CLINTON SKIPS CONDITIONS, AIDS COLOMBIA

Congressional Demands To Improve Rights Are Waived, Sparking Outcry

WASHINGTON - President Clinton yesterday defended his decision to waive six human rights conditions in order to release $1.3 billion in aid to help Colombia fight its war on drugs.

Clinton's signature on the waiver late Tuesday sparked an outcry among Democratic senators who had urged the administration to use the conditions as a way to pressure Colombia into improving its human rights record.

But Clinton said the aid - approved in July by Congress, which attached a list of human rights conditions on the release of the money - was needed in Colombia.

Clinton, who will go to Colombia next week, told reporters that withholding the aid package would not give the drug program and other goals of Colombian President Andres Pastrana a chance to succeed.

Clinton also said Pastrana is committed to protecting human rights.

"He has submitted legislation to the Colombian parliament, for example, for civil trials, for allegations of military abuses of human rights. And we also have a system in place for specific case-by-case investigation of serious allegations," Clinton said.

An administration official, asking not to be identified, noted that if Clinton had not signed the waiver, Colombia would have been denied $50 million in human rights assistance, which is part of the overall package.

Among the conditions set by Congress, Pastrana's directive on civil trials and alleged military abuses of human rights is the only one fulfilled by the Colombian government.

The six other conditions attached to the aid package for Colombia were not met, according to the State Department, which was to certify the conditions.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in a statement that although the Colombian government was taking steps to meet the other conditions, more work is needed before the administration can certify the six remaining conditions.

Those requirements include giving the army commander the power to suspend soldiers suspected of abuses and the vigorous prosecution in civilian courts of members of paramilitary groups and army personnel who help them.

A waiver option was included in the legislation, allowing Clinton to waive the conditions on the basis of his finding that it was in the United States' national security interest.

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, a Vermont Democrat who spearheaded the effort to attach human rights conditions to the aid, blasted Clinton's decision to waive them.

He said the human rights conditions imposed by Congress do not require perfection, but at least "we need to see consistent compliance with the conditions, and they are not even close to that. There is no need or justification for waiving the conditions."

In a July 18 letter to Clinton urging him not to waive the conditions, Leahy and Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts said the conditions underscore the importance of human rights as a fundamental principle of U.S. foreign policy.

They referred to a 1999 State Department report that concluded that the Colombian government's rights record "remained poor" and said the armed forces and police committed "numerous, serious violations of human rights throughout the year."

Sen. Paul Wellstone, a Minnesota Democrat, said the waiver sends a dangerous message to Colombia that U.S. commitment to human rights does not go beyond "mere rhetoric."

The Washington Office on Latin America had argued against the waiver in a statement issued before Clinton made his decision Tuesday night. Invoking the waiver would "make a mockery of the conditions" and betray the many lawmakers who supported the legislation because they trusted the certification process, the statement said.

But Clinton defended his move, saying the United States had protected its "fundamental interest" in human rights and the money was key to helping Pastrana with "Plan Colombia" - his bid to crack down on drug production by providing alternative crops, negotiating peace and stimulating economic growth.

Clinton said the funds were designed to help combat drug trafficking and to alleviate a lot of the social problems in the country. The U.S. aid includes 60 helicopters to deploy U.S.-trained troops against drug traffickers and rebels protecting drug plantations.