EQUIPO NIZKOR |
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28Feb02
Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, on the human rights situation in Colombia.
Distr. GENERAL - E/CN.4/2002/17
28 February 2002
ENGLISH
Original: SPANISH
COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS - Fifty-eighth session
Item 3 of the provisional agenda - Organization of the Work of the SessionReport of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the human rights situation in Colombia
Contents
II. Activities by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia
Advisory and technical assistance activitiesV. Situation with regard to Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law
A. Conceptual framework
B. State responsibility
C. General situation
D. Civil and political rights1. Right to life
E. Economic, social and cultural rights
2. Right to personal integrity
3. Right to liberty and security of person
4. Right to freedom of movement
5. Right to due process1. Right to work and trade union freedoms
F. Women's rights
2. Right to education
3. Other rights
G. Rights of the child
H. Main breaches of international humanitarian law1. Homicides and threats against protected persons
2. Attacks on the civilian population and indiscriminate attacks
3. Terrorist acts
4. Torture and ill-treatment
5. Taking of hostages
6. Children as victims of the armed conflict and recruitment
7. Enforced displacement
8. Violation of the protection of medical workers and attacks on medical units and transport
9. Attacks on civilian property
10. Use of anti-personnel minesVI. Situations of Special Concern
A. Developments in the armed conflict and peace negotiations1. Behaviour of the guerrilla groups
B. Paramilitary activity
2. Demilitarized zone
C. Internal displacement
D. Administration of justice and impunity
E. Prison situation
F. Human rights defenders
G. Trade unionists
H. Ethnic groups
I. Situation of other vulnerable groupsVII. Follow-up to international recommendations
A. Recommendations on the adoption of human rights and international humanitarian law measures, programmes and policies
B. Recommendations on legislation
C. Recommendations on the functioning of justice
D. Recommendations on the protection of vulnerable groups
Introduction
1. In a statement to the Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-seventh session, held in 2001, the Chairperson said that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia played a vital role in addressing the ongoing violations of human rights and international humanitarian law being perpetrated in Colombia and that the expansion of the Office was supremely important in that regard, and that the Commission encouraged the inauguration of field offices in Colombia. Furthermore, the Commission requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to submit a detailed report containing an analysis by the Office in Colombia of the human rights situation in the country.
2. The Commission has been following the human rights situation in Colombia with concern for several years. This has been reflected in successive statements by the Chairperson. In 1996 the Commission requested the Office of the High Commissioner to establish an office in Colombia pursuant to the invitation extended by the Colombian Government.
3. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia was established on 26 November 1996 under an agreement signed by the Colombian Government and the then United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Under the terms of the agreement, the Office is to observe and monitor the human rights and international humanitarian law situation in order to advise the Colombian authorities on the formulation and implementation of policies, programmes and measures for the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of violence and internal armed conflict in the country. In that connection the High Commissioner would submit analytical reports to the Commission. This agreement has been extended for a fourth time, to April 2003.
4. The present report deals with the period January-December 2001, and is based on information collected by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia, either directly or through its interlocutors, and analysed by it. As part of its monitoring functions, the Office receives complaints and travels to regions of the country to observe first-hand specific situations related to its mandate. Through interviews and meetings with victims, witnesses, national and local military and civil authorities, and also through direct observation on its visits, the Office analyses the information collected and evaluates the behaviour of the parties concerned, both in terms of their involvement in the abuses committed and their responsibility for taking preventive or protective action. The Office then communicates its concerns to the competent authorities and makes such recommendations as it deems appropriate for tackling the various situations. As related activities, it also provides legal advice, technical cooperation and technical assistance to national institutions regarding its findings and analyses, and the obstacles and difficulties identified.
I. Progress and difficulties in implementing the Mandate of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia
5. The previous year saw the emergence of various difficulties impeding the full discharge of its mandate by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia. These included difficulties in maintaining a dialogue with the Government. This year, however, there has been progress in this regard. In response to this particular problem the Office drew up a report half way through the year, which it sent to the Government in July 2001, and which resulted in some progress. This report was presented as a contribution to the Government and the Colombian State as a series of practical proposals further to the Office's analysis of the human rights situation in Colombia in 2000. Based on the concerns expressed in that report, and bearing in mind the recommendations prepared further to its observations, the Office prepared a working tool for the Government which identified specific actions that it could undertake to implement the recommendations.
6. The Office felt it necessary and very useful, in order to discharge its mandate, to develop a programme of work with the Government so as to create a forum for discussion. By means of regular meetings at the highest level, the Office would monitor and would be fully informed of Government policy and projects and their outcome, so as to be able to correctly assess these in its documents and reports.
7. As a result of this significant effort and contribution by the Office, and of the positive assessment by the Government, a series of working meetings began in which each and every proposal and recommendation made by the Office in its report was discussed.
