Reply #2: Same Paramilitary Abuses; New Faces, New Names [View All]

[Judi Lynn]

Same Paramilitary Abuses; New Faces, New Names
By Constanza Vieira

BOGOTÁ, Feb 4, 2010 (IPS) - A leading international rights group urged the Colombian government to take action against what it called the "successors" to the far-right paramilitary militias, which continue attacking civilians and human rights defenders.

~snip~
The 122-page report, the result of two years of fieldwork, says that after the demobilisation process had come to an end, new groups almost immediately "cropped up all over the country, taking the reins of the criminal operations that the AUC leadership previously ran."

~snip~
The groups "are quietly having a dramatic effect on the human rights and humanitarian situation in Colombia," says the report, which adds that they often target human rights defenders, trade unionists, displaced persons, victims of the paramilitaries who are seeking justice, journalists, and community members who do not follow their orders.

~snip~
To eliminate evidence of the thousands of murders they committed every year, the paramilitaries sometimes built ovens to burn the bodies. Another frequent practice, to avoid the effort of digging graves, was the use of chainsaws to cut up victims - dead or alive. Rivers were also extensively used, to get rid of entire corpses or dismembered bodies.

More:
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50225