Colombian President Alvaro Uribe blamed political motivations for the U.S. State Department’s human rights report that criticized corruption and abuses in Colombia, reported EPA.
Speaking to university students on Wednesday, Uribe called the U.S. report, the 2009 Human Rights Report, which was released last week, to be biased and politically motivated. “We receive many biased reports of politically opportunistic nature, such as the report by the U.S. State Department released three days before the [Colombian congressional and primary] elections last week.”
The report found that despite progress, “significant” human rights abuses and “impunity” for corrupt officials still persist in Colombia. The report also noted that Andres Felipe Arias, former agricultural minister who was running in his party’s primary election on Sunday, was “implicated” in the agricultural subsidies scandal.
Uribe went on to say, however, that Colombia remains open to “international monitoring”.
Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos, in response to the U.S. report, called it hypocritical, and containing a certain level of misinformation and manipulation.
Also released last week was a report from the the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights which criticized the ongoing violations of human rights and abuses of power taking place in Colombia.