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In Colombia, a Dubious Disarmament
Residents of Barrancabermeja march to demand redress for victims of paramilitary violence.
(By Juan Forero -- The Washington Post)
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Though officials in Uribe's government pledge to come down hard on commanders, the state appears ill-prepared to follow through, said Sergio Jaramillo, director of the Ideas for Peace analysis group in Bogota. There are only 20 prosecutors to investigate 2,695 paramilitary commanders who are believed to have committed atrocities.
Asked about the capacity of his office to investigate, Mario Iguarán, the attorney general, said in an interview: "You'd have to say it's not sufficient. The Justice and Peace Law did not create positions for prosecutors."
The sheer complexity of the cases helps paramilitary commanders not only to sidestep criminal investigators but to shield their properties. The commanders have already claimed that they own far less than authorities believe they do. Determining the truth is a formidable task, since the properties they own are registered under third parties' names.
Though there are no exact figures, government officials have calculated that Colombian paramilitaries and drug traffickers control a swath of territory three times the size of New Jersey.
"The government has no clue about what these guys own, how they've operated for all these years, who's supported them, where their assets are, and it hasn't really set up an effective system to figure that out," said Maria McFarland, who tracks Colombia for New York-based Human Rights Watch.
In Barrancabermeja, groups such as the Popular Women's Organization, which runs soup kitchens and works on human rights issues, have no illusions about what the process with the paramilitaries will deliver.
Paramilitaries have slain three members of the group, including one this year, and its president, Yolanda Becerra, said that threats continue. Becerra, a slight woman who races around town meeting with members, said her group is still poised to lead protests and lobby for a tough approach to the paramilitaries.
"We're doing what we've always done -- maintain a hope for a new country," she said. "A people can save themselves when they're united."
