Military forces of Colombia (Photo: Wikimedia)

The law was adopted with a large majority after an eight hour debate. The law increases the scope of the military courts to includes cases of crimes against humanity, rape, genocide, torture and “false positives” – the extrajudicial killing of civilians which are then disguised as guerrilla fighters.

Last Friday, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human rights in Bogotá declared its “profound concern” about the law in a country that has been in an internal conflict for over 50 years.

Internal Affairs Minister Fernando Carillo responded that “this law brings judicial security and zero impunity”.

Colombia’s Constitutional Court still has to approve the law. The Court published an act in 1997 saying that “infractions of this nature do not concern military courts”, according to Amnesty International, which demanded that congressmen reject the law before the vote.

Military justice has always been a sensitive subject in Colombian politics, in particular under Alvo Uribe’s presidency (2002-2010) when many army members were accused of such crimes. In August 2012, an officer was condemned to 60 years in jail for raping a 14-year-old girl and the murder of her brothers, who were 9 and 6 years old.By the end of 2012, the military court had 1,700 cases of “false positives”, involving approximately 3,000 victims.

Critics of the law worry that cases still under investigation will be transferred from civil to military courts.

Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon, however, said that the project is “totally legitimate and answers to the international concerns” and confirmed that “crimes against humanity” or “false positives” will be judged by the special court if not committed during service.

Pinzon added that “Colombian land forces, air force, navy and police will see this decision as a support of Colombia’s people for the struggle against national security threats.”

According to official statistics, the 50-year fight Colombia has led against guerilla groups, paramilitary groups and drug-traffickers have resulted in 600,000 deaths, 15,000 disappeared, and 4 million displaced civilians.

Members of a passion fruit producers’ alliance near Buga, Colombia.
Photo Charlotte Kesl (World Bank)

Colombian police forces violently repressed a campesino protest in Colombia’s north-east yesterday. For the past eight days, more than 2,000 small-scale farmers in the municipality of Tibú have been demanding the gradual substitution of “illegal” crops for sustainable production projects in the Zona de Reserva Campesina.

The crops were outlawed as a result of the Colombia-United States Free Trade Agreement, which came into effect in May 2012.

Since its inception, the FTA has incurred the wrath of small farmers and producers in the region who found themselves on the losing side thanks to the subsequent eradication of subsidies and phasing out of crops which were not patented, and therefore deemed illegal under the accord. The agreement meant that overnight, produce upon which the  communities had long been dependent was outlawed.

César Ruiz, head of the Campesino Reserve Zone, has stated that the campesinos would like to see the “immediate suspension of the eradication of illicit crops” so as to ease the whole process.

The farmers hope to meet with the government to address their demands – the document outlining them was signed by more than 3,000 local small-scale producers.

The protesters are also asking for better infrastructure for the area including better communication routes, improved aqueducts, and, more generally, better standards of living. They expect to meet with government officials next Wednesday.

Local farmers have long been subject to attempted evictions by the army, police, and riot squads, often on the receiving end of tear gas, rubber bullets, and stun bombs. In the ten months leading up to the signing of the FTA last year, it is believed some 104 labour and human rights activists were murdered by paramilitaries and death squads, largely as a result of their opposition to the Agreement.

The Federal Administration of Public Revenue (AFIP) announced yesterday in a press release that 202 slave workers had been rescued from a national network operating in Argentina. AFIP dispatched over 500 officers in 72 simultaneous raids across ten provinces.

An AFIP conference (Photo: ANSESGOB on Flickr)

The officers dismantled a gang of around 20 Colombians who deceived and recruited people from their country who were then forced to work in extreme exploitative conditions across Argentina. The workers were brought into the country illegally and subsequently forced into hard labour in “sweatshop conditions”.

The raids took place in the provinces of Santa Fe, Córdoba, Mendoza, Misiones, San Juan, Jujuy, Salta, Chaco, Tucumán, and Buenos Aires, and were headed by Enrique Senestrari, the Federal Prosecutor of the city of Córdoba.

The ringleader of the network was detained, and is known only by the nickname of ‘Contador’. The officers arrested 23 Colombians connected with the running of the slave network, and ordered the international arrest of two fugitives.

Those arrested face prison sentences of between four to 15 years for breaking Argentina’s trafficking laws for the “the offer, recruitment, transfer, or reception of people for the purpose of exploitation, either within the country, or to and from other countries.”

News Agency Telam reported that between 2009 and 2011, over 3,000 Colombians entered Argentina illegally.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. (Photo courtesy of Ministerio TIC Colombia on Flickr)

President Juan Manuel Santos and Israeli President Shimon Peres signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) this morning in Jerusalem.

Once the agreement comes into effect, 70% of goods exchanged between the countries will be exempt from customs taxes– a percentage that will steadily increase levels of commerce between the two nations over the next ten years.

After meeting for about an hour, Santos and Peres signed the agreements along with the respective countries’ economic and trade ministers: Sergio Díaz Granados and Nafatlí Bennet.

