In October, a group of European NGOs submitted evidence to the Belgian courts about a series of violations of human rights carried out by Colombian security services in Europe. This week, more organisations added their names to the call for an inquiry and for access to official documents, which could lead to proceedings in the European Court of Human Rights.
According to Belgian lawyer Véronique van der Plancke, the Colombian security service DAS’ “Operation Europe” activities included interception of phone calls, letters and emails, burglary, surveillance of individuals, personal threats and attempts to smear human rights NGOs. She claims to have evidence of spying operations in Belgium, Switzerland, Spain and elsewhere.
But the campaign has gone even further, claims Nicolas Van Nuffel of the Co-ordination Belge pour la Colombia collective: right to the heart of the European institutions, with attempts to discredit members of the human rights sub-committee of the European Parliament. “This is an extremely grave attack on democracy and we are very worried by the lack of reaction from the EU”, he says.
The NGOs believe they have an explanation for the low-key response. The EU is currently involved in trade negotiations with Peru and Chile, while Bolivia and Ecuador – which also form part of the Andean Community, but are poorer countries with progressive leaders – have dropped out of the deal. Spokeswoman Tamira Gunzburg says the EU is willing to buy into the new Colombian government’s claim that things are changing, even though there’s no evidence to support it.
Richard Howitt, Labour MEP for the East of England, is vice-president of Justice for Columbia, which is organising a hearing in Brussels on December 7 with trade unionists, opposition politicians and human rights lawyers. He is working through the EP to stop the free trade agreement going ahead.
“It’s an outrage that the EU has chosen one if its first trade deals to be with Colombia”, he says. “It seems to be rewarding a government which is directly responsible for human rights abuses. Bolivia and Ecuador are not prepared to go along with the free-trade agenda because they want to fight poverty as their first priority. But the EU is trying to ram through its free trade policies, rather than allowing countries to develop at their own pace.”
Nonetheless, change is underway and many Latin American states are by no means “poor and defenceless”, points out Howitt. There are many “middle-income” countries as well. “We have moved away from the lost decade of the 1990s, with positive movements in democracy and development, and co-operation with Europe in areas like research and technology transfer to combat climate change, and on peace and security, are crucial to both regions. But Europe’s approach is still too heavily dominated by the “unhealthy, post-colonial” weight of Spanish influence, says Howitt.
The EU is Latin America’s largest source of foreign investment, and second biggest trading partner. “It has to use its economic leverage where necessary”, argues Howitt. “But instead of pursuing human rights, Europe is pursuing its economic interests. We talk about north-south dialogue. The EU should understand that Latin America has its own history and culture, and respect that.”
