Human Rights Activists Dispute "Success" of "Plan Colombia"
Human Rights Activists Dispute "Success" of "Plan Colombia"
Thursday, 25 February 2016 10:25
By Mike LaSusa, Truthout | News Analysis
A group of award-winning human rights activists from Colombia traveled to Washington, DC, from February 15 through 19 to share their perspectives on the armed conflict that has roiled their country for more than half a century, as well as the historic negotiations aimed at ending it.
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Echoing the opinion of many top US policymakers, several prominent mainstream news outlets - like The Economist, Foreign Policy and The Washington Post - have recently hailed Plan Colombia as a "success." But the viewpoints presented by the delegation of human rights defenders during a panel discussion at the United States Institute of Peace contrasted sharply with such glowing portrayals.
For example, Fabián Laverde of the Social Corporation for Community Advisory and Training pointed out that while violence associated with the armed conflict has decreased significantly since the start of Plan Colombia, attacks against human rights defenders like himself have risen to levels described by the country's top United Nations official as "extremely alarming."
Various politicians and commentators have cited generally declining murder and kidnapping rates as achievements attributable to Plan Colombia. But much less public attention has been paid to the more than 6 million Colombian citizens victimized since the program began - including more than 4 million people displaced from their homes and more than 3,500 civilians murdered by Colombian security forces, who disguised many of the victims as guerillas in order to inflate the tally of "enemies" killed.
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http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/34951-human-rights-activists-dispute-success-of-plan-colombia