Norma Torres: “the bill currently contains the so-called Leahy provision which was enacted last year. The Leahy amendment stipulates…”

“the bill currently contains the so-called Leahy provision which was enacted last year. The Leahy amendment stipulates that if the Secretary of State finds credible evidence implicating a foreign military unit of gross human rights violations, and no steps have been taken to bring those responsible to justice, then the unit, not the whole country, would be cut off from some form of U.S. counternarcotics aid. I supported the effort to have this provision included in last year's bill. U.S. taxpayer dollars must not be spent on murderers. The situation today in Colombia is severe. Colombia has the worst human rights record in the Western Hemisphere, with an average of 10 Colombians murdered every day for political or ideological reasons. Approximately 65 percent of those killings are attributed to the military and their paramilitary allies. Colombian units, military units, responsible for some of the worst human rights violations and atrocities in recent years were also those that received U.S. assistance. Joint army paramilitary operations have displaced thousands of civilians, mostly peasant farmers. Earlier this year inhabitants of more than 15 municipalities or communities in the municipality of Choco were forced to leave their communities by paramilitary groups. They were told they had 5 days, 5 days to abandon their homes. Otherwise, they would be killed. Several communities were bombed by military forces.”