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May
Colombian military intelligence scandal
May 26, 2020 Claudia Lucero Colombia

CRLN signed onto a letter to the State Department calling for systemic reform of Colombia’s military intelligence

May 22, 2020

Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Ambassador Michael Kozak                                          U.S. Ambassador to Colombia Ambassador Philip S. Goldberg                                                                                              U.S. Department of State and U.S. Embassy to Colombia, Bogota

 

Dear Ambassador Kozak and Ambassador Goldberg,

We write out of deep concern, which we are confident you share, regarding the revelations that Colombian Army intelligence units compiled detailed dossiers on the personal lives and activities of at least 130 reporters, human rights defenders, politicians, judges, union leaders, and possible military whistleblowers. As you know, the group contained U.S. citizens, including several reporters and a Colombian senator.

This scandal is disturbing in itself and for what it says about Colombia’s inability to reform its military and intelligence services. In 1998, the 20th Military Intelligence Brigade was disbanded due to charges that it had been involved in the 1995 murder of Conservative Senator Álvaro Gómez Hurtado and his aide and, according to the 1997 State Department human rights report, targeted killings and forced disappearances. In 2011, the Administrative Security Department (DAS), Colombia’s main intelligence service, was disbanded due to the massive surveillance, as well as threats against, human rights defenders, opposition politicians, Supreme Court judges, and reporters. In 2014, Semana magazine revealed army intelligence was spying on peace accord negotiators in the so-called Operation Andromeda. In 2019, Semana exposed another surveillance campaign using “Invisible Man” and “Stingray” equipment against Supreme Court justices, opposition politicians, and U.S. and Colombian reporters, including its own journalists. In March 2020, a Twitter list compiled by the Colombian army identified the accounts of journalists, human rights advocates, and Colombia’s Truth Commission and Special Jurisdiction for Peace as “opposition” accounts.

The surveillance is far worse than a massive invasion of privacy. The targeting of political opposition, judicial personnel, human rights defenders, and journalists leads to threats, attacks, and killings. For example, during the 2019 surveillance operation, Semana reporters and their family members received funeral wreaths, prayer cards, and a tombstone. This surveillance and targeting has a chilling effect on the very people and institutions needed to maintain a vibrant democracy. It means that no amount of government protection programs can stop the targeted killing of human rights defenders and social leaders. The persistence of this kind of surveillance suggests that an important segment of Colombia’s military and intelligence services – and of the political class – fail to appreciate the fundamental role of a free press, human rights and other civil society organizations, and peaceful dissent in any vibrant democracy.

We are also deeply concerned to hear that some U.S. intelligence equipment may have been used for these illegal efforts. Semana “confirmed with U.S. embassy sources that the Americans recovered from several military units the tactical monitoring and location equipment that it had lent them.”

As we review this latest manifestation of Colombia’s deeply rooted problem of identifying as enemies and persecuting those who wish to defend human rights, uphold justice, and report the truth, we ask ourselves: What can ensure that this never happens again?

At a minimum, we recommend that the U.S. government:

• Support the creation of an independent group of experts under the auspices of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to investigate and recommend steps to achieve justice and non-repetition.

• Press for a thorough review of military doctrine and training to ensure that it promotes a proper understanding of the role of the military in a democratic society, including the role of human rights defenders, journalists, opposition politicians, and an independent judiciary. While the written doctrine was revised during the Santos Administration, clearly improvements to doctrine are not being followed. The review should seek an accounting for the too-frequent episodes of senior military behavior that contradicts this revised doctrine. Such a review must have input from Colombian human rights defenders and judicial experts, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

• Urge the Colombian government to provide all necessary protection measures, agreed upon with the targeted individuals and organizations, to ensure their physical and psychological integrity, as well as that of those around them. • Urge the Colombian government to purge all intelligence files, whether of state security forces or other organizations, collected on human rights organizations, finally addressing the long-standing demand by human rights organizations, unfulfilled for nearly a quarter century.

• Urge the Colombian government to reveal publicly the full extent of illegal intelligence operations targeting civil society activists, politicians, judges, and journalists, clarifying who was in charge, to whom they reported, what kind of intelligence was carried out, and with what objectives.

• The administration should direct DNI, CIA, NSA and DIA to inform congressional intelligence, armed services and foreign relations and foreign affairs committees of their conclusions on the full extent of illegal Colombian intelligence operations, clarifying who was in charge, to whom they reported, what kind of intelligence was carried out, and with what objectives. The administration should direct the same agencies to inform these congressional committees whether and when the U.S. government learned of these actions by the Colombian military and intelligence services and whether U.S. intelligence agencies cooperated with their counterparts even after learning of those actions.

• Investigate whether recipients of U.S. training and/or equipment participated in ordering or implementing these illegal activities and immediately suspend individuals and units involved from receiving U.S. training and equipment, per the Leahy Law.

• Suspend all U.S. support for Colombia’s military and intelligence services if the Colombian government does not immediately suspend and promptly investigate and prosecute officials who ordered and executed these illegal activities and conduct the thorough review and rewriting of military doctrine and training mentioned above.

