Colombian gov’t under eye of ICC

This week’s visit of the chief prosecutor from the International Criminal Court (ICC) has placed additional attention on Colombia’s government.

Luis Moreno Ocampo’s three-day trip to Colombia concluded yesterday as he examined the alleged government links to paramilitary groups. After meeting with government officials and the victims of paramilitary violence, Moreno Ocampo vowed that he will “go after the people who may be considered among those most responsible.”

The ICC could subsequently open a formal investigation not only centering on Colombia’s “para-politics” scandal but also regarding ties between politicos and the FARC guerillas.

Despite having a 90% approval rating among his countrymen, Moreno Ocampo’s visit comes at a particularly sensible time for Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. In what has been a troubling trend for relatives of senior government officials, the brother of the country’s justice minister was accused of doing illicit favors for drug smugglers. Uribe, meanwhile, continued to reject allegations over a supposed 2006 vote-buying scheme in Congress that would lead to his reelection.

According to Colombia’s Cambio newsmagazine, the political climate is stormy as a result of the attacks between Uribe and who he perceives are his foes:

The (political) environment is hot…accusations and allegations come and go. There’s a feeling of an institutional crisis and the president, symbol of national unity…has acted as an agitator. Although he has enjoyed high levels of popularity, it does not justify that he risks the state of law by delegitimizing the Supreme Court and the opposition.

More so, it could be costly to his public image that he looks for fights with whoever gets in his way especially when the public wonders why the lawyers of paramilitaries were received by Cabinet officials. - [ed. personal translation]

Image- Al Jazeera English (“Santos, the Colombian vice-president, left, accompanies Moreno-Ocampo [AFP]”).

Sources (English)- Colombia Reports, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Inside Costa Rica, Al Jazeera English, The latin Americanist, Reuters

Sources (Spanish)- Cambio