Bush Warns Colombian Leader on Human Rights

President Bush urged Congress to continue supporting Colombia’s efforts to combat narco-terrorism Thursday even as he warned visiting Colombian President Alvaro Uribe that the United States expected Uribe’s government to honor its stated commitment to human rights.

“We did talk about human rights. I talked about human rights,” Bush told reporters as Uribe visited the president’s Texas ranch. “We talked about specific cases, and I listened intently and believe that he is interested in following through on these cases.”

Victims’ advocacy groups in Colombia have said that a new so-called Justice and Peace law is too weak. They claim that the measure -- which governs the process of dismantling Colombia’s paramilitary groups and re-integrating them into Colombian society -- allows members to escape charges of atrocities committed against civilians.

In his own remarks, Uribe renewed his commitment to the rule of law and to bring about “transparency” in his government. “We have a democratic government that has full respect for public freedom and that fully intends to defeat terrorism,” he said.

Bush said he would ask Congress to “sustain our commitment to follow-on programs for Plan Colombia, so Colombia can build on its progress and win its war against the narco-terrorists.”

Plan Colombia is an aid program begun under President Clinton to crack down on drug trafficking and curb the decades-long conflict among the government, Marxist rebels and right-wing militias. Under the plan, the United States has poured more than $3.3 billion in aid into Colombia, the vast majority in the form of law enforcement and military assistance.

In June, a House committee approved the administration’s request for $734.5 million for next year as part of a foreign aid bill.

Though the plan has been credited with reducing killings, massacres of villagers and kidnappings blamed on drug trafficking since 2002, some U.S. lawmakers and groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have said far more needs to be done.

“Despite, or perhaps because of, the administration’s close working relationship with Uribe, the U.S. has failed to use its leverage and influence with the Colombian government to ensure an end to human rights violations by the Colombian military,” said William F. Schulz, executive director of Amnesty International USA.

“This support is based on half-truths that disguise myriad flaws in Colombian justice,” Schultz said in a statement.

Victor Hinojosa, a Baylor University political scientist who specializes in U.S.-Colombian affairs, called Colombia “the greatest humanitarian crisis no one has heard about.’”

At the same time, by granting Uribe a coveted and high-profile visit to his ranch, Bush signaled support for a leader who has strongly backed Bush’s Iraq policy, Hinojosa said. “Symbols matter,” he said. “And this [visit] is an important symbol that he has U.S. support.”