ACCESSION
NUMBER:350026
FILE ID:LEF309
DATE:06/22/94
TITLE:U.S. PLANS TO WAIVE PARTS OF LAW HAMPERING DRUG WAR (06/22/94)
TEXT:*94062209.PFL LEEWAY FOR DRUG INTERDICTION IN PERU, COLOMBIA
*LEF309 06/22/94*
U.S. PLANS TO WAIVE PARTS OF LAW HAMPERING DRUG WAR
(SP) (Talks with Colombia, Peru underway - LSI307) dc (600)
By Daniel Cento
USIA Staff Writer
WASHINGTON -- The Clinton administration proposes to waive provisions of a
U.S. antiterrorism law hampering the war on illegal drug trafficking in
Colombia, Peru, and other countries.
The policy change, Lee P. Brown, director of the Office of National Drug
Control Policy (ONDCP), told a news conference June 22, would give
President Clinton authority to resume the exchange of drug trafficking
intelligence and other anti-narcotics assistance to Colombia and Peru. The
proposal would allow certain countries, under defined circumstances, to
down civilian aircraft suspected of transporting illicit narcotics.
Existing U.S. laws -- drafted with the intent of penalizing state-sponsored
terrorism -- forbid the sharing of intelligence and certain types of
assistance with governments that fire upon civilian aircraft. It was under
these legal provisions that President Clinton was obligated to temporarily
suspend the sharing of intelligence with Colombia and Peru.
Negotiations with Colombia and Peru are underway, Brown said, but the
Clinton proposal must be approved by Congress.
"If the president determines that a (foreign) country faces a national
security threat from the trafficking in illicit drugs and that the country
has appropriate procedures in place to protect innocent aircraft," Brown
said, "then those countries would be exempt from criminal liability. This
exemption would also extend to the assistance given by the U.S. government
to those countries."
Brown said, "The temporary suspension of sharing certain types of
information with the governments of Colombia and Peru in no way reflects
any desire to change this administration's policy of giving full support to
the democracies in Latin America in our mutual fight against illegal
narcotics smuggling....
"An interagency review of the legal issues concluded that our domestic law
precluded sharing information with countries that used that information to
shoot down civil aircraft.... The change we are proposing recognizes the
extreme narcotics situation faced by Colombia and Peru, while insisting on
procedures to ensure the protection of innocent aircraft. It reflects both
our commitment to the international counternarcotics effort and our support
for civil aviation."
Amid concerns that this proposal might give political license to governments
to fire on civilian airplanes on the pretext that they might be
transporting illicit drugs, Brown made clear that in the "unique
circumstances in Colombia and Peru.... we have the most effective
counternarcotics strategy as possible in this hemisphere."
"We should be able to use the intelligence necessary to prevent those drug
trafficking organizations from using their airspace with impunity," he
said.
"We want to make sure there is no force used on commercial aircraft flying
scheduled routes," he added.
1rown listed "certain obvious" precautions to be taken before any plane is
ever fired upon, such as visual identification of suspect aircraft to
determine if they are properly registered, formal notification of zones
where drug flights take place, repeated radio contact to make sure the
suspect plane lands at a designated airfield, and even "shots across the
bow."
He said the United States has sent high-level delegations to both countries
to discuss the proposed legislation, which he called "the most effective
way in which we can reinstate a full sharing of drug intelligence with
Colombia and Peru."
Brown has spoken to the ambassadors of both countries here to inform them of
the proposed legislation and is awaiting their official response. Both, he
said, are willing to work with the United States on the issue.
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