COLOMBIAN ABUSES CONTINUE

The Clinton administration has concluded that Colombia's security forces
have not fully complied with human rights conditions Congress placed on a
$1.3 billion emergency aid package last summer. But the administration also
said it is under no legal obligation to certify compliance before
disbursing the remainder of the aid.

In one of President Clinton's final official acts yesterday, he signed a
letter to be sent to Congress today along with a "progress report" on human
rights in Colombia. The report says that "despite positive developments,"
the administration is not satisfied that Colombia's military has severed
its ties with right-wing paramilitary groups.

Congress conditioned the aid on certification by the secretary of state
that Colombia had taken specific steps to improve the military's human
rights performance. But the legislation also allowed a presidential waiver
on U.S. national security grounds. Clinton waived compliance last August,
before the bulk of the money, all but about $35 million that technically
fell under the fiscal 2001 budget, was released.

The State Department told the White House this month that Colombia was not
in compliance. It recommended that another waiver be issued.

But under an interpretation by the White House legal staff, the legislative
restrictions applied only to the bulk of the money passed as a supplemental
appropriation and disbursed last year, rather than to the small amount in
the 2001 budget. Therefore, the lawyers said, no new certification was
required.

The legislation also requires the State Department to consult with
"internationally recognized human rights organizations regarding . . .
Colombia's progress." After meeting with department officials, Amnesty
International, Human Rights Watch and the Washington Office on Latin
America charged last week that the rights situation in Colombia had
"deteriorated" since the waiver last August, and they called on Clinton to
withhold the rest of the aid.

Referring to specific legislative requirements, the organizations charged
that Colombian President Andres Pastrana had not issued a directive
requiring civilian jurisdiction over military human rights cases. They also
said the military had refused to suspend officers facing credible
allegations. And they said paramilitary groups -- which both the Colombian
and U.S. governments hold responsible for the vast majority of civilian
massacres -- continue to operate unhindered, "often in collusion with
security force personnel."

A senior administration official yesterday described the human rights
report to Congress as a voluntary document not required by the legislation.
It notes positive developments, including the establishment of a Colombian
equivalent of the independent U.S. military's Judge Advocate General Corps.
It also notes a series of dismissals and investigations of military
officials. But overall, it says, "the administration does not believe that
the government of Colombia has made sufficient progress in vigorously
prosecuting in the civilian courts the leaders and members of paramilitary
groups and Colombian Armed Forces personnel who are aiding and abetting
these groups."