The harsh clash that false positives unleashed between Uribe and Human Rights Watch

The director of the NGO for the Americas, José Miguel Vivanco, accused Uribe of distorting the truth. The former president called him “a militant of the Farc.”

The figures on false positives revealed by the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) on February 18 were the subject of a strong debate in which Uribism began to be the protagonist because, according to the peace court, the largest number of cases of civilians passed off as guerrillas killed in combat occurred during the years when Álvaro Uribe Vélez was president.

The revelation was objected by Uribe and his closest friends, such as Senator Paloma Valencia, however, the debate resumed on Saturday and continued this Sunday after José Miguel Vivanco, director for the Americas of the NGO Human Rights Watch, claimed that Uribe distorted the history of false positives in Colombia.

Vivanco made reference to one of the many statements that Uribe has made after the data published by the JEP and, in a thread of eight trills published on Twitter, argued. “Uribe says that” rewards were never offered to members of the Armed Forces, much less for casualties in combat. ” Fake. There were directives that awarded rewards and there is clear evidence of these payments. See these testimonies and fragments of military books of the time ”, was the first publication of the director of that NGO.

He pointed out, with evidence, that the uniformed officers who reported casualties received, in addition to money, “vacation permits, promotions, commissions abroad, awards and congratulations.”

“Uribe says that in his government demobilizations were prioritized over captures and these over casualties. Misleading. This norm was approved in 2007 when more than a thousand false positives had already occurred in his government (according to conservative estimates of the Prosecutor’s Office, ”Vivanco added. He also considered as“ misleading ”what was said by Uribe that his government established that the lifting of corpses in These facts had to be carried out in the CTI of the Prosecutor’s Office: “Deceptive. That rule was issued in 2006 when at least 500 false positives had already occurred in his government (according to the Prosecutor’s Office). Many times it was breached.

In that sense, he also commented on the quote from The Economist that former President Uribe used to say that the JEP was seeking to discredit him. “Fake. The Economist says the obvious: if the JEP’s decisions about false positives are forceful, many Colombians will change their opinion about Uribe’s security policies. “

Uribe’s response

Through the same channel, Twitter, former President Uribe responded to Vivanco. “Mr. Vivanco tell the truth: since the beginning of the government, when democratic security was launched, Minister Marta Lucía Ramírez, today vice president, ordered to give priority to demobilizations, 53 thousand in the government, in second priority captures, 36,363, and casualties such as last resort, 13,992, ”Uribe published on Saturday night.

This Sunday, very early, he continued with his reply to the member of the NGO. “At the beginning of the government, Minister Marta Lucía Ramírez, today vice president, adopted the formulation of Democratic Security, with emphasis on DD. H H. and transparency, ”said the ex-president and made the serious accusation against Vivanco of qualifying them as a militant of the Farc.

In defense of the former president, his party, the Democratic Center, published a statement supporting his claims. “Directive 029 of 2005 was issued by the Ministry of Defense in order to define the criteria for the payment of information and rewards to individuals, not to members of the Public Force, as Vivanco wrongly states,” the statement said.

It also indicates that Uribe’s performance in the face of false positive reports was “zero tolerance.” He reiterated the participation of the CTI of the Prosecutor’s Office in the removal of the bodies and the prioritization of demobilizations and arrests over casualties. According to the Democratic Center, a sample of this attitude was the withdrawal of 27 Army officers.

“We reject the systematic harassment behavior by José Miguel Vivanco against former President Álvaro Uribe Vélez and his biased participation in internal Colombian issues following the script of his political allies,” the communication concluded.

But Vivanco did not remain willing and made him respond to Uribe again, warning that both he and the Democratic Center continued to distort the truth. He described as absurd the fact that Uribe described him as a militant of the Farc. “Absurd. He knows perfectly well that I despise the Farc and that I have condemned the brutal war crimes and crimes against humanity of this guerrilla, as well as those of the Eln, paramilitaries and public forces. Uribe has spent decades falsely accusing anyone who criticizes him of having links with the FARC. It is time for the former president to learn to discuss without insults, respect the work of defense of the DD. H H. and end your dangerous stigmatizations ”.

But, in addition, he referred in a timely manner to the responses of the former president. “Uribe says that payments were only granted to civilians. Directive 29 of 2005 (which was in force until 2008) granted payments to “undetermined persons” (without explicitly limiting civilians). Decree 1400 of 2006 also granted payments to the military. In addition to money, other benefits were granted. I quote the Army commander’s program: ‘A unit that enters combat and gives good results must leave with permission.’

Similarly, he referred to the order that the CTI of the Prosecutor’s Office carry out the removal of the bodies and the prioritization of demobilizations and arrests. Uribe says that in 2003 he ordered the removal of bodies by CTI. The agreement that established this was approved on June 14, 2006 ″, Vivanco said.

And he added: “Uribe says that from the beginning of his government demobilizations and arrests were prioritized over casualties. Fake. This was established in Directive 300 of 2007, which says that this prioritization applies ‘from date’. Furthermore, during his rule, commanders clearly prioritized casualties. I quote the policy of General Montoya: ‘casualties are not the most important thing, they are the only thing’ “.

He also responded to the statement by the Democratic Center that Uribe withdrew 27 Army officers in a preventive manner. “The Democratic Center mentions that Uribe withdrew 27 Army officers to stop the false positives. That happened in October 2008, after the Soacha scandal became known and when thousands of false positives had already occurred ”.