Paramilitary groups commit the majority of human rights abuses against civilians. While the military has removed several top generals who were linked with the paramilitaries, such improvements remain largely cosmetic. Close collaboration still occurs between the military and paramilitary groups. Increased funding for the military would almost certainly escalate the war in Colombia and mean more civilian displacement, disappearances, and intimidation. But the debate in Congress over Colombia needs to move beyond simply fighting the drug war.
Much more aid needs to be directed toward ways to reconstruct the fabric of Colombian civil society.
There are many aspects of the civil society that could benefit from U.S. assistance. Many initiatives for peace from the civil society could be supported. The judicial system could be strengthened through witness protection programs and increased funding for investigations. Both governmental and nongovernmental organizations could receive grants for human rights education and training in conflict resolution. Similar agencies could also receive funding to meet the basic humanitarian needs of the nearly two million persons displaced from their homes by the war.