Colombian army scandals

[colombiano]

Colombia backs military after "rebel" bomb scandal (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060908/wl_nm/colombia_military_dc)

[metalero]

"A U.N. rights report this year said Colombian forces had killed civilians and covered it up by dressing the bodies as rebels to make it appear like a victory in the security drive."

An old time habit of the colombian security services (http://www.anncol.org/uk/site/doc.php?id=243), besides orchestrating cover terrorist attacks and then blame it on FARC. However, with Uribe terrorist regime ruling, is very unlikely truth will be revealed about the massacres, forced abductions, forced displacement and extermination of leftist legal parties. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriotic_Union_%28Colombia%29)

[Tekun]

Army scandal: deadly fraud

BOGOTA - In the latest of a string of army scandals, two army officers have been accused of ordering a July car bombing that killed one and wounded 10, officials said Friday.

The motives behind the bombing were unclear, but the newspaper El Tiempo reported that the officers also had arranged to place -- and find -- several batches of explosives in order to collect the rewards for the tips.

President Alvaro Uribe called a meeting of his top security advisors to discuss the new scandal.

The July 31 car-bombing of a military convoy as it drove through a Bogotá neighborhood killed one civilian and wounded 10 soldiers.

That bombing, and several seizures of explosives in recent months, were originally blamed on leftist rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

But that theory ''does not correspond with reality,'' the defense ministry said in a statement Thursday night.

El Tiempo reported that prosecutors have video and recorded telephone conversations showing that the two officers paid a former FARC member to carry out the bombing and plant the other explosives in Bogotá ahead of Uribe's inauguration to a second term Aug 7.

In the case of the planted explosives, the paper said, the former rebel arranged to tip off authorities and claim a monetary reward, which he was later to share with the two officers.

El Tiempo said a total of four officers, including a colonel, were involved in the scheme. But Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said the attorney general's office was investigating only two ''for now.'' None of the officers was identified.

Analysts said the two officers may have felt pressure from superiors to show positive results in their security work, but that the prime motive appeared to be the reward money they received for tipping off authorities to the planned attacks.

''This is very serious, something we've never seen before,'' said security analyst Alfredo Rangel. ``Army officers staging a supposed attack and then cash in on preventing it.''

Other security officers in fact have been accused of staging false rebel attacks. The director of the DAS secret police in northern Atlántico province was sacked last year for fabricating three false attacks against Uribe, reportedly to win presidential recognition. But it is the army that has been hit hardest by scandals in the past year that range from brutal hazings of new recruits to killing civilians and dressing them in rebel gear.

Seven soldiers were arrested after six civilians were gunned down in a confused incident in Atlántico province last month. In another case, an entire platoon faces charges of ambushing a police unit on a drug raid in May near the western city of Cali.

All 10 members of the raid team were killed.

Santos describes all the cases as ''isolated incidents.'' But Rangel said that given the number of scandals, one can no longer talk about isolated cases: ``This points to a more structural problem.''

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15478091.htm


Apparently, this isn't an isolated incident
This has occurred on many other occasions, and each fake attack is attributed to FARC in order to boost support for the government's war against the rebels
I guess that some of us will have to hold off our criticism for FARC, considering that attacks in the past and present that were blamed on FARC were really perpetrated by the government

[WUOrevolt]

Colombia military in bomb scandal
By Jeremy McDermott
BBC News, Medellin



Evidence suggests the military are contributing to the violence
Army officers in Colombia have been accused of placing car bombs around the capital in the latest military scandal to hit the country.
The officers hoped to claim reward money from the government's informants programme for discovering the bombs.

President Alvaro Uribe made a televised address to the nation urging Colombians to keep faith in the security forces, amid a growing crisis in confidence.

He has made the strengthening of the military his government's cornerstone.

Such is the crisis in confidence in the military that President Uribe decided that he had to show his face to the nation and reassure Colombians that his military, backed by Washington, was not spinning out of control.

