U.N. Rights Chief Accuses Colombia's Rightist Gangs

GENEVA (Reuters) - U.N. human rights chief Mary Robinson Tuesday blamed outlawed paramilitary groups for an upsurge in killings, kidnappings and torture in Colombia, where the government has been fighting leftist rebels for decades.

Calling the deterioration in the human rights situation ''grave, massive and systematic,'' Robinson urged the government to act against the right-wing paramilitaries who are often suspected of having links to security forces.

``Unfortunately, throughout 2001 there was a significant deterioration in the human rights situation,'' Robinson said in a report to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, whose 53 member states are holding their annual session in Geneva.

``The activities of paramilitary groups constituted the main cause of these violations and the state cannot ignore its responsibilities,'' she added.