NGOs urge ICC to intervene in Colombia

Source: Colombia Reports

NGOs urge ICC to intervene in Colombia
Wednesday, 18 May 2011 16:10
Tom Heyden

A group of 29 Colombian non-governmental organizations (NGO) urge the president of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate impunity in the country and bring those responsible for crimes against humanity to justice, EFE reported Wednesday.

The South Korean ICC president, Sang-Hyun Song, was presented with a petition signed by 29 NGOs from all over the country that impressed upon him the high levels of impunity in Colombia.

"Nothing of substance about the paramilitaries in the last 25 years has been punished," said the petition, which criticized the "incapability" and "inaction of the judicial system" that has left some 99.9% of crimes "in complete impunity."

Moreover, the NGOs stressed that many key witnesses have been either killed or forced into exile. They warned how some eight years after the mass demobilization of paramilitaries under Uribe's administration, "paramilitaries continue to a be a fatal reality, we have been their victims once again."



Read more: http://www.colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/16366-ngos-urge-icc-president-to-intervene-in-colombia-.html

Supreme Court dismisses Reyes files as evidence
Wednesday, 18 May 2011 22:36
Adriaan Alsema

Documents found on computers of slain FARC commander "Raul Reyes" are inadmissible as evidence in court as the material is illegally obtained and provides no evidence, Colombia's Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.

The court said so in the case against former socialist congressman Wilson Borja, who had been charged of collaborating with the FARC based on material found on the computers retreived from the Ecuadorean camp of Reyes after it was bombed by the Colombian air force and raided by the Colombian army.

According to the court, the military officials who obtained the evidence were not authorized to gather evidence to be used in Colombian courts, because this falls under the responsibilities of the judicial police.

Except for the Prosecutor General's Office "no other power in the country has the authority to bring evidence from abroad, even less when ignoring foreign authorities," said the court. The validity of the content of what was found on the computers can also not be verified as the alleged emails were copied into Word documents without indication of sender or receiver, the country's highest court said.

More:
http://www.colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/16368-supreme-court-dismisses-reyes-files-as-evidence.html

one way or another. Now their "evidence" from the Magic Computer has been pitched.

Wilson Borja has been a fantastically courageous Colombian man, who has stared death in the face for a long, long time, due to his political identity.

Here's what happened to this man:

http://www.elespectador.com.nyud.net:8090/files/images/nov2008/968459963c665eb3cbc1e2ce1f6fae1b.jpg

http://www.theglobalreport.org.nyud.net:8090/issues/101/wilson%20borja.GIF http://www.semana.com.nyud.net:8090/photos/generales/ImgArticulo_T2_46464_2007719_123558.jpg

"The car in which Wilson Borja traveled with his two bodyguards received 57 shots."
From Colombian newsmagazine, Semana:

... And where is the largest Maldonado, the officer who attacked Wilson Borja?

JUSTICE Following the ruling of the Supreme Court in sentencing in the case of attack against the union, the obvious question is: What was the Army officer who participated in the criminal action? "He went with the paramilitaries?
Monday July 23, 2007

The Supreme Court considered correct the decision that condemns the largest (r) César Alonso Maldonado Army for 27 years and nine months in prison. The reason for the decision is that the judicial inquiry found him responsible for the attack against Wilson Borja then trade unionist, now House Representative for Bogota. Criminal action occurred on December 15, 2000 and was ordered by Carlos Castaño.

The Court's decision is a response to an appeal filed by the defense of the military. That legal form used to request the revocation of a sentence when it is considered incorrect.

But in its ruling, the Court reiterates that the Army had more responsibility for what happened that day. At 6:15 am, Bob left his home to the headquarters of the National Federation of Public Employees, of which he was president. He was accompanied by his two bodyguards. Suddenly, they were attacked by a gang of eight people traveling in cars and motorcycles. The gunmen released a blast against his victim.

http://www.semana.com/on-line/donde-esta-mayor-maldonado-oficial-atento-contra-wilson-borja/105158-3.aspx
Google translation

Spanish Wikipedia, google translated:
Wilson Borja Díaz , Colombian politician and trade unionist born in Cartagena de Indias . Throughout his life, has played its role as defender of the lower classes within the ranks of the Colombian Communist Party , the Patriotic Union , recently in the Social and Political Front and currently in the Polo Democrático Alternativo . He served for several years president of FENALTRASE (National Federation of State service workers) and with close links to the CUT and the USO . <1>

Throughout his life, has been negotiating peace in the armed conflict in Colombia , being the representative of the union sector in the negotiations between the government of Andrés Pastrana and the rebel group ELN in Havana, Cuba.

Has been the victim of several attempts on his life, his political activism and his work at fernte unionism. In December 2000 he was the victim of an assassination attempt against his life when he was injured. <2>

As representative to the camera in Bogota, bills championed rights of workers, carrying out a strong opposition to the policies since then implanted the president of Colombia, Álvaro Uribe Vélez . In 2006 sucked back into the House of Representatives, a position which was ratified until 2010.

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson_Borja

Thursday, January 08, 2004

An old legend says that when God made Colombia, St Peter questioned “Why have you given so much natural wealth to one country?� God replies, “You haven’t seen the leaders I will give them yet�.

It is this same wealth which is at the heart of the West’s close interest in Colombia, and it is this same poor leadership which explains why Colombia has so frequently handed it over to them. For despite Colombia’s possession of 16 of the world’s 22 most desirable resources, including oil, gold, platinum, emeralds, and some of the richest soils in the world, 68 per cent of Colombians live in poverty. While 2.5million families have no homes and 3.5million children have no school place, a mere one per cent of the population own well over half of Colombia’s land.

This wealth could benefit not just Colombia’s people, but the ‘many’ across the world. The fact that it has only benefited a few at the top, explains the 19 conflicts which have blighted Colombia since independence. The current conflict has lasted 55 years, and claimed the lives of millions. This war is a dirty war, conducted not between armies, but by a proxy paramilitary force working with the official armed forces and inflicting murder, torture and displacement on innocent civilians, while claiming to fight a leftwing guerrilla insurgency – most notably the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and also the smaller ELN group.

Since 1953 there have been nine peace processes, each convincing certain guerrilla factions to disband. In every instance, the guerrilla leaders who agreed to re-enter civil society have been assassinated. In 1985, for example, the FARC agreed to a ceasefire, to form a political party – the Patriotic Union – and to contest elections. In the following months, two presidential candidates, scores of elected Congressmen, regional deputies and local councillors and over 3,000 party activists were assassinated.

More:
http://www.zcommunications.org/colombias-winds-of-change-by-wilson-borja