'Isolated incidents'

In the latest scandal, army officers are accused of placing car bombs around Bogota, including one that went off wounding more than a dozen soldiers and killing a civilian.

The motivation was to claim reward money from the government, which offers payments of up to $400,000 (£220,000) for information on the activities of Marxist rebels and drugs traffickers.

In another incident, 10 policemen were killed by the army in what was presented as a friendly fire tragedy.

However, evidence has shown that they were killed at point-blank range.

Several soldiers, including a colonel, have been arrested and accused of murdering the policemen on the orders of a notorious drug baron.

Mr Uribe insisted that these scandals are isolated incidents and that things are getting better.

But evidence now suggests that the military are contributing to the violence, not just fighting it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5333980.stm

[Jamal]

So things are getting out of control in Columbia!


activities of Marxist rebels

Hope they would be able to accomplish their objectives!

[Guerrilla22]

Not anything new, colombian government or right wing extremist stage attacks or perpatrate horrific crimes, then blame FARC or ELN.

[Janus]

This has occurred on many other occasions, and each fake attack is attributed to FARC in order to boost support for the government's war against the rebels
Yeah, I remember discussing with other members here on how this has happened several times before. I suppose that this bias and the lies are somewhat inevitable and it's really difficult to figure who's really telling the truth and who's not though in this case it was pretty obvious.

[Severian]

Originally posted by [email protected] 11 2006, 06:01 PM
''This is very serious, something we've never seen before,'' said security analyst Alfredo Rangel. ``Army officers staging a supposed attack and then cash in on preventing it.''
I think this general type of thing is really not so unheard of. It's something cops look for during investigations, even.

If you remember the Atlanta Olympic bombing, for example. The security guard who found the bomb and started evacuating the park - Richard Jewell - was investigated by the FBI, and vilified by the media. They suspected him of planting it so he could be seem a hero by preventing it.

It's also one of the standard motives for arson, IIRC - get attention for reporting or putting out the fire.

***

I gotta ask, though: is it really in dispute (within Colombia) that the FARC carries out this type of bombing attack? Have they never taken responsibility for them?

[Janus]

Merged.

[WUOrevolt]

Originally posted by [email protected] 14 2006, 01:57 AM


I gotta ask, though: is it really in dispute (within Colombia) that the FARC carries out this type of bombing attack? Have they never taken responsibility for them?
They are blamed for attacks and bombings, but I have no recollection of them taking responsibilty for them. In fact, in 2004, a bomb exploded at a country club in Bogota, and the FARC was blamed (and still is) but they have denied all responsibilty for it.

[metalero]

FARC carry out military actions throughout Colombia, sometimes involving violations of humanitarian laws such as kidnapping civilians (rich landowners and politicians). However, all of their actions are against legitimate targets such as military and police barricades, very unlikely the way Colombian military and their paramilitary allies attack the peasant population with massacres and forced displacement, extermination of leftist activist and union leaders. Car bombings and indiscrimante attacks on civilians have no tactical nor political gain for revolutionary purposes, especially for a well armed guerrilla with full control of large territories and wide support in the country side. This is also something the state security services and the Colombian oligarchy understand pretty well and have practiced a lot, that is orchestrating covert casual bombings that would alienate the population from supporting the FARC. However these guys are so corrupt and rotten that the "terrorist" trick is revealing itself as fast as social contradictions become harsher.

BTW, I recommend checking this thread (http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=55669), or merging.

[Janus]

BTW, I recommend checking this thread, or merging.
Done.

[A CLOCKWORK ORANGE]

BOGOTA, Colombia - A slew of allegations — staged bombings, civilian killings and a fake kidnapping — have eroded confidence in the institution most crucial to President Alvaro Uribe's crusade to make his war-torn country safer: Colombia's U.S.-bankrolled army.

Fueling the latest scandal, two imprisoned rebels phoned a radio station Friday to describe how army intelligence officers allegedly paid ex-guerrillas thousands of dollars to stage phony bombings ahead of Uribe's August inauguration to a second term.

