=====================================
In recent months, U.S. officials
have singled out the army's 20th
Intelligence Brigade for suspected
human rights violations and killings.
Last year, in a scathing parting
shot as he left his Colombian post,
U.S. Ambassador Myles Frechette
assailed the brigade, accusing it of
death squad activity --and prompting
angry denials from some Colombian
officials.
=====================================
WASHINGTON POST

Sunday, 10 May 1998

Army Unit Investigated In Colombia:
20th Brigade Under Suspicion
In Recent Deaths of Activists
-----------------------------------

By Laura Brooks


BOGOTA -- The U.S. government, the Colombian police and the national 
prosecutor's office are analyzing the possibility that recent slayings of 
political activists may be linked to a Colombian army unit, the 20th 
Intelligence Brigade, according to a knowledgeable source with access to 
intelligence reports.

In recent weeks, a prominent lawyer, a human rights advocate and a leftist 
politician have been assassinated, and more than a dozen government 
officials, union leaders, and peace and human rights activists have received 
threats, prompting some to flee the country. 

"The suspicion of the government, and everyone, is that it is people -- past 
and present -- associated with the 20th" who are responsible for the 
killings, said the source, who asked not to be identified. The source added 
that Colombian officials are "really disturbed and scared." 

Colombian military officials have denied that the army is responsible for 
the killings.

Widespread drug trafficking, a 30-year-old leftist insurgency and rampant 
common crime have combined to make Colombia one of the world's most 
violent countries for the past decade. Although most of the 31,808 killings 
recorded here last year were related to drug trafficking and other common 
crimes, more than 1,000 were political slayings. 

In recent months, U.S. officials have singled out the army's 20th 
Intelligence Brigade for suspected human rights violations and killings. Last 
year, in a scathing parting shot as he left his Colombian post, U.S. 
Ambassador Myles Frechette assailed the brigade, accusing it of death 
squad activity -- and prompting angry denials from some Colombian 
officials.

In its 1997 Human Rights Report on Colombia, the State Department cited 
targeted killings by army elements, "notably the 20th Intelligence Brigade." 
Two intelligence agents, an army private and several civilians -- all 
associated with the brigade -- were arrested in May 1997 for their alleged 
involvement in the 1995 assassination of Sen. Alvaro Gomez Hurtado, a 
member of the opposition Conservative Party, the report said. 

In November, four intelligence officers linked to the brigade were passed 
over for promotion, effectively ending their careers, and the military 
retired a former brigade commander, according to the report. 

But the changes failed to allay concern about what officials describe as an 
informal intelligence network. Operating at the service of extreme right-
wing and paramilitary elements, the amorphous network is suspected of 
collaborating with an unidentified number of past and present 20th Brigade 
members, security analysts said. Some collaborators are believed to be 
unhappy with military leadership, as well as with government efforts to 
negotiate peace with leftist rebels, the analysts said. 

"It is an informal network that's just as real as a formal institution," said 
the source. "And it's all the more scary because it's harder to control."

In an interview with Semana magazine, Prosecutor General Alfonso Gomez 
Mendez said investigations by his office, which is responsible for bringing 
the political activists' killers to justice, indicated military involvement in 
several assassinations. "That does not mean it was the responsibility of the 
military as an institution, but in some cases the prosecutors have found 
evidence implicating members of the armed forces acting in an isolated 
fashion," Gomez said. 

Gen. Manuel Jose Bonett, who was appointed chief of the Colombian military 
in July, staunchly defended the brigade in an interview, saying he recently 
modernized its operations, removed some officials, ordered psychological 
training for members and imposed directives that define acceptable 
behavior.

Allegations that the brigade is involved in death squad activity are "lies," 
he said. He said he prohibited gathering intelligence on human rights groups, 
union leaders and politicians last year. 

"I trust this organization. No member of military intelligence . . . who 
commits a crime would do it as a member of the institution. He would do it 
on his own, as an individual," Bonett said. 

Police say there are similarities among the murders of Jesus Maria Valle, 
president of the Human Rights Committee of Antioquia province; Eduardo 
Umana, a respected legal defender of political prisoners and union leaders; 
and Maria Arango, an activist and former Communist Party leader. The three 
were shot in their homes or offices by assassins, identified only as two 
men and a woman, who knew their victims' movements and wanted to show 
they operate at will, police say. 

"There's a clear message to killing people in their offices and homes in the 
middle of the day," said Coletta Youngers, senior associate with the 
Washington Office on Latin America. "The message is: 'We can get you any 
time, anywhere, and there's nowhere that you're safe.' " 

In particular, the killers' coolly executed April 18 shooting of Umana in his 
office "was designed to evoke terror in people," she said. 

Compounding fear, at least 12 to 15 prominent businessmen, union leaders, 
and human rights and peace activists have received threatening calls or 
letters since March, according to several sources. Some of those targeted 
left the country temporarily, such as presidential peace negotiator Jose Noe 
Rios, who said publicly that he had to attend conferences in Madrid. 

Luis Garzon, president of Colombia's Unified Workers Central, said up to 
1,500 people involved in human rights activities have left Colombia in the 
last year because of threats. Garzon, a member of several groups working 
for peace, recently received bodyguards as part of a government effort to 
protect him. But many others have vowed to stay in Colombia. "A lot of 
people are living in terror," Garzon said. 

In March, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that brigade 
members told the U.N. office in Colombia that 85 percent of the people they 
consider subversive are engaged in the "political war." Such subversives 
include trade unionists, some nongovernmental groups and even some 
traditional politicians.

Copyright 1998 The Washington Post