by Constanza Vieira
02/04/2005

Below is an excerpt from an article by InterPress Service:

CARTAGENA, Colombia, Feb 4 (IPS) - International donors meeting in this northern Colombian coastal resort made greater support for the current paramilitary demobilisation process contingent on the passage of legislation that would ensure "truth, justice and reparations" for the victims of human rights abuses.

The government of President Alvaro Uribe was hoping to win approval from the international community in the Thursday and Friday donor conference, in order to gain financial support for the paramilitary disarmament process.

Since June, the members of right-wing paramilitary groups have been laying down their arms as part of negotiations with the government aimed at their reintegration into society. But the process has drawn much criticism and little international support.

A group of U.S. legislators called in a letter Thursday for the demobilisation process to require that the paramilitary fighters confess to their crimes, provide information on their drug trafficking networks, and hand over illegally acquired wealth, including land.

And a communique released Thursday by Refugees International - USA says the "Demobilisation of the paramilitary, a deadly force in Colombia, responsible for countless assassinations, acts of extortion, drug trafficking and forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of Colombians, is a positive step in the process towards peace."

"However, the proposed demobilisation in effect sanctions impunity for illegal acts and rewards one of the perpetrators of violence in Colombia at the expense of the victims," the non-governmental organisation adds.

"Considering the wealth that the paramilitary have gained by force, leading to access to vast amounts of land and large-scale agricultural production, as well as their illicit enrichment in the trafficking of cocaine, it is imprudent for the Colombian government and foreign donors to offer them further resources for demobilisation," says Refugees International.

The members of the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC), the paramilitary umbrella, who have handed in their weapons so far have been maintained with funds from the Colombian government's office of the high commissioner for peace, the commissioner himself, Luis Carlos Restrepo, told IPS.

The government is requesting tens of millions of dollars in foreign aid to support the demobilisation.