Today’s endorsement of the FTA comes after nearly 15 months negotiations regarding the bilateral agreement.

The agreement will now be sent to the legislature of both countries, which are expected to ratify the FTA. Pending congressional approval, the stipulations of the accord are to become effective in September.

Today, the Colombian president tweeted: “We have concluded negotiations for the free trade agreement with Israel. This means more investment and more employment. Beginning today, flights will open up between Israel and Colombia as will the exchange of technology and innovation. [The FTA] will create more jobs and help us construct a more modern state.”

Santos and Peres also signed an agreement concerning air service that is to facilitate commerce traffic between the two countries. The presidents separately agreed upon terms for exchange of scientific and technological goods.

Colombian FTAs have been met with widespread dissent in the past. Protests erupted in May against FTA measures that have all but destroyed the country’s domestic potato production.

Earlier this year, Senator Gloria Inés Ramírez said that the Colombian government has continuously failed in its agrarian management policies–especially in upholding free trade agreements, to the detriment of local agriculture producers.

Along with other FTA critics, Ramírez claims that Colombia’s small farming sectors are blatantly harmed by such measures and said, “If there is no public policy that allows us to produce in conditions of equality, they cannot come and tell us that they are going to impose a new free trade agreement,” in response to today’s accord.

Bilateral commerce between the Colombia and Israel currently amounts to about $US700m annually, with Colombian exports comprising about 78% of total trade.

Colombia has agreed to the free exchange of information with NATO. President Juan Manuel Santos revealed that the agreement will be signed later this month.

Juan Manuel Santos Colombian President
(Photo: Facebook official account)

This latest development follows on from Saturday’s announcement by the president that he had submitted a request to enter into negotiations with NATO as regards the possibility of joining.

Despite aspiring to join the alliance, the South American country does not meet the necessary geographic criteria. The organization is the unique preserve of European countries and the USA respectively.

On a more hopeful note, despite no immediate plans for a formal relationship between the two parties, a source from NATO described the agreement as a “precursor to any possible future cooperation between Colombia and NATO member countries”.

The same source also ventured that they are exploring the possibility of “carrying out specific joint ventures”.

Colombia’s evolving relationship with NATO has provoked scorn and rebuttal from its South American neighbours.

Bolivia’s president Evo Morales described Colombia’s aspirations to join as, a “threat to our continent”. He then went on to denounce it as an act of “aggression, provocation and conspiracy” towards the “anti-imperialist” governments of Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Bolivia.

Earlier this afternoon it surfaced that Morales had requested an emergency meeting of the Security Council of the Union of South American Nations as regards the matter.

Nicaragua responded similarly. President Daniel Ortega lamented Colombia’s decision to engage with NATO, describing it as a “military organisation… that doesn’t serve any purpose” and whose only achievements have been “bombings, assassinations, and destruction”.

Childbirth (courtesy of ‘popularpatty’ on Flickr)

Colombian government has temporarily suspended the acceptance of requests from foreign families seeking to adopt children up to six years old. Exceptions have been made  for children with a disability and those of an African or indigenous descent.

The sanction seeks to manage 377 applications from Colombian families and 3,506 applications coming from abroad, which are registered on the waiting list to adopt a healthy child under the age of seven and without siblings.

The measure was announced at the first meeting of central authorities in respect of international adoption, which is taking place in the city of Medellín, hosted by the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF).

Director of the ICBF, Adriana González, stated: “We are guaranteeing and prioritizing adoptions to domestic households, and in the context of subsidiarity, are successfully carrying out the most progressed ongoing processes from foreign families, who want to provide all the love and warmth of their homes to Colombian children in need.”

Representative of the Hague Conference, Laura Martínez Mora, who supported the measure, siad that “this will allow the ICBF to work better with biological parents and respect the international principle of subsidiarity, taking into account that in Colombia, there is a large number of candidate families willing to adopt children less than seven years old.”

“This decision is a part of our obligation to safeguard the interests of children,” González concluded in a press release.

The meeting in Medellín was attended by governments of Andorra, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Spain, USA, Finland, France, Holand, Italy, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. Chile and Guatemala were present as observer countries.

Henrique Capriles, Venezuelan opposition leader (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

The meeting of Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles and Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos has deteriorated the relations between the countries.

Capriles is touring Latin America with the aim of garnering support for his contest of the April election results, in which Hugo Chávez’s chosen successor, Nicolás Maduro, was the official victor.

Venezuela believes that the meeting is an attempt to undermine the bilateral relations.

Venezuelan foreign minister, Elías Jaua, expressed his “deep regret” at the visit, stating “President Santos has taken a step towards derailment of the good relationship he had with Venezuela”.

María Ángela Holguín, Colombian foreign minister, stated the in receiving Capriles, the Santos government had decided to “address the issues with the government of Venezuela in a direct way”.

