Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

620 • SELF-DEFENSE, RIGHT OFhaven centered around Santa Fe de Ralito, Córdoba Department, wherethey would enjoy a safe haven comparable to the one granted in 1998to FARC in the San Vicente del Caguán municipality of Meta Department,with the main difference being that, apart from the AUC leadersenjoying immunity from arrest for past offenses, the region wouldremain under Colombian law enforced by the regular police forces.During 2005 these disarmament talks proceeded slowly, but byearly 2006 at least 17,000 of the estimated 20,000 AUC forces hadsurrendered their arms and demobilized. Human rights groups andcritics of the Colombian government were alarmed by sporadic proposalsto reintegrate AUC troops into the regular Colombian military.On 12 April 2006 some 1,700 fighters turned in their weapons inthe town of Casibare, followed by similar demobilizations in othertowns. On 10 December 2006 the surrender of the 1,425-memberCatatumbo Bloc led by Salvatore Mancuso, the main military leaderof the AUC, marked the final scheduled ceremony in the demobilizationeffort. Despite this official demobilization, some supposedlydemobilized AUC fighters continued to engage in extortion, kidnapping,drug smuggling, and murder. Although the Colombian governmentthreatened to allow U.S. extradition requests to proceed againstAUC leaders such as Vicente Castaño and Salvatore Mancuso if theywould not restrain the AUC remnants from lawlessness, these leadersprotested that they lacked any power to control those former troops.In a plea deal, Mancuso pleaded guilty to reduced domestic criminalcharges before a Colombian civil court in exchange for immunityfrom extradition to the United States and was subsequently sentencedto a maximum-security prison in Antioquía. Meanwhile, VicenteCastaño went underground and in 2006 set up a new criminal groupcomposed of an estimated 4,000 former AUC members calling themselvesthe Águilas Negras (Black Eagles), who have continued thedrug trafficking and other criminal enterprises of the former AUC.SELF-DEFENSE, RIGHT OF. Justification cited by the United States,and other nations, for launching military retaliation upon nationsknown to sponsor terrorist actions or against the bases of suspectedterrorist groups. The right of individual or collective self-defense hasbeen acknowledged in customary international law since the writingsof Hugo Grotius and the development of classical international lawfrom the middle of the 17th century. Although nations that subscribe