If the nation is to realize the vision of so many Colombians to create a truly “post-conflict” society with shared prosperity under the rule of law, then intelligence targeting and surveillance of democratic actors must finally end. Thank you for your efforts to ensure Colombia turns the page for once and for all on these deadly, illegal, and anti-democratic activities.

Sincerely,

Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL)

Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN)

Colombia Grassroots Support, New Jersey

Colombia Human Rights Committee, Washington DC

Colombian Studies Group, Graduate Center – College University of New York

Colombian Studies Group, The New School International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights

Latin America Working Group (LAWG)

Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA)

Oxfam America

Presbyterian Peace Fellowship

School of the Americas Watch

United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries

Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)

Witness for Peace Solidarity Collective

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11

May
No Asylum Cooperative Agreements with Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador!
May 11, 2020 Claudia Lucero Action Alerts, Advocacy Opportunities, Central America

We are excited to be part of an advocacy campaign organized by our friends at NISGUA (Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala) to stop the Asylum Cooperative Agreements (ACAs) the U.S. has made with the Presidents of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. These agreements enable the U.S. to deport asylum seekers arriving from any country to these Central American countries to seek asylum there instead. None of these countries provide for the safety of their own citizens adequately; they cannot protect asylum seekers, either. Under this program, the U.S. is knowingly sending asylum seekers into the same kinds of dangers they sought to escape, which violates international asylum law.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, these agreements also have served to spread the virus to Central America. Asylum seekers reaching the U.S.- Mexico border are detained until they can be flown out to one of these three countries. Estimates now, based on the small number of tests that have been performed in ICE or CPB detention centers, are that at least 70% of those in detention have the coronavirus. Guatemala reports that 20% of its coronavirus cases are people who were deported from the U.S.

The first step in the campaign is to learn more about the ACAs. NISGUA has a wealth of information on its webpage.

The following articles are also helpful:

The second step is to sign onto a petition that can be sent to members of Congress after enough signatures are collected. It currently has 600 signatures, but we can do much better! Please sign it yourself and then forward to friends to ask them to sign on.

The third step is to email your member of Congress. Here is a sample email you can use:

Email template for congressional representatives

Subject: Constituent concerned about inhumane and illegal U.S. asylum agreements with Central America

Dear [Representative],

I am deeply concerned about the Asylum Cooperative Agreements (ACAs) that the Trump administration has signed with governments in Central America. As your constituent, I am calling on you to take action.

Under these agreements, the U.S. designated El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala as “safe third countries” to which to send asylum-seekers, rather than allowing them to pursue an asylum claim here, as is their right under international law.

These policies are immoral and, according to a U.S. lawsuit filed in November 2019 regarding the first agreement with Guatemala by the American Civil Liberties Union and others, illegal. None of these countries provide a full and fair asylum application procedure. More importantly, they themselves are so unsafe that their own citizens flee en masse to the United States.

Meanwhile, in the face of a deadly global pandemic, the Trump administration has continued to deport migrants and asylum-seekers to Mexico and Central America, including people who have already tested positive for covid-19, another demonstration of the Administration’s disregard for human life in the region.

Since November, more than 900 people, the majority women and children from Honduras and El Salvador who sought asylum in the U.S., have been sent to Guatemala to seek protection there instead. News outlets report that only twenty thus far have requested protection in Guatemala, where they may be vulnerable to many of the same sources of violence as in their home countries. The rest have made the life-threatening decision to return to the dangers from which they originally fled. For example, a February 2020 Human Rights Watch investigation found that, since 2013, at least 138 Salvadorans were murdered in acts of gang, police, or hate crime violence after being deported. A similar reality exists for Honduran migrants.

It’s clear that these Asylum Cooperative Agreements are a gross violation of the internationally-recognized right to asylum and of the core principle of non-refoulement, so much so that U.S. asylum officers have filed an amicus brief denouncing their illegality.

I call on you to:

1. Take action to defund the “Asylum Cooperative Agreements” by pushing for the inclusion of the following language in the upcoming appropriations process for both DHS and State and Foreign Operations: “None of these funds may be used for the implementation of the Asylum Cooperative Agreements between the U.S., Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.”
2. Demand more information regarding the signing and implementation of these agreements.
3. Take a public stand and declare opposition to these agreements as a threat to safety, human dignity, and international law.

Now, more than ever amid the deadly global threat posed by COVID-19, the Trump Administration’s assaults on immigrants and asylum seekers must be stopped. I call on you to take action to immediately halt all deportations as well as other inhumane policies, such as the “Remain in Mexico” program.

Your action is urgent. If your office has already issued statements or taken other action regarding the Asylum Cooperative Agreements, please let me know.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

 

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6

May
Contact your Representative to co-sponsor the Robust International Response to Pandemic Act (H.R. 6581).
May 6, 2020 Claudia Lucero Action Alerts, Advocacy Opportunities

CRLN signed the letter below to call on our Representatives to co-sponsor a bill that would lift some of the financial burdens on developing countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have sent it out to all Illinois Representatives. Please support this effort by copying the letter into an email to your Representative and adding a personal note, such as “I, too, support this bill and ask you to co-sponsor it. Please let me know if you will sign on in support of this lifesaving bill.”

