COLOMBIA IS REBUKED BY U.N. FOR MASSACRE THAT CLAIMED 36 LIVES

Army Is Accused Of Backing Death Squads

BOGOTA, Colombia -- The United Nations has condemned Colombia for a weekend
massacre in the nation's northeast that authorities said Wednesday had
claimed at least 36 lives.

The Colombian government "has not taken the measures and actions necessary
to guarantee the life and safety of the inhabitants of this region," the
U.N. High Commission For Human Rights in Colombia said in a statement
issued late Tuesday.

"The office reminds the Colombian State of its international duty to
thoroughly investigate these acts, and take action in respect of possible
omissions by public officials," it added.

An illegal ultra-right paramilitary alliance known as the United
Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), with about 5,000 fighters
nationwide, launched the two-day attack late Friday around the northeastern
oil town of Tibu.

The area near the Venezuelan frontier has long been a stronghold for
Colombia's two main Marxist rebel groups. Officials said armed groups on
the left and right were also battling for lucrative drug production and
smuggling routes in the region.

In a statement Wednesday, London-based Amnesty International accused
government security forces of colluding with the paramilitary gang in the
massacre.

"The security forces and their paramilitary allies (are) continuing
committing grave rights violations with almost total impunity," it said.

Human rights groups have consistently accused the army of backing death
squads in their war against the rebels and suspected civilian sympathizers.

Despite stop-start peace talks between the government and the main
guerrilla group since early January, Colombia's civil war -- in which more
than 35,000 people have died in just 10 years -- has soared to new heights
of barbarity.

The government's human rights ombudsman said Wednesday that in violence
overnight Friday and Saturday, 21 people -- mostly peasants -- were killed
in the village of La Gabarra, eight were slain in the village of Cano Lupa,
four in Petrolea and three in Campo Dos.

All the communities are in northeast Norte de Santander province.

The AUC launched an offensive to drive out the guerrillas in late May,
killing more than 142 people and forcing some 2,500 to flee into
neighboring Venezuela.

U.N. observers traveled to the zone earlier this year and warned the
government of paramilitary threats, but no action appears to have been taken.

Local news media reported this week that the latest massacres were carried
out by a 100-strong death squad dressed in military uniforms and carrying
high-powered weapons.

The leading El Tiempo newspaper said that the leader of the gang told a bar
owner in La Gabarra: "Turn the music up. The party is only just beginning."
Then he opened fire on the customers.

In comments to the Radionet radio network Tuesday, Carlos Castano,
Colombia's most-feared death squad chief, admitted he had ordered the
killings but argued most of the victims were guerrillas.

"I can't wait for the guerrillas to put on their uniforms before I kill
them," he said.