Blueprint for a New Colombia Policy: Recommendations

The "Blueprint for A New Colombia Policy" [PDF format] is a combined effort of some 30 human rights, church, union, and grassroots groups in the United States and Colombia lays out a comprehensive plan for a new approach based on the principles of peace, justice, and human rights. It makes the following recommendations:

• Over the past five years, nearly 80% of U.S. resources have funded Colombian security forces. We need a new U.S. aid package to Colombia that prioritizes social aid and helps the civilian state - in the form of courts, schools, public health, agricultural extension, micro credit and other services - reach Colombia's isolated rural areas.
  
  
• Colombia's armed conflict will not be won on the battlefield: protecting human rights and strengthening the just rule of law are critical to bringing about a lasting peace. Yet the vast majority of human rights abuses in Colombia, including those committed by the military, go unpunished. The U.S. government must send a clear and strong message to the Colombian government in favor of human rights and the rule of law. The United States must encourage a negotiated settlement to the armed conflict with all armed actors that prioritizes truth, justice and reparations.
  
  
• The United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights issued recommendations for Colombia in 2004 outlining clear goals and benchmarks to strengthen human rights and justice in Colombia. Congress should look to these recommendations as a framework that can guide U.S. policy priorities.
  
  
• The fumigation of coca crops in Colombia's isolated rural areas has harmed food crops, livestock, and water sources. Aid for social and economic development programs has been inadequate and slow to arrive. The result has been a deepening insecurity in coca-growing areas, which gives an opening to the armed groups to take advantage of communities in chaos, and forces families to move elsewhere or replant coca to survive. The United States must end fumigation and devote more resources to alternative development programs, such as those proposed by local governments.
  
  
• As long as the demand for drugs exists, drugs will be grown. The United States should reduce demand for drugs through proven prevention strategies and improved access to high-quality treatment.

You can download the Blueprint from the LAWG website [PDF format] or you can order copies from the publication page of the same site. Bulk orders are available at a reduced rate; contact Jennifer Trowbridge, jtrowbridge@lawg.org, to order.