[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 132 (Monday, September 28, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1831-E1832]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E1831]]



            END-USE MONITORING AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN COLOMBIA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LEE H. HAMILTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 28, 1998

  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, I call my colleagues' attention to the 
attached letters regarding human rights in Colombia. As is detailed in 
the letters, the Administration and U.S. Southern Command maintain 
strict end-use monitoring of U.S. provided security assistance and have 
taken some preliminary steps to develop an intrusive vetting procedure 
for participants in U.S.-provided military training. There is a long 
way to go before we can be sure that all U.S. assistance and U.S. 
training are used properly and for their stated purpose. In the 
meantime, however, the Administration and U.S. Southern Command are 
taking a series of positive steps.

         Department of Defense, United States Southern Command, 
           Office of the Commander in Chief,
                                       Miami, FL, August 24, 1998.
     Hon. Lee H. Hamilton,
     Rayburn House Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Congressman Hamilton: Again, I want to express my 
     appreciation for your continued interest in our region. In 
     response to your 5 August 1998 letter, I will explain our 
     individual selection and vetting procedure for U.S. sponsored 
     training, comment on collective vetting procedures and 
     provide my observation of the Colombian military's progress 
     regarding human rights.
       The five-step individual vetting procedure is intended to 
     be helpful in scrutinizing nominees for human rights abuses, 
     drug trafficking, corruption, criminal activities, and other 
     behavior inconsistent with U.S. foreign policy goals. if an 
     individual's reputable character cannot be validated they 
     will not be selected for training regardless of the training 
     location.
       Step one begins when the U.S. Military Group/security 
     assistance office announces course availability and requests 
     the host government to submit nominees. Per established 
     agreement, by submitting specific nominees, the host 
     government verifies they have conducted an internal 
     background investigation concluding the nominees are of 
     reputable character. This completes step two. During step 
     three, relevant U.S. Embassy agencies conduct respective 
     background checks of the nominees. Fourth, the Military Group 
     interviews each nominee for suitability and as a fifth step 
     generates an invitational travel order for the approved 
     nominee. Records are maintained for a minimum of 10 years.
       As you know, we offer collective training and assistance 
     for counternarcotics purposes to individuals and units in the 
     Colombian security forces. However, the current unit vetting 
     procedures and legal requirements for each type of collective 
     training (to include Joint Combined Exchange Training) 
     require further clarification and development. We are working 
     diligently with the Military Group, the State Department and 
     the Colombian Military to make the unit vetting procedures as 
     standardized and specific as those already in existence for 
     individuals. We believe it is vitally important to continue 
     to train the Colombian military within the letter and spirit 
     of applicable law to ensure that respect for individual human 
     rights is a fundamental consideration of every soldier in 
     uniform.
       I am encouraged by the trends of Colombian military leaders 
     regarding human rights. As General Tapias and his command 
     assume their leadership roles, I confidently predict 
     continued progress. As you know, five years ago the Colombian 
     security forces were charged with over 60 percent of the 
     human rights violations--today that figure is closer to seven 
     percent. Some 150 human rights offices now provide effective 
     training at all levels and commanders are involved. The 
     Pastrana administration's early change in military 
     leadership will potentially reinforce this favorable trend 
     and provide us an opportunity to engage new leaders 
     receptive to institutional reform.
       Colombian military leaders recently requested assistance in 
     refining a military justice system that comports fully with 
     domestic and international law. We will soon dispatch a team 
     of legal and human rights experts to discuss strategies for 
     improving a Colombian military legal corps whose members will 
     advise field commanders regarding compliance with law, 
     emphasize individual human rights, expedite the fair 
     administration of justice and help determine appropriate 
     penalties for violators. Shifts in attitude precede policy 
     changes. Our engagement of the Colombian military is changing 
     their attitude and consequently their policies toward human 
     rights.
       Once again, I embrace your support as we continue to foster 
     greater security in Colombia and further hemispheric 
     stability.
           Very Respectfully,

                                                 C.E. Wilhelm,

                             General, U.S. Marine Corps, Commander
                                  in Chief, U.S. Southern Command.


     
                                  ____
         Committee on International Relations, House of 
           Representatives,
                                   Washington, DC, August 5, 1998.
     General C.E. Wilhelm,
     Commander in Chief, United States Southern Command, Miami, 
         FL.
       Dear General Wilhelm: I write in reply to your letter of 
     July 15, 1998. Like your testimony before our Committee 
     earlier this spring, your letter was responsive, 
     straightforward and very helpful. I appreciated receiving it.
       I would like to ask you to elaborate on the last paragraph 
     of your July 15th letter. You wrote that U.S. SOUTHCOM has 
     developed procedures to select and vet individuals in 
     Columbia's security forces who receive U.S. training, that 
     you provide collective training for units involved in 
     counter-narcotics activities, and that you coordinate 
     training with the Department of Defense and with the 
     Department of State.
       As you know, training programs in Columbia have come under 
     considerable scrutiny. Recent reports on training programs do 
     not mention the elaborate selection, vetting and coordination 
     procedures to which you referred in your letter. I hope, 
     therefore, that you will explain these procedures in greater 
     detail:
       1. What exactly are the procedures you have established to 
     select individual students from the Colombian security forces 
     for participation in U.S. training exercises? Do you vet such 
     individuals for human rights abuse? What are the vetting 
     procedures?
       2. When you provide collective training to Colombian units, 
     do you vet each individual member of that unit for records of 
     gross violations of human rights?
       3. Do these established procedures for selecting and 
     vetting participants in training operations apply to missions 
     in Columbia undertaken by the US Special Forces Command? Do 
     the procedures apply also to Joint Combined Exchange Training 
     (JCET)?
       Lastly, I would also appreciate hearing your assessment of 
     the respect for human rights among the Colombian security 
     forces. Are you concerned, for example, about reports of ties 
     between the Colombian Army and the irregular paramilitary 
     forces that have committed human rights atrocities over the 
     last several months? Do you have reason to believe that the 
     Colombian military tolerates association between its soldiers 
     and paramilitary units?
       Thank you in advance for the consideration of this letter. 
     I look forward to your response, which I intend to share with 
     my colleagues in the Congressional Record.
       With best wishes,
           Sincerely,
                                                  Lee H. Hamilton,
                                        Ranking Democratic Member.