8. The High Commissioner feels that the creation of this forum for dialogue and discussion of State actions and policies in the field of human rights and international humanitarian law is very important, and thanks the institutions that participated in this exercise for their cooperation. Unfortunately this process began late in the year, in view of which it will not be possible to evaluate the results until next year for incorporation into the next report by the High Commissioner.
9. The interest and cooperation manifested by various State institutions, which maintained a regular and close relationship with the Office, represented an important element in the progress made by the Office in the implementation of its mandate and technical assistance activities (see chaps. II and VIII below).
10. The difficulties outlined in last year's report included a marked deterioration, objectively speaking, in the human rights and international humanitarian law situation in Colombia. This has led to the progressive closure of many avenues for participation, filing complaints, investigation and follow-up. The situation has had a direct impact on bodies working in the field of human rights, and has deteriorated further this year. The Office has maintained and increased its efforts to continue its work and monitor the situation in various regions of the country. Thus, it made progress in its preparations to open two sub-offices to provide an ongoing regional presence, thereby optimizing the discharge of its mandate and carrying out the recommendations of the Commission on Human Rights. It is also important to note that the Office is concerned about the difficulties relating to official human rights statistics. Occasionally the absence of statistics has made it impossible, not only for the Office but also for others, to form an accurate assessment of the extent of problems and to suggest appropriate solutions. Further, inconsistent statistics were found at various State and government bodies, which hampers efforts to deal with the various problems.
11. A further difficulty in the implementation of the Office's mandate is the presence of factors that make it difficult to determine how far responsibility for human rights violations extends and the degree of involvement of the various actors and authorities. Thus, such factors as impunity, problems in the administration of justice and the secrecy that surrounds the structure and operations of various groups mean that many of the acts falling within the Office's purview do not come to light for years; this makes it more difficult to identify any State responsibility (1) .
12. Unfortunately, statements by senior State officials indicate that they mistakenly view the pursuance by the Office of its mandate as undue interference in the country's internal affairs. Such statements by officials constitute a failure to respect the terms of cooperation provided for in the Agreement between the Government and the Office.
II. Activities by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia
13. In 2001 the Office continued its activities, seeking to further strengthen each of its work areas, namely, observation, legal advisory services and technical cooperation.14. The complaints registered with the Office continued to be a significant source for discovering and understanding what was happening in the country. Altogether, 1,414 complaints were received in 2001, of which 1,052 were accepted. Some 194 written communications were sent to the authorities and direct follow-up was undertaken on numerous occasions. The Office made visits to various parts of the country, undertaking a total of 164 field visits and 277 workdays of activities outside Bogotá. The visits were mainly to regions where the severity of the human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law were of special concern to the Office, or where the Office saw an opportunity to avert such violations and breaches, and to areas where it was essential to assist victims.
15. The Office participated in a large number of legal advisory activities. For example, it provided legal opinions on the conformity of domestic legislation (e.g. National Security and Defence Act) with international human rights law. It also provided a legal opinion on evaluation of the Ministry of the Interior's programme for the protection of human rights defenders, journalists, and members of Unión Patriótica (Patriotic Union, UP) and the Communist Party. It attended several working meetings of committees and other bodies to press for investigations of human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law, devise programmes, identify ways of protecting and safeguarding human rights and press for follow-up on human rights-related recommendations (2) .
16. The Office produced two compilations: one was on international human rights, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law; the other was on national and international doctrine and jurisprudence on this subject. Additionally, it released a collection of recommendations that international human rights bodies had made to the Colombian State from 1980 to 2000, as well as producing a CD-ROM and creating a web site on the subject. During this period a new series of thematic publications was launched with the goal of promoting, disseminating and contributing to the analysis and interpretation of specific fundamental rights. In this series three publications were released: on economic, social and cultural rights; on human rights defenders; and on the rights of women. In addition, the book Igualdad, dignidad y tolerancia: un desafío para el siglo XXI (Equality, Dignity and Tolerance: A Challenge for the Twenty-first Century) was published, as was a poster on the same subject. Also published was a compilation of general observations and recommendations by treaty-monitoring bodies, with the objective of contributing to the correct interpretation of the rights and obligations set forth in the instruments in question.
17. In conjunction with UNHCR and the non-governmental organization Consultoría para los Derechos Humanos y el Desplazamiento (Advisory Office for Human Rights and Displacement, CODHES), the Office published a Compilación sobre desplazamiento forzado, normas, doctrina y jurisprudencia nacional e internacional (Compilation on enforced displacement, national and international laws, doctrine and jurisprudence), which included the first Spanish-language version of the United Nations publication Internally Displaced Persons - Compilation and Analysis of Legal Norms, which sets out the guiding principles on internal displacement.
