The lawmakers are particularly concerned about claims that the Drummond Co. coal-mining operations paid paramilitaries from the AUC to kill three trade union leaders who were trying to organize workers at its coal mines in 2001. Drummond has been accused in a civil lawsuit first filed in 2002 of using the AUC as a de facto security force that intimidated employees to keep them from unionizing and demanding higher wages.
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U.S. accused of bending rules on Colombian terror
Several lawmakers say multinationals that aid violent groups in return for protection are not being prosecuted.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday July 25, 2007 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 58 words Type of Material: Correction
Colombian terror groups: An article in Sunday's Section A about American companies making payments to Colombian terror groups said a group of congressmen asked the Justice Department in 2003 to investigate allegations against two Coca-Cola bottling companies in Colombia that had been accused in lawsuits of collaborating with paramilitaries. The companies were dismissed from the suits in 2006.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday August 01, 2007 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 4 inches; 81 words Type of Material: Correction
Colombian terror groups: A correction on a July 22 Section A article about American companies allegedly making payments to Colombian terror groups referred incorrectly to lawsuits accusing two independent Coca-Cola bottling companies of collaborating with paramilitaries. The correction, published on July 25, said the bottling companies were dismissed from the lawsuits. In fact, the single lawsuit itself was dismissed on procedural grounds, but the dismissal is on appeal and the companies remain defendants in the case, as the article originally said.
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Drummond has strenuously denied the claims and is fighting them in a civil trial that began this month.
In a letter to Ashcroft on June 25, 2003, four lawmakers on House foreign affairs oversight committees urged thorough investigations of the Drummond case and allegations against two U.S.-owned Coca-Cola bottling firms in Colombia that are also accused in lawsuits of colluding with the paramilitaries. The bottlers, which are independent of the Atlanta-based beverage giant, have denied any wrongdoing.
Nearly a year later, Assistant Atty. Gen. William E. Moschella sent a four-paragraph response that said: "We can assure you that this matter is being carefully reviewed." Moschella said the Justice Department could not comment on any case until there were public filings.
The lawmakers said they had been unable to get even basic information about whether an investigation was underway.
A lower priority?
Two senior Justice Department officials acknowledged that violent Colombian groups, particularly the AUC, were not as high a priority as Islamist jihad groups because they had not attacked American interests such as embassies.
But critics say that the Colombian groups have killed and kidnapped more people than Al Qaeda and that the Justice Department's selective enforcement of U.S. laws opens it up to charges of having double standards in the war on terrorism.
The Justice Department says it has aggressively pursued corporate financiers of terrorism, in Colombia and elsewhere.
"The notion that the Justice Department is somehow putting the interests of U.S. companies ahead of its national security priorities is baseless," said spokesman Dean Boyd. "The Justice Department takes seriously any and all allegations about U.S. persons or entities that may have engaged in transactions with specially designated terrorist organizations."
