"Widespread and systematic" army killings: Who replaces General Montoya?

By John Lindsay Poland

Colombian Army commander Mario Montoya resigned today http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7709073.stm, in the wake of a scandal over army killings of civilians that a United Nations official on Saturday called “widespread and systematic.” http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/127a5a66-a92f-11dd-a19a-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1 A protégé of the United States, Montoya was an architect of the “body count” counterinsurgency strategy that many analysts believe led to the systematic civilian killings. His record is full of reports of collaboration with paramilitary units, from the 1970s into the 2000s. http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB223/index.htm

The Fellowship of Reconciliation believes General Montoya’s departure because of criticism of his human rights record reflects an important step in the effort to make human rights a central measure for military officers’ performance. We urge Colombian authorities to pursue all relevant investigations of crimes committed under General Montoya’s command. “The Colombian government presumably sought to replace General Montoya with an officer with a spotless record,” said John Lindsay-Poland, of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. “But the reported executions of civilians under General González Peña’s command suggests that such high-ranking officers in the Colombian army are far and few between.” The United States continues to fund the training and operations of these officers. The Fellowship urges activists, journalists, and legislators to ask when the United States will stop the unconditional flow of lethal assistance to the Colombian Army. And we call on the incoming administration in Washington to cease such assistance as criminal and ineffective in its aims.