The jailed guerrillas said the officers intended to take credit and claim reward money for discovering and defusing the bombs, one of which killed a passer-by and wounded 19 soldiers.

"The officers offered 30 million pesos ($12,500) for each attack and they paid those who could make one happen," an ex-guerrilla known as Evaristo said from the La Picota prison.

They also said the intelligence officers paid former guerrillas to organize the bogus surrender of a rebel unit and falsely accuse peasants of being rebels.

The army chief and defense minister acknowledged last month the plot was under investigation. In a televised address last month, Uribe urged Colombians to have faith in their armed forces, stressing the allegations had not been proven.

But the scandal was only the latest to try the patience of Colombians, human rights groups and even some lawmakers in Washington, which has provided $4 billion in aid to the South American country in the past six years, mostly for the army.

"So many of these cases have come to light in recent months, they have planted doubts about all the actions of the armed forces," said Marco Romero, director of the human rights group Codhes.

Of particular concern are complaints that people with no history of guerrilla ties have been seized by security forces only to turn up dead. In September, the chief federal prosecutor's office opened investigations against 14 soldiers accused of killing civilians and claiming they were guerrillas.

No one keeps national figures of extrajudicial killings. But between 2002 and 2005, the independent group Judicial Freedom Corp. recorded 107 cases in five municipalities in northwestern Antioquia state

"There's a pressure on these army units to produce results, to be the most active in killing guerrillas," said Elkin Ramirez, a lawyer for Judicial Freedom Corp. "This comes right from the top, from the presidency."

Uribe has staked his political fortunes on a tough approach to crime and violence in a country battered by more than four decades of civil war between leftist rebels, right-wing paramilitaries and government forces. Many Colombians credit Uribe's initiatives for a sharp drop in kidnappings and murders and overwhelmingly re-elected him in May.

The high-performing Antioquia-based 4th Brigade reported the killing, capture or surrender of 705 rebels or paramilitaries last year. But rights activists say the number was inflated by extrajudicial civilian killings.

They point to the case of Luz Morales, a 16-year-old girl who was detained in 2003 by 4th Brigade soldiers on suspicion of belonging to the main leftist insurgency, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. The next day, the army claimed the girl had escaped custody and mounted an attack on the unit in which only she was killed.

"We know this is not true, my sister had nothing to do with the guerrillas," said Blanca Morales, Luz's sister.

A 4th Brigade spokesman declined to comment, and the Defense Ministry refused repeated requests to discuss cases of alleged extrajudicial killings.

Authorities' standard response has been to deem abuses isolated cases. But rights activists say the problem is more widespread.

Among recent scandals:

• The chief of an elite anti-kidnapping army unit and seven other soldiers were arresting for allegedly helping a man stage his own kidnapping and rescue to avoid paying debts. Six "kidnappers" were killed, including people to whom the "victim" owed money.

• A colonel and 14 soldiers are about to stand trial for killing 10 elite anti-drug officials in a May ambush, allegedly at the behest of drug traffickers.

• Eighteen soldiers are under investigation in the deaths of 29 people initially accused of being leftist rebels in Antioquia.

The scandals have caught the attention of some U.S. lawmakers, who hold control aid for a plan that initially targeted cocaine production but was expanded to help the war against the guerrillas.

"What we're looking for are trials for perpetrators, prosecution of those responsible, strengthening of the judicial system," said Rep. Sam Farr (news, bio, voting record), a California Democrat who tried unsuccessfully to freeze some aid to pressure Colombia for improvements on human rights. "We know they can do it."

Source: AP (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061007/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/colombia_army_killings)

[Whitten]

Scandals sap Colombians' faith in army

You mean there were people who still had faith in the Columbian army? It would seem the armies staged attacks campaign has well and truly backfired. All they've done is given the FARC more support.

[Janus]

Merged.