BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - Colombia extradited 14 paramilitary warlords to the United States on Tuesday to stand trial on drug trafficking charges in a surprise move applauded by the Bush administration as evidence that Colombia deserves a trade deal.But many Colombians worried that a narrow U.S. focus on drug crimes would enable the warlords and their politician allies to escape responsibility for human rights violations including the deaths of at least 10,000 people.
Spirited out of Colombian prisons before dawn were Salvatore Mancuso other top leaders of Colombia's illegal right-wing militias - notorious figures blamed for modern Colombia's worst atrocities. Victims' families fear the extraditions will impede efforts to fully catalog the warlords' crimes, unearth scores of mass graves and bring to justice the politicians and businessmen who allegedly colluded with them.
| Perhaps you'd prefer them running free? Sheesh. |
The Bush administration said the extraditions should prompt U.S. congressional Democrats to reconsider their opposition to the Colombian trade deal, which has stalled over Democrats' accusations that Uribe has failed to crack down on the militias for killing union organizers.
Most of the defendants were taken in handcuffs and bulletproof vests early Tuesday for flights to Florida in an unmarked U.S. government plane. Eventually, they'll be tried in Washington, Miami, Tampa, Fla., New York and Houston. As part of the extradition agreement, none will get life sentences, the Department of Justice said. The leaders include Mancuso, Diego Murillo (also known as "Don Berna") and Rodrigo Tovar, a military officer's son who went by the name Jorge 40. All but one are charged with cocaine trafficking. Other charges include money laundering and conspiracy to provide material support to a designated terrorist group.