or he is a person...with the ability to talk, to push and convince. Here rules are still just rules, and there is never no option. The flexibility of life here is incredible.

Anyway, the point is that I am starting to feel like I have a place here. I mean, I went out and bought house plants.

This is making the future seem a bit less certain than before. Med school has been the next step since sophomore year of college (except for a stint in Seattle where I thought that dream was over) I mean it still is and I still plan on coming home in the Spring, I am just enjoying the feeling of finally planting roots. Though it is a bit nerve wracking, the combination of planting roots while I am still telling myself that I am leaving in 5 months. It is stupid. But it is making life so much better.

I mean, maybe it is time to get away from the idea that it is necessary to study medicine in the States. Maybe it is time to act my age and push in a different direction, a direction that not only talks about a globalized world, but lives it. Maybe I should accept that the comparative advantage of going to school in the US is getting closer and closer to being based almost exclusively on reputation. Plus, there are serious advantages of going to medical school in a country where they still teach doctors how to use instinct rather than depend completely on an MRI, or where the doctor patient relationship isnt burdened by such an incredibly complex health care system.

To me, one can learn the basic sciences anywhere, and I think anyone would be very hard pressed to say that doctors in the US are better clinical teachers than in other countries. Finally, I can assure you that living in a developing country you see a hell of a wider variety of cases to learn from. The only thing that Colombia lacks that the US has are machines...and they aren't even very far behind on that.

In the end though, giving up the chance to study in the US to study in Bogota would take more courage than I could ever muster. The reputation, the guilt, the what ifs would be just too much.

then again, I havent even been interviewed yet. this post might be getting a bit ahead of myself.

Powerful Slideshow of the Peace Community

Obreros de la PAZ / Comunidad de Paz de San José de Apartadó from Agustin Fernandez Gabard on Vimeo.

Above is a slide show created by an Uruguayn photographer, Augustin Fernandez, whom I had the pleasure to met while he was doing his project in La Holandita. I find it moving, mainly because the pictures seem to do a good job of capturing the strength, resilience and commitment of the community.

Ive recently be in the throws of trying to decide of whether or not to spend a portion or all of my last two months back in the community. The desire to be back in the mix of things working directly with the community and living again in the country-side is strong. However, there is a part of me that feels that if I give up on the last two months in the Bogota office, I would be doing to myself what I wish I hadn't done when I left the community 4 months early: cutting off the time where, after 6 months of getting used to the Bogota office work, getting to know our partners, and understanding the issues at hand, I would actually have a good enough grasp on my job where I could actually start being a real player at the table.

In the end, a combination of my desires and team logistics has me staying in Bogota until my time with FOR is up in the end of March. I am sad that I wont get a chance to reconnect with the community and try to deepen some relationships, but I am glad that I am sticking to one thing long enough to actually feel competent at it.