U

U.S. Seeks Court Immunity for Troops in Colombia U.S. Trying to

Protect Nationals from International Courts

By Scott Wilson

Washington Post Foreign Service, Thursday, August 15, 2002

BOGOTA, Colombia, Aug. 14 -- Senior U.S. officials asked President

Alvaro Uribe today to shield U.S. military trainers in Colombia from

prosecution by the International Criminal Court for any human rights

abuses that may arise in connection with their work.

The request, made by Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs

Marc Grossman, is part of a global campaign by the United States to

prevent U.S. nationals from being subjected to the international

court. Arguing that future military aid hangs in the balance, U.S.

diplomats have begun working here and with other allies to arrange

such immunity agreements, which are allowed under the treaty setting

up the court.

Under anti-terrorism legislation signed by President Bush this month,

U.S. military aid would be cut off to countries that have ratified

the treaty, except those granted a waiver by the White House. The

United States has made it clear that governments granting an immunity

pledge to U.S. citizens will continue to receive aid.

"That turns out to be the way people advised us to protect

ourselves," said a senior U.S. official here before meeting with

Uribe today. "We'd like to get it signed as soon as possible."

The Bush administration has opposed the treaty and is seeking the

immunity agreements, U.S. officials have said, because it fears that

U.S. soldiers and other citizens could be subjected to politically

motivated prosecutions abroad.

The issue has special importance for the Colombian government, which

formally recognized the court on Aug. 5. Uribe, who was sworn into

office two days later, is relying on U.S. aid to help him wage a

broader military campaign against leftist guerrillas who have been

fighting for years to replace the government with a Marxist state.

Colombia's 38-year war, rooted in social inequality and a culture of

impunity, is being fueled by drug profits in the security vacuum left

by a weak central government. The conflict matches the Revolutionary

Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and a second, smaller

Marxist-oriented insurgency against the U.S.-backed military and a

privately funded paramilitary group that fights by its side. Last

year, 3,500 people died as a direct result of the war, most of them

civilians.

Colombia, the third-largest recipient of U.S. military aid, has

received nearly $2 billion in U.S. assistance over the past two

years. The nearly 80 transport helicopters and hundreds of U.S.

military trainers, among other aid, were initially meant to help the

Colombian government attack the thriving drug trade.

As part of the anti-terrorism package signed this month, the military

equipment donated by the United States can now be used directly

against guerrilla forces. The package also included $6 million to

train a new Colombian army unit to protect an oil pipeline in eastern

Colombia that is a frequent rebel target. Another $500 million in aid

has been proposed for Colombia in the 2003 budget.

Only two countries -- Israel and Romania -- have agreed to immunity

pledges and the U.N. Security Council recently granted immunity for

one year to U.S. troops participating in international peacekeeping

forces. The Colombian government did not give Grossman an immediate

response.

"We haven't made any decision on this yet," said a senior Colombian

diplomat, who predicted that it would prompt congressional hearings

here. "Our understanding is that this goes beyond the Security

Council's decision."

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations

foreign operations subcommittee who drafted the human rights

requirements for U.S. aid to Colombia, said, "I support using

safeguards in the [court] treaty to protect Americans against

political prosecutions, but I am concerned with the message this

sends to the Colombian government when we are urging them to do more

to protect human rights."

Each of Colombia's three irregular armies is on the State Department

list of foreign terrorist organizations, the "nexus between

counter-narcotics and counterterrorism" that a senior U.S. official

said today justifies the changed aid rules. But U.S. and Colombian

officials consider the FARC, which now numbers 18,000 armed members,

the largest threat to the government's stability.

Allowing the Colombian military greater leeway in using the military

aid has also increased the U.S. role in designing strategy against

the guerrillas. U.S. officials have advised Colombians on the use of

military equipment in the anti-drug effort, mostly in operations in

remote southern jungles, but now will be doing so with "a larger

variety of missions," a senior U.S. official said.