by Keith Richmond

A United Nations investigation has condemned the government of Colombain President Alvaro Uribe for not doing enough to pursue soldiers who “systematically” kill civilians. UN investigator Philip Alston spent 10 days in the country  interviewing more than 100 survivors and witnesses for his report into the activities of the military.

He concluded that while he had discovered nothing which proved that extrajudicial killing was part of government policy, or that Mr Uribe knew the details of what was happening, the government’s argument that the killings were carried out “on a small scale by a few bad apples” was “unsustainable”.

Conservatives in the country say Mr Uribe has used US aid to intensify the fight against FARC guerrillas but Mr Alston – who noted that most of “the more-or-less systematic” killings have occurred since Mr Uribe’s 2002 election  – criticised the “cold-blooded, pre-meditated murder of innocent civilians”