Colombia's Vice President Francisco Calderon defended his country's human rights record on Wednesday, saying crackdowns on drug runners and paramilitary groups continued and "impunity is being reduced." Speaking after he appeared for a periodic review of his country, under the auspices of the UN's Human Rights Council, Calderon also said he hoped the United States would enter into a free trade deal with Colombia. "Once they get the full picture, the reality of the situation, they will be able to see the effort of the Colombian government and state," he said, rebuffing calls from rights groups to the United States not to sign the deal due to allegations of ongoing abuses. Human Rights Watch wrote in a recent report that Colombia had the worst record of any nation when it came to killings of trade union members. Calderon admitted that there has been a surge in the last year, with at least 41 unionists killed. But he blamed "criminal elements" for those deaths. Rights activists have said these elements, in part, represented resurgences of paramilitary groups. Journalist and human rights workers have also been targeted, with many killed. Advocacy groups have in the past complained that the government was backing certain right-wing paramilitary units. Calderon said that these criminal groups were "totally integrated into drug trafficking," and were different than the paramilitary groups, which the government was working to disarm. The vice president added that steps were also being taken to improve the rights record of the military itself.
