Colombia Orders Army to Step Up Combat Killings
哥伦比亚命令军队加大打击力度
By Nicholas Casey
文/尼古拉斯·凯西
The head of Colombia’s army, frustrated by the nation’s faltering efforts to secure peace,
哥伦比亚军队首领不满于该国保卫和平的努力总是跌跌撞撞,鲜有成效,
has ordered his troops to double the number of criminals and militants they kill, capture or force to surrender in battle —
便下令他的军队在战斗中加倍杀害、俘虏及强迫罪犯和武装分子投降——
and possibly accept higher civilian casualties in the process,
在此过程中可能还要接受平民伤亡的加重,
according to written orders and interviews with senior officers.
相关的书面命令和对高级官员的采访显示。
At the start of the year, Colombian generals and colonels were assembled and told to sign a written pledge to step up attacks.
今年年初,哥伦比亚的诸位将军和上校曾被召集到一起,签署一份加大打击力度的书面承诺。
Daily internal presentations now show the number of days that brigades have gone without combat,
每天的内部报告显示出了军队没有参加战斗的天数,
and commanders are berated when they don’t carry out assaults frequently enough, the officers said.
军官们说,如果指挥官们发动袭击不够频繁就会受到斥责。
One order causing particular worry instructs soldiers not to “demand perfection” in carrying out deadly attacks,
其中有一项命令格外令人不安,该命令指出,哪怕是关于打击目标仍有重大问题没有解决,
even if significant questions remain about the targets they are striking.
士兵在实施致命袭击时也不要“苛求完美”。
Some officers say that order has instructed them to lower their standards for protecting innocent civilians from getting killed,
一些官员表示,该命令是要他们在保护无辜平民免遭杀害方面降低标准,
and that it has already led to suspicious or unnecessary deaths.
他们还说,该命令已经引发了大量可疑或不必要的死亡人数。
The military tried a similar strategy to defeat Colombia’s rebel and paramilitary groups in the mid-2000s,
2005年前后,在达成一项里程碑式的和平协议,结束数十年的冲突之前,
before a landmark peace deal was signed to end decades of conflict.
哥伦比亚军方就试图用类似的战略击破哥伦比亚的叛军和准军事组织。
But the tactics caused a national outrage when it emerged that soldiers,
但当人们发现那些士兵为了达到配额大肆杀害平民或把平民弄失踪后,
aiming to meet their quotas, engaged in widespread killings and disappearances of civilians.
举国都对这一战术感到愤怒不已。
Now, another incarnation of the policy is being pushed by the new government
如今的哥伦比亚新政府无非是在变着法子推行这项政策,
against the country’s remaining criminal, guerrilla and paramilitary groups,
以打击该国残余的罪犯、游击队和准军事组织,
according to orders reviewed by The New York Times and three senior officers who spoke about them.
据《纽约时报》查阅的相关命令的资料和三名谈及那些命令的高级官员透露。
The new orders have sent a chill down the ranks of the army.
新命令让军队上下的官兵都为之感到不寒而栗。
Colombia’s military remains under investigation for the series of illegal killings in the mid-2000s, known as “false positives.”
目前,哥伦比亚军方仍在就2005年前后发生的一系列被称为“伪造行动”丑闻的非法杀人事件接受调查。
Soldiers repeatedly killed peasants and claimed they were guerrilla fighters,
在那些事件中,士兵们不断以被杀农民是游击队员的名目杀害他们,
sometimes even dressing them in fatigues and planting weapons near their bodies.
有时甚至还会给他们穿上游击队的衣服,在他们的尸体旁边放上武器。
The tactics stemmed from superiors demanding increased body counts, prosecutors say.
检察官说,他们采取这种策略是因为上级要求他们增加死亡人数。
Two of the officers said in lengthy interviews that Colombian soldiers were under intense pressure yet again —
多次接受长时间采访的两名军官在采访时说到,如今,哥伦比亚士兵再次陷入了巨大的压力——
and that a pattern of suspicious killings and cover-ups had begun to emerge this year.
而且,可疑的谋杀和掩盖行为已经再次抬头。
In a meeting recounted by one of the officers,
一名军官讲述道,有一次会上,
a general ordered commanders to “do anything” to boost their results,
某将军命令指挥官们要“不择手段”提高成果,
even if it meant “allying ourselves” with armed criminal groups to get information on targets, a divide-and-conquer strategy.
即使要与武装犯罪集团“结盟”——一种分而治之的策略——以获取目标信息也在所不惜。
Beyond that, officers said, soldiers who increase their combat kills are being offered incentives, like extra vacation,
除此之外,官员们说,提高了自己在战斗中杀死的人数的士兵还会得到奖励,比如额外的假期,
in a pattern they fear is strikingly similar to the unlawful killings of the mid-2000s.
这一模式与2005年前后的非法杀戮惊人地相似,官员们对此纷纷感到忧心忡忡。
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