BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- The military erected two 25-foot
                  (7.5-meter)-high white banners in Bogota's colonial downtown plaza on
                  Monday with the names of 3,289 civilians allegedly killed by guerrillas and
                  rival right-wing paramilitary groups since 1999.

                  At the somber ceremony, Roman Catholic Archbishop Pedro Rubiano
                  delivered a homily and lit an eternal flame to commemorate civilians killed in
                  the escalating conflict.

                  "Society must form a common front, with courage, to fight against impunity,"
                  Rubiano intoned. He added that those who attacked civilians were "trampling on
                  the dignity of God."

                  The quickly rising civilian death toll in Colombia's 36-year war is beyond doubt,
                  but who's to blame is hotly debated. As the fighting escalates, so is a public
                  relations war.

                  The chief of the army, Gen. Jorge Mora, declared to the gathering of soldiers and onlookers that his
                  troops would defend the people against the "bad Colombians" responsible for the killings. A
                  billboard on the plaza read: "Every soldier is a defender of human rights."

                  But a new human rights report contends the U.S.-backed military is no innocent bystander --
                  but rather a part of the problem.

                  The report, issued in Washington on Friday by Human Rights Watch, questioned the armed
                  forces' claims that it is severing long-standing ties to paramilitary groups who are responsible for
                  numerous massacres.

                  "There continued to be abundant, detailed, and continuing evidence of direct
                  collaboration between the military and paramilitary groups," said Human Rights Watch.

                  Similar conclusions were presented in Bogota last week by Mary Robinson, the
                  U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. Robinson urged a stronger
                  government crackdown on the militias.

                  But leftist rebels are also responsible for indiscriminate killings of civilians.

                  Last week, rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia killed 29
                  civilians and five police in a bomb attack a small northern mountain town.

                  A report issued by the Defense Ministry last week claims tough action against
                  the rightist militias. The military reported it has killed 934 paramilitary fighters
                  and arrested 150 militia members since 1997.

                  But Gustavo Gallon, president of the Colombian Commission of Jurists, a
                  respected local human rights organization, said few high-ranking paramilitary
                  members have been apprehended. In a radio interview on Monday, dismissed as
                  "ridiculous" the government's claims that it was getting tough on paramilitary
                  leaders.

                  Copyright 2000 The Associated Press.