Jorge Eliécer Guevara, Colombian opposition senator, added: ”Colombia is able to act in a sovereign way and the government has the authority to receive any officials it wants!”

After the tumultuous years when Álvaro Uribe and Hugo Chávez were heads of state, the arrival of Juan Manuel Santos marked the beginning of “a sort of honeymoon between Colombia and Venezuela”, which some analysts suspect is now over.

Juan Manuel Santos (Photo/Wikipedia)

President Juan Manuel Santos has declared a state of emergency in Colombia’s prisons as a result of severe overcrowding and poor living conditions. Today he announced an emergency decree and promised greater resources to the National Prison Institute (INPEC) to help solve the crisis.

Santos said the government will be implementing measures to increase prison capacity and steps will be taken to improve sanitary conditions. During the Minister’s Council at the Casa de Narino, Santos did not release any further details of the decree but said the plan was already in the hands of the Ministry of Justice and the Prison Agency.

Justice minister, Ruth Stella Correa, said that there was in excess of 50,000 prisoners currently incarcerated in Colombia. She also told local media that the decree, with the support of the attorney general, is also designed to improve the prison administration process, spending of resources, and dispel corruption within the service.

Politicians are eager to have the decree approved in parliament in the hope of alleviating overpopulation in at least 12 Colombian prisons as quickly as possible. According to figures from the Defensoría del Pueblo, Colombia’s prison population has increased from 42,000 to 54,915 inmates during the last 12 years.

INPEC have released figures estimating that the overcrowding rate is 45% and stated that Bellavistas prison in Medellín is currently housing 7,472 having only been designed for 2,424. Meanwhile, Bogota’s notorious La Modela prison has a capacity of 2,907 but is housing 7,839 inmates.

Last week a Bogota judge ordered the transfer of over 2,630 prisoners from the La Modelo prison and insisted the move must be completed within four months. “INPEC must abstain from receiving new detainees until the overcrowding is overcome,” the court heard.

“We are aware that transfers have to be made, but to relocate this number of persons is a titanic task even if there existed capacity. But given the non-existence of space [in other prisons] we will need much more time in order to be able to create them and make the necessary transfers,” said Correa.

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), resting in the countryside. (Photo: Phoenix Diaz)

Representatives from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian government announced yesterday that they have signed a keynote agreement on land reform.

The accord is a big step forward for the on-going peace negotiations in Havana, Cuba between the rebel group and the government of President Juan Manuel Santos, as land reform is the first of six main issues on the agenda for discussion.

The agreement comes after nearly six months of talks on the subject.

A press release ratified by both parties stated that the accord facilitates the “start of radical transformations of the rural and agrarian reality of Colombia with fairness and democracy”.

President Santos applauded yesterday’s accord, commenting on Twitter that the land reform measure is a breakthrough for the peace talks and a “fundamental step in Havana towards a full agreement that will put an end to half a century of conflict”.

Iván Márquez, chief negotiator of the FARC, explained: “This historical recognition is felt by the rural and impoverished communities and is a flag in the wind in our hands … at the negotiation table.”

However, Márquez added that some of the points of the accord must be discussed again before negotiations end. He commented, “nothing is agreed upon until everything has been agreed upon”, referring to discussions still to come on other polemic topics in the peace talks expected to finish by August.

Land reform has been a fundamental issue for both the government and the FARC even before the peace talks began. Land disputes were one of the primary issues that the Marxist-leaning rebel group took on as early as 1964.

Now that the land reform issue has been decided, government and FARC negotiators will move discussions to the political participation of the rebel forces, the fight against drug trafficking, and an end to the conflict more generally with respect to victim compensation.

Colombian Defence Minister Rodrigo Rivera and Police chief. (Photo: Globovision)

The Centre for Popular Research and Education (Cinep) in Bogotá has reported that during 2012 there were 11 separate cases of extrajudicial executions in Colombia, suggesting that executions known as ‘false positives’ are still ongoing. A further eight cases of arbitrary detention have also been reported, amassing a total of 52 victims.

The false positives scandal refers to the Colombian military’s alleged sanctioned practice of killing civilians and then dressing them up in guerrilla fatigues in order to present them as combat kills. Reports show that the executions usually target famers, social activists, and political opponents.

The scandal is part of continuous armed conflict between Colombia’s government and the FARC and ELN, both guerilla forces. In May last year the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) alleged that over 3,000 civilians had been killed between 2002 and 2008 as a result of the conflict.

Cinep also claim that the general state of human rights in Colombia is poor with members of the paramilitary “the greatest violators” responsible for 565 cases, followed by the police with 268. Giraldo Serna, of Cinep, said, “Threats, tortures, disappearances, deaths, and social cleansing are still implemented in Colombia.”

The government denied ‘false positives’ are still occurring but Cinep believes the problem is far greater than people think. “Those who justify the false positives don’t realise they are damaging the prestige of the police force,” said Cinep spokesman Alejandro Angulo.