09 December 2004
Paramilitary Terrorist Group Demobilized in Colombia
Organization of American States thanks nations who supported peace process
By Eric Green
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The demobilization of 3,000 members of a Colombian paramilitary group represents an "unprecedented feat in the history" of the Andean nation's long internal conflict, says the Organization of American States (OAS).
In a December 8 statement, Sergio Caramagna, director of the OAS Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia, said the demobilization in November and December of members of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), which the U.S. State Department has designated as a terrorist group, is an important step in bringing about a lasting peace in Colombia following more than 40 years of civil war.
The OAS mission in Colombia (known by the Spanish acronym MAPP/OEA) was established February 6 to provide verification and technical support for the process of demobilizing and disarming illegal armed groups in the country and reintegrating them into society.
The State Department says the right-wing AUC has committed numerous killings and abductions in order to terrorize and intimidate Colombian citizens and government officials. The State Department has also designated two leftist organizations in Colombia, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN), as terrorist groups.
In its statement, the OAS said it has had a "presence" in Colombia's demobilization zones, supporting the preparatory tasks and verifying the lists of individuals and weapons to be demobilized. Caramagna said the OAS mission is also listening to the concerns of the indigenous communities that have been affected by Colombia's internal conflict, adding that on this issue his mission is to work closely with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
The OAS thanked the United States, the Bahamas, Holland and Sweden, among other nations, for their financial contributions to the organization's efforts in the Colombian peace process. The involvement of the OAS, Caramagna said, can strengthen the Colombian peace process and help make it sustainable and long-term.
The OAS quoted Colombian official Maria Clara Isaza as saying that the inter-American organization's role in the peace process is helping to "generate confidence and calm in the communities where the demobilization process is taking place."
For his part, Roger Noriega, the assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, said December 3 that the United States will continue to help the people of Colombia and other nations "that are affected by the illicit drug trade to defend their sovereignty and defeat criminal gangs."
Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, Noriega said President Bush traveled in November to Cartagena, Colombia, on his return from the APEC Summit in Chile to reaffirm "our close support" for Colombian President Alvaro Uribe "in his extraordinary effort to win his country back from the narco-terrorists."
While in Cartagena November 22, Bush said the United States and Colombia have a common enemy in drug traffickers, and a common interest in stopping them.
"Our two nations share in the struggle against drugs," Bush said. "The drug traffickers who practice violence and intimidation" in Colombia "send their addictive and deadly products to the United States. Defeating them is vital to the safety of our peoples and to the stability" of the Western Hemisphere.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=December&x=20041209151510AEneerG0.3261988&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html
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