CHEMICAL WEAPONS: CYANIDE

Chemical agents employment antecedents in offensive modalities exist, on the part of groups Colombian guerrillas, that went back to December of 2000. In that opportunity, the ELN attacked the police station of Cajibío (department Cauca), with pipettes sulfuric loaded with acids and ammonia. Two civilians and two uniformed died (5). Al following year, the attack perpetrated by the FARC September 2 in the locality San Adolfo (department Huila), to 370 km of Bogota, would have been setting of the employment of chemical weapons. In that opportunity, four policemen died after inhaling a gas that a local military leader, Cnl Francisco Caicedo, described as "toxic". In support of that hypothesis, none of the bodies presented external corporal wounds (6).

The events of San Adolfo recently cleared almost a year later, after numerous skills carried out by agencies of the Colombian governments and of United States. The reconstruction of the facts indicated that in that opportunity about twenty police officers to a terrorist column were faced almost headed by William Aguirre (you ally "Ricardo Franco" or "The Hairy one"), Jesus Carvajal (ally "Arnuldo") and Jaime Rodriguez (ally "Arturo"), with a balance of more than ten kidnapped police officers, that were yielded al to remain without munitions. These police officers were carried to a precinct closed where five of them were obliged I consume liquids that, mixed with the hydrogen cyanide gases that had inhaled, pulmonary edemas they generated them; four agents died, while the fifth one survived with permanent consequences.

Besides, two days after that clash the Colombian Army intercepted communications of the FARC, in which a guerrilla communicated to his chief details of the aggression with chemical agents in San Adolfo, receiving a congratulations by that action (7).

With respect to the details of that action guerrilla, the skills confirmed that initially the FARC threw against the police installations, in the shape of grenades of hand, composed bombs by explosives and cyanide bottled in plastic containers. The autopsies of the uniformed dead persons in that clash, the Colombian Institute of Legal Medicine had detected in all they a "neumonitis chemical by exposition", indicating in its report: "It is confirmed that the death was caused by inhalation of toxic chemical substances that produced breaking of the pulmonary weavings, causing a pulmonary edema with considerable increase of size and weight", cataloguing finally the death of the agents as a "homicide".

In turn the Institute of Pathology of the Department of American Defense, al to analyze samples of pulmonary weaving of the dead police officers in that clash, found concentrations of cyanide over five milligrams, being that the concentrations of three milligrams already have deadly effects (8). Finally, we say that after acquaintances all these skills the Colombian District attorney's Office opened a cause against the leader of the FARC, Manuel Marulanda Vélez (you ally "Tirofijo"), and other nine guerrillas under the chemical weapons utilization charge against the forces of the State.

Another different case from use of cyanide as arms, on the part of the FARC, is the filled with this munition tips substance especially hollowed to such effect. The evidence of this methodology was obtained in the framework of the "Operation Pegasus", a military action carried at the end of the year 2002 in the province of Soto (Department Santander) to discover subterranean deposits of weapons belonging to the fronts 20 and 45 of the FARC. This munition, by the chemical agent that lodged, they produced a deadly damage to their victims (9).

The most recent evidences suggest that the filled of tips of munition with chemical agents, is a tactic that is being adopted also by the ELN. In the middle of March of the 2003, they were seized to that organization some 200 projectiles caliber 7,62 mm with those characteristics, in High Basilio (Antioquía) (10). .

CHEMICAL WEAPONS: "AGROTÓXICOS"

So much the FARC as the ELN have utilized chemical agents like arms, in the drinking water sources poisoning modality in use on the part of the civil population. This model of conduct violates the norms of the international law.

February 22, 2002 in the municipality Pitalito (department Huila) was detected that the local aqueduct had been contaminated with a not identifying chemical agent. The chemical substance, that had been poured in one of the mouths of the aqueduct located in the called spot Brussels, had a high concentration of chromium, sodiums and nitrates. The skills indicated that the consumption of that water to have caused to the victim deep damages in vital organs, and inclusive the death, depending on the concentration of chemical substances we consume, and of the predisposition of the person.

This attack did not generate victims, therefore previously the local authorities had taken knowledge, thanks to a stoppage of the communications of the FARC, that the aqueduct had been declared "objective military" and could be contaminated. An idea of the damage that would be able to have caused this contamination in the local population, arises of the statements that emitted in those moments the manager of the public businesses of Pitalito: "We avoid a catastrophe" (11).

A second episode of similar characteristics to them registered in Pitalito, took place a month later in the populated of Liborina, to some 100 Km of Medellín. In the tanks of water that feed the local aqueduct themselves virtió an important quantity of the composed toxic one parathion, utilized to fumigate cultivations. The premature detection of the attack avoided that fatal victims were registered, although the town remained 24 hours without drinking water, until the tanks and ductos were cleaned. Al the same as in Pitalito, the aggression was attributed to the FARC (12).

5. Uso de armas químicas..., op.cit.

6. "Polícia acusa Farc de guerra química", O Estado de São Paulo, 5 de septiembre de 2001

7. "Farc están usando armas químicas: FBI", El Espectador 20 de agosto de 2002

8. "Uso de químicos revelaría degradación del conflicto", El País (Cali), 21 de agosto de 2002

9. "La mala hora del ELN", Revista Cambio, marzo de 2003

10. "Brigada XI detecta químico en proyectiles decomisados al ELN", El Universal 27 de marzo de 2003

11. " Ataque químico alarma a Pitalito", Diario del Huila, 23 de febrero del 2002

12. "Restablecen servicio de agua en acueducto envenenado", EFE, 25 de marzo de 2002