Priest faces criticism for shining light on human rights abuses in Colombia

Source: Washington Post

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA -- The ruling issued this week was one of the most severe ever handed down in Colombia against a member of the security forces: 30 years in prison for a retired army colonel found responsible for the disappearance of 11 people in 1985.

And it happened in part because of the tireless work of a mild-mannered Catholic priest, the Rev. Javier Giraldo, who sought out evidence from witnesses and made sure that the relatives of the victims were heard by prosecutors and journalists.

For 30 years, Giraldo has been investigating some of the most heinous human rights abuses committed during Colombia's shadowy war and blaming those he says are responsible -- often U.S.-backed security forces. In recent weeks, that work has garnered attention like never before, with his adversaries issuing public threats against the man they call "the Marxist priest," and even President Álvaro Uribe leveling criticism against him.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/11/AR2010061106188.html?wprss=rss_world

I'm not kidding, this is the paleolib/liberal conservative line that the "Liberal Party" will give, just like the Salvadoran motto of "be patriotic, kill a priest"

just in case . . .
:sarcasm:

The Opus Dei Sets Out to Conquer the World The Opus Dei Sets Out to Conquer the World | Catholic Extremists | It was during the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco in Spain that priest José ...
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DAS spied on NGO workers, including priests (Father Javier Giraldo)
Monday, 03 May 2010 14:09 Cameron Sumpter

http://colombiareports.com.nyud.net:8090/pics/2010/05/javier_giraldo.jpg

Colombian security agency DAS kept files on Father Javier Giraldo and other members of the NGO Center for Investigation and Popular Education (CINEP), including records of personal finances and travel histories, reports Caracol Radio.

The files, made available to Radio Caracol, represent new evidence of DAS's illegal wiretapping and surveillance activities.

Records of Father Giraldo's movements between 1960 and 2004 are attached to his file, as well as a list of 32 CINEP researchers who also have detailed files.

Resumes of Eduardo Umaña Luna and Father Gabriel Izquierdo, financial records of Giraldo Moreno and Gabriel Izquierdo, and detailed reports of CINEP's human rights' activities were in the files obtained by Caracol.

Speaking at an international conference last week, Father Javier Giraldo highlighted Colombia's problem of violence by illegally armed groups, saying that Colombia's prosecutor general is investigating 150,000 murders by paramilitaries.

Liberal Party presidential candidate Rafael Pardo said that the International Criminal Court should intervene in the DAS wiretapping scandal if Colombia does not successfully prosecute those involved.

More:
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/9502-das-spied-on-ngo-workers-including-priests.html

is worth his life, and he's willing to face the same fate already handed his fellow human rights workers, clergymen, union workers, campesinos, and all the powerless citizens already found floating down rivers, or buried in mass graves, or even appearing as dust in crematoria.

He has already learned that when the President calls you out publicly the chances are almost assured the next part of your life is going to get far, far more painful. That's much more courageous than anything attainable by any of the men hunting in packs, preying upon their countrymen/women/children/elders with lethal weapons, even chainsaws, to leave terror imprints in the Colombian population, to regularly render them paralyzed with fear, keep them compliant, obedient, humble.

From the original article:

Sitting in his small office, Giraldo said he expects to be attacked for his work as an investigator for the Bogota-based Center for Research and Popular Education (CINEP). On the walls around his table are photographs of priests and other activists killed in Colombia.

"The establishment tries to delegitimize those who denounce and whoever helps the victims," said Giraldo, who has declined the government's offer of bodyguards. "The intent is to damage one's image, to portray me as a guerrilla supporter."

Those who know Giraldo say he is no stooge of the irregular armies battling for control of land and drugs. He does, however, turn convention on its head by reminding Colombians that their country is still a land of unspeakable crimes.

Death Threats against a Jesuit in Colombia - Amenazas de muerte contra un Jesuita en Colombia
Tuesday, May 4, 2010 at 1:45am

Since April 22, 2010 in various places in Bogota, Colombia graffiti have appeared against the Jesuit priest and investigator of CINEP/PPP (The Center of Investigation and Community Education – Program for Peace), Father Javier Giraldo.

The graffiti express death threats against Father Giraldo because he has denounced crimes and assassinations committed by the Colombian National Army, the paramilitaries and guerrilla groups since July 1996 in the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó. Moreover, he has organized and signed petitions to denounce countless criminal actions by armed groups, the majority of which have gone unpunished.

Because of this, CINEP/PPP, as well as the the Jesuits of Colombia, demand that the National Government of Colombia conduct an investigation to find those responsables for these threats and clearly define the methods of protection that will be offered to those affected. Without this assistance from the Colombian Government there is no guarantee that the defenders of human rights will be able to continue their work in safety.



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Also Father Giraldo helped the former Colombian police major Meneses escape to Venezuela and expose the "Twelve Apostles" paramilitary death squad formed by uribe's little brother, Santiago Uribe. Just last week uribe publicly called Giraldo a "useful idiot," tantamount to a death sentence in uribe's Colombia, which Hillary admires so much.




.

to DEATH, and it easily could mean death in this case.

Can one man even hope to effect change in a government this corrupt, this dirty? Will one more martyr even help, at this late date? God knows they've sacrificed so many people who are wildly better than they, and things have steadily gotten worse, and their power has increased. Over 7 billion U.S. taxpayers' hard-earned dollars hasn't cleaned the government up, it's gotten more entrenched, more powerful, and the country is more violent, and the volume of drugs flowing from Colombia has increased as the cocaine price in the States has gone down.

Perfect arrangement for rightists. More violence to fight? More reasons to pour more US taxpayers' dollars into Colombia and, gosh, we'd better send more and more troops down there, too! Probably build up so many troops it would be a snap to launch a war on Venezuela using ground forces, the Navy _Bush took out of mothballs (4th Fleet) and aircraft flying from the 7 Colombian airbases in use by U.S. personel. Of course they will also need more and more undisclosed numbers of "advisors", too.

Father Giraldo needs to flee, himself. He could still do so much good working outside Colombia until the government is cleaner some day. Hoping so much he'll somehow be spared from the assassination it appears someone has in mind for him.

you are missing some extraordinary background on the Vatican's machinations of both present and past Popes.

Quite a thought provoking piece!