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U.S. Drug Extraditions Stall Colombian Probes

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The Washington Post

Published: August 20, 2008

MEDELLIN, Colombia - In a small courtroom here, Ever Veloza, over the past year, has confessed to nearly 1,000 slayings in Colombia's conflict and recounted how the death squads he helped run were supported by army officers and prominent politicians.

Veloza, 41, has been among two dozen top commanders to have participated in what is known here as the "Justice and Peace" process, special judicial proceedings designed to unravel the origins of Colombia's paramilitary movement.

His testimony has helped authorities uncover crimes and open investigations to ferret out collaborators.

Now, Veloza may be extradited to the United States - not for the war crimes to which he has confessed but to face cocaine-trafficking charges in New York federal court.

Perhaps more than anyone else, he knows what that would mean for investigators who have been working for years to understand the intricacies of a coalition of paramilitary groups known as the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia.

"If I get extradited, the Justice and Peace process ends there, because the foot soldiers do not know anything," Veloza said. "If I go, then the story of the Self-Defense Forces is incomplete."

Fifteen other top paramilitary commanders have been extradited to the United States, raising major concerns among Colombian investigators, victims' rights groups and organizations such as Human Rights Watch, all of whom say complex investigations into paramilitary crimes are being thrown into disarray.

With nearly all of the top commanders in U.S. jails, they argue, Colombian detectives and prosecutors have lost their most knowledgeable sources of information about paramilitary groups.

"I see this with huge and profound concern, because it could leave many cases in impunity," said one senior Colombian investigator, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

He spoke of one extradited commander, Ramiro "Cuco" Vanoy, who had admitted to dozens of murders each time he testified in Colombia, leaving investigators thirsting for more testimony.

"That has been overshadowed," the investigator said, "by the hastiness to resolve one problem - and that problem is drug trafficking."

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