BILL HIKES MILITARY'S POWER IN COLOMBIA

Colombia's Congress has approved a bill that would give broad new
powers to the country's military, allowing it to detain civilians,
conduct raids, and carry out autopsies in war zones.

The government-backed bill, which was passed late Thursday and now
must be reconciled with a similar bill cleared in the Senate, would
also allow the president to grant special powers to military
commanders over civilian authorities during war operations.

Critics of the bill, which they refer to as ''war legislation,'' say
it would undermine human rights in Colombia.

Rights groups say Colombia's military has one of the worst human
rights records in the hemisphere.

''This erases civilian authority, and we think the government has to
strengthen civilian authority to improve its human rights record,''
said Robin Kirk, from Human Rights Watch.

Last month, two US representatives - William Delahunt, a
Massachusetts Democrat on the House International Relations Committee
,and Sam Farr, Democrat of California - wrote a letter to Colombian
legislators saying the law would ''turn back the clock'' on
Colombia's progress in human rights safeguards.

The letter also said the law could ''unnecessarily complicate ongoing
reviews in Washington of proposals for renewed aid to Colombia.''

The United States is pouring $1 billion in mostly military aid meant
to wipe out drug trafficking in Colombia, where much of the coca
production is controlled by leftist rebels.

Supporters of the law, among them top military commanders, say it is
needed to combat powerful Marxist guerrillas and outlawed right-wing
paramilitaries fighting in the country's increasingly brutal
37-year-old war. About 40,000 civilians have been killed in the last
decade.

Under the current law, the military can only detain civilians and
conduct raids in conjunction with an accompanying team of prosecutors
from the attorney general's office.

The law passed by Congress stipulates that when there are
''well-founded reasons'' that prosecutors cannot accompany the armed
forces, the attorney general can ''temporarily'' grant judicial
powers to the military.

It also hands responsibility to the military to perform forensic
investigations of fighters and civilians.

Rights groups say the army has been known to taint evidence.