The Bush administration has approved $42 million USD in aid to the Colombian armed forces after deciding that they are doing enough to prevent human rights abuses, a U.S. official said.
The "certification," signed by Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage on Monday morning, is an assurance to the U.S. Congress that Colombia has met the conditions for the aid.
The decision does not imply the United States is endorsing Colombia's human rights record but is strictly limited to the conditions set by Congress for assistance to the Colombian armed forces in its appropriations bill for fiscal year 2002, a senior U.S. official said.
The conditions were that they suspend personnel credibly suspected of human rights violations or abetting the right-wing United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), that they transfer military personnel to civilian jurisdiction when requested and that they take effective measures to sever links between military units and the paramilitary AUC.
The State Department signed an interim certification in April, enabling the United States to release $62 million, or 60 percent of the total for the fiscal year, to the military. The new certification is for the remaining 40 percent.
A senior State Department official, explaining the decision on Monday, said that since May the Colombian armed forces had suspended 16 people, including six officers, and dismissed 29 individuals suspected of trying to cover up civilian deaths.
He said the U.S. government had received letters from Colombian civilian investigators certifying that the military authorities have cooperated with their inquiries.
In the first eight months of the year, the Colombian armed forces have killed 160 members of the AUC and arrested 416 members, compared with 96 members killed and 590 arrested in all of 2001, he added.
In the last three months the armed forces have had 11 major confrontations with the paramilitaries and have cracked down on some of the activities that fund the AUC, such as a gasoline cartel, said the official, who asked not to be named.
The United States has given Colombia more than $1 billion over the past two years to fight drug trafficking. Under a new U.S. law, Colombia can also use U.S. aid against leftist guerrillas and militias, which Washington calls terrorist.