Some changes since the letter was sent: there are now 23 co-sponsors. Also, the provisions in this bill did not make it into the HEROES Act, the “forthcoming coronavirus legislation” referred to in the letter. It is all the more important that this bill pass on its own, since there were NO international provisions in the HEROES Act.

We at CRLN are trying to evaluate the results of our efforts. Please email shunter-smith@crln.org to let us know you have sent the letter, and also let us know if you receive a reply. That will help in our advocacy efforts going forward.

Here is the letter and list of current signers:

[put this into your email’s subject line] Co-Sponsor the Robust International Response to Pandemic Act (H.R.6581)

Dear Representative _______:

As COVID-19 triggers public health and economic crises in countries around the world, we, the undersigned organizations, urge you to co-sponsor the Robust International Response to Pandemic Act (H.R.6581), introduced by Representatives Jesus “Chuy” García, Jan Schakowsky, Mark Takano, and 13 other original co-sponsors. We believe Congress must enact H.R.6581 as part of forthcoming coronavirus legislation to ensure that developing countries will be supported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international financial institutions with the resources they need to confront this unprecedented global crisis.

H.R.6581:

1. Debt Relief: Instructs U.S. representatives to the international financial institutions to support a suspension of debt payments to those institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic;
2. Protection of Public Health Spending: Instructs U.S. representatives to the international financial institutions to oppose programs that undermine countries’ ability to respond to COVID-19, such as those that encourage cuts to public health spending;
3. Needed Resources: Instructs the U.S. representative to the IMF to support issuing 3 trillion in “Special Drawing Rights.”

The United Nations World Food Program estimates that, as a result of the pandemic, 265 million people could face starvation by the end of the year. A report published by the United Nations University has found that half a billion people could be pushed into poverty. Bold, concerted international action is urgently needed.

One key measure that economists, development experts and humanitarian organizations from around the world are calling for is a major issuance of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs). A special international reserve asset created by the IMF, SDRs are distributed to central banks of countries in proportion to their IMF quotas. Countries can exchange SDRs for freely usable currencies when they are in weak financial positions. They are similar to the Federal Reserve’s swap arrangements, which have primarily benefited wealthy nations, whereas SDRs are distributed to all IMF member countries. Congress should support this costless and effective currency lifeline for the rest of the world.

The IMF last issued SDRs in 2009 in response to the global financial crisis and thereby helped ease the impact of the crisis on developing economies. Because SDRs are issued to each country roughly in proportion to the size of its economy, economists project that an issuance of three trillion SDRs will ensure that significant help can reach Latin America, sub-saharan Africa and other regions that face major economic and public health emergencies.

An issuance of SDRs for COVID-19 recovery has been endorsed by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, the Secretary General of the UN, most G20 countries, the New York Times and the Financial Times. Former World Bank Chief Economist Joseph Stiglitz asserts that in order to help developing economies, “Full use must be made of the International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Rights.”

Another important measure to help developing countries during the pandemic is a moratorium on debt service payments to the IMF, World Bank and other international financial institutions. In 2020 and 2021 alone, low and middle income countries face between $666 billion and $1.06 billion in debt service repayments. Across 46 countries, debt payments for this year are currently projected to be 400% of their health budgets.

H.R. 6581 supports both a major issuance of SDRs and a moratorium on debt to international financial institutions, two vital measures that provide developing countries with critical financial support as they battle the pandemic.

We ask that you contact alex.campbell@mail.house.gov in Rep. García’s office to cosponsor H.R.6581 and urge House Leadership to adopt this lifesaving and urgently needed proposal in the next coronavirus spending package.

Thank you for your consideration,

Action Corps
AFL-CIO
Alianza Americas (Illinois)
Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain
Amnesty International USA
Association of Concerned Africa Scholars (USA)
Avaaz
Bread for the World
Center for Economic and Policy Research
Center for International Policy
Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America
Church World Service
CODEPINK
Concerned Citizens for Change (New York)
Concerned Families of Westchester (New York)
Congregation of Our Lady of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces
Demand Progress
Faiths for Safe Water
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition
Helping Hand for Survivors
Indivisible South Bay LA (California)
Just Foreign Policy
Justice Is Global
Knowdrones.com
Leadership Conference of Women Religious
League of Women Voters of the United States
MADRE
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
New Jersey Peace Action
Oxfam America
Pax Christi USA
Peace Action Maine
Peace Action New York State
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Project Blueprint
Public Citizen
Riverdale-Yonkers Society for Ethical Culture (New York)
RootsAction.org
Sisters of St. Dominic of Blauvel, New York
The Hunger Project
The United Methodist Church – General Board of Church and Society
Union for Reform Judaism
Washington Global Health Alliance
WESPAC Foundation (New York)
Win Without War
Women Against War
Women’s Refugee Care
WNY Peace Center (New York)
Yemeni Alliance Committee
Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation

 

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The Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN).

  • Tel: +773-293-2964
  • Fax: +773-293-3677
  • Email: crln@crln.org