April 27, 1999
Web posted at: 9:17 p.m. EDT (0117 GMT)

GENEVA (CNN) -- The United Nations' main human rights body on Tuesday voiced concern over "massive" rights abuses in Colombia, condemning killings and other grave crimes committed by both paramilitaries and guerrillas.

The 53-member state U.N. Commission on Human Rights did give the government credit for a drop in the number of violations attributed to security forces and police.

Guerrilla groups should "demonstrate that they are sincere about peace ... showing the same readiness for compromise the government has demonstrated so far," the commission, which ends its annual six-week session on Friday, said in a statement.

But it also urged the government to investigate crimes thoroughly and suspend those in its ranks under suspicion.

"The armed forces have not fulfilled their intention to suspend from active service all those in their ranks who are under formal juridical or disciplinary investigations for human rights violations," it said.

European Union diplomats said the text statement -- a milder form of rebuke than a resolution -- was negotiated with Colombia, a member of the forum.

A country of 40 million, Colombia has the world's highest kidnapping rate and roughly 27,000 murders a year, including some 3,000 political killings. The civil conflict pits leftist guerrillas against right-wing paramilitary groups and government security forces.

The U.N. statement, which was adopted by consensus, said it "deplores the grave and prolonged occurrence of serious and massive violations of human rights" and "high rates of judicial impunity in cases of serious crimes."

It expressed concern about "increasing grave abuses of international humanitarian law mainly by 'paramilitaries' and guerrillas."

While the commission welcomed the drop in the number of violations attributed to the armed and security forces and the police, it urged the government to step up "legal proceedings against any state agent who cooperates with the paramilitaries."

Paramilitary groups, numbering about 5,000 fighters nationwide, are routinely accused of most of the abuses in Colombia. The groups, which target leftists and suspected rebel sympathizers, have long been accused of receiving tacit or open support from sectors of the armed forces.

The U.N. body expressed concern about a rise in the number of internally displaced people and urged the government to put a stop to this, citing paramilitary groups as "a main actor."

It regretted that guerrillas still targeted civilians by bombing pipelines and taking hostages.

The smaller of two main Colombian guerrilla groups, the National Liberation Army, continues to hold an estimated 32 passengers and crew members of an airliner that it hijacked two weeks ago.

On Monday, the rebels -- known by their Spanish acronym, ELN -- offered to release the hostages if the government of President Andres Pastrana agreed to set up a demilitarized zone in rebel-held territory. The government summarily rejected that proposal.

The ELN and the country's largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, control about 40 percent of Colombian territory.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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