THE $1.3 BILLION QUESTION

Can Colombia Clean Up Its Army's Human-Rights Act?

September 4 issue — Bill Clinton had every reason to expect a deeply
enthusiastic welcome on this week's visit to Colombia. The smiles and
handshakes you get for $1 billion and change are just about guaranteed to
be heartfelt.

IN WASHINGTON LAST WEEK Clinton formally approved the release of $1.3
billion in U.S. anti-drug aid for Colombia and its neighbors. The question
now is what kind of cooperation the money will buy for the United States.

The answer concerns both law enforcers and human-rights activists. The aid
package, including five dozen new Blackhawk and Huey 2 helicopters, is
supposed to be reserved exclusively for anti-drug efforts. Even so, the
largest share of the assistance is going to the Colombian military, which
is locked in a merciless civil war against the country's 20,000 leftist
guerrillas. Because of the Army's dismal human-rights record, the U.S.
Congress had amended its aid bill to withhold the money until abusive
soldiers were made more accountable to civilian authority. But last week
Clinton waived the provision, citing national security. Activists like Jose
Miguel Vivanco of Washington-based Human Rights Watch were appalled. He
says: "The message is that the bad apples in the armed forces shouldn't be
worried."

Andres Pastrana wants them to stay worried. Since taking office as
president two years ago he has been cracking down on military abuses. The
number of violations attributed to the armed forces has fallen
sharply—although two weeks ago an Army unit mistook a group of hiking
schoolchildren for fleeing rebels and shot six of them dead. So far
Pastrana has sacked nine generals for alleged human-rights violations. And
this July Colombia's attorney general indicted four Army generals and a
colonel on charges of failing to stop the 1997 massacre of 18 peasant
farmers by a right-wing paramilitary death squad.

Paramilitary groups are still committing atrocities. Although such
vigilante armies are outlawed, their ranks include many retired military
men. A detailed report issued earlier this year by Human Rights Watch
concluded that many Army field commanders are still working hand-in-glove
with the paramilitary groups and their death squads. But Colombian
officials insist the Army is cleaning up its act. In recent months Army
units have skirmished several times with their supposed paramilitary
henchmen. "Three years ago soldiers didn't die at the hands of the
paramilitary groups," says the Defense minister, Luis Ramirez. "That has
changed."

If the military can stop the traffickers, it hasn't happened yet. Last
November a special U.S.-trained counternarcotics battalion was deployed in
southern Colombia. Since then the 950 troops have spent most of their time
in their barracks, waiting for Washington to provide a fleet of helicopters
for aerial support in the field. Now U.S. Army Special Forces are training
a second battalion, and there is talk of the Pentagon's sending down a U.S.
brigadier general to advise Colombian officers on anti-drug operations. All
the same, Colombia's soldiers have been battling the leftist insurgency for
36 years. They fought dirty. And they aren't even close to winning.