     
                                  ____
         Department of Defense, United States Southern Command, 
           Office of the Commander in Chief,
                                         Miami, FL, July 15, 1998.
     Hon. Lee H. Hamilton,
     Rayburn House Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Congressman Hamilton: During a recent meeting at the 
     National Security Council, I was pleased to learn of your 
     interest in Colombia and the implementation of the August 
     1997 end-use monitoring agreement. I agree that violence in 
     Colombia is escalating and that we bear a responsibility to 
     assist the Colombian government consistent with both the 
     letter and spirit of our own laws. The United States Southern 
     Command is living up to that responsibility.
       We are convinced, just as you are, that our 
     counternarcotics goals and objectives cannot be realized in 
     Colombia unless the military actively supports the National 
     Police and Justice officials. With support from their 
     administration, the Colombian military must develop a 
     strategic plan that will rebuild their security forces, 
     eliminate para-military violence, support the peace 
     initiatives of the new administration, promote economic 
     development and engrain a genuine respect for human rights. 
     Respect for human rights will occur with institutional 
     change, commander involvement, military legal reform and non-
     government agency cooperation.
       The August 1997 end-use monitoring agreement stipulates 
     geographical restrictions on U.S. assistance to areas 
     ``characterized by the highest concentration of 
     counternarcotics activity.'' An addendum to that agreement 
     allows for redesignation of the areas over time; experience 
     has taught us these criminals will take the path of least 
     resistance. The intent of my comment to the

[[Page E1832]]

     New York Times was to suggest that there are no safe havens--
     because narcotraffickers operate outside a designated area 
     does not guarantee them impunity.
       Finally, our training activities in Colombia are vetted. We 
     have established procedures to select individual students, 
     provide collective training for units and focus 
     counternaroctic assistance where it is most needed. We 
     coordinate training and assistance within the Department of 
     Defense, with the Department of State for sensitive training 
     and always with the approval of the Ambassador. I assure you 
     that we comply with both the letter and spirit of the end-use 
     monitoring agreement as we strive to train a professional 
     Colombian military supportive of our counternarcotics goals 
     and sensitive to human rights.
           Very Respectfully,

                                                 C.E. Wilhelm,

                             General, U.S. Marine Corps, Commander
                                  in Chief, U.S. Southern Command.


     
                                  ____
         Committee on International Relations, House of 
           Representatives,
                                    Washington, DC, June 11, 1998.
     Hon. Samuel Berger,
     National Security Adviser, The White House, Washington, DC.
       Dear Sandy: I write to you in regards to U.S. policy toward 
     Colombia, and to seek your assurance about implementation of 
     the end-use monitoring agreement that the U.S. reached with 
     the Colombian Army in August 1997.
       Violence in Colombia is escalating. There are some 25,000 
     murders each year in that country, a great many of them 
     politically motivated. While many of those murders are 
     perpetrated by irregular paramilitary organizations, it is 
     increasingly clear that these paramilitary organizations 
     maintain ties with at least some parts of the Colombian Army.
       I commend the strong steps the Administration has taken in 
     defense of human rights in Colombia, particularly given this 
     growing alliance between the military and irregular 
     paramilitary organizations. You were right, for example, to 
     suspend the visa of the Inspector General of the Colombian 
     military, an individual with ties to the paramilitary 
     organizations. I am especially supportive of the agreement 
     the Administration reached in August 1997 with the Colombian 
     Army on end-use monitoring of U.S.-provided assistance. The 
     agreement calls for units that use U.S.-provided assistance 
     to be vetted for human rights abuse. It also goes a step 
     further and restricts the area within which U.S. assistance 
     can be utilized to the region of the country where drug 
     cultivation and production takes place. These are two 
     important conditions that help ensure that U.S. assistance is 
     used properly and for its stated purpose.
       I am, however, concerned about recent statements in the 
     press from high ranking U.S. personnel regarding these 
     important end-use monitoring requirements. In a recent New 
     York Times article, for example, the Commander in Chief of 
     U.S. Southern Command was quoted as saying, ``In terms of 
     geograph, the use of resources, I'm personally not aware of 
     any restrictions.'' I hope that this quotation is only a 
     misunderstanding, and I look forward to your assurance that 
     U.S. policy on end-use is being fully implemented.
       Thank you in advance for your consideration of my letter. I 
     look forward to hearing from you.
       With best regards,
           Sincerely,
                                                  Lee H. Hamilton,
                                        Ranking Democratic Member.

     
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