18. Concerning technical assistance and advisory services, the Office engaged in further dialogue and developed projects with the Colombian institutions responsible for the protection and promotion of human rights, as well as with non-governmental organizations and academic institutions. In this regard, the Office made a number of presentations on courses and at seminars for academics, lawyers, members of the judiciary, government authorities, law students and civil society in general. Of particular note were the presentations on respect for human rights and international humanitarian law and peace; the basic content of a global accord on human rights and international humanitarian law; the role of the United Nations vis-à-vis the situation of violence in Colombia; the International Criminal Court and efforts to combat impunity; economic, social and cultural rights; human rights defenders; and violence against women.
19. As part of its public information and promotion policy, the Office participated in numerous activities (seminars, forums, workshops and conferences). In terms of relations with the media, the Office organized a five-day workshop with reporters, as well as 25 meetings with journalists in Bogotá and 6 more in Medellín and Cali. It is worthwhile mentioning the Office's support for the diploma for journalists in armed conflict offered by the Corporación Medios para la Paz (Media for Peace Corporation), the programme for peace and the Javeriana University. The Office contributed to the module on the International Criminal Court in the peace diploma programme at the Sergio Arboleda University. The Office also supported a forum on economic, social and cultural rights, organized by the Fundación Social (Social Foundation) and ECLAC.
20. The Director attended a number of working meetings with the directors of the leading mass media organizations in the country. He also gave numerous interviews to the principal Colombian newspapers and international newspapers with correspondents in Colombia. A total of 1,000 reports concerning the Office and its activities were published in the press; 300 were broadcast on the television and 800 on the radio. The Office hosted 10 press conferences and issued 20 press releases. The Office also published 10,000 calendars for 2002 portraying women's issues; the calendars reproduced the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Declaration was also the theme of a series of posters on the Office's mandate and functions. In addition the Office reproduced 10,000 fact-sheets for children containing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
21. Starting in May, prior to the opening of the sub-offices in Cali and Medellín on 12 and 13 December respectively, the Office organized several workshops and held meetings with different sectors of civil society with the aim of giving civil society and regional authorities an opportunity to indicate their expectations concerning the Office's priorities in those regions and to reach consensus. The establishment of the new sub-offices has been helped by the cooperation extended by regional and national authorities. Both offices will become operational early in 2002.
22. So as to make its work more effective, the Office has developed a process of identifying and reworking its methods, objectives and procedures in the application of its mandate through the production of an internal observation and procedures manual. This new tool will contribute to improved coordination and more effective discharge of the Office's functions, and will enable the Office's work to have greater impact in the country, especially with regard to the challenges of expanding and consolidating its ongoing regional presence.
Advisory and technical assistance activities
23. Over the reporting period the Office emphasized the definition of a coordination mechanism for international cooperation with the objective of improving and making the fullest use of the assistance for human rights that the international community provides to Colombian institutions. On 13 August a workshop was held, attended by representatives of the diplomatic corps, cooperation agencies, United Nations agencies and national institutions. With the support of Canada, Spain, the Netherlands, the European Union, USAID, UNHCR, UNDP, the Office of the Vice-President, the Colombian Agency for International Cooperation, the National Planning Department and the Peace Investment Fund, it was possible to obtain data for a preliminary analysis of the state of technical cooperation for human rights. This analysis was preceded by a joint effort by the Spanish Cooperation Agency and the Office to develop a database of human rights cooperation projects. This tool could become a key element in orienting cooperation in the field of human rights and international humanitarian law.
24. The Office also continued its advisory and technical cooperation activities, in addition to those noted in chapter III of this report. In this regard, it signed an agreement with the National Learning Service (SENA) and the NGO Planeta Paz (Peace Planet) on the development of specific activities.
(a) Advisory cooperation for the design of a national human rights plan of action
25. In the context of the technical cooperation agreement with the Office of the Vice-President, the Office provided ad hoc advice to the presidential programme for the promotion of, respect for and guarantee of human rights in connection with the definition of a methodology to facilitate progress in the design of a national human rights plan of action. To date difficulties in the conceptualization of the strategy for its construction have hindered the emergence of any specific proposals on the content of such a plan. The Office has provided forums for dialogue between representatives of the programme and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with the objective of seeking consensus on the latter's active participation in the design of the plan. For several months NGOs have said that they will not participate in developing the human rights plan unless clear and respectful rules are established beforehand, and unless Government at the highest level makes a serious commitment to respect and safeguard human rights.
26. In recent months there appear to have been fewer opportunities to work with the participation of broad sectors of civil society on the task of developing the human rights plan. This is because many NGOs, trade unions and other democratic organizations have expressed serious dissatisfaction with the Government's National Security and Defence Act, and because of the anti-terrorist strategy.
(b) Cooperation for training in human rights and international humanitarian law
27. Over the reporting period the Office received constant and increasing demands for training and for publications on human rights and international humanitarian law. Of particular note was the decision by some bodies to adopt an institutional policy of training their officials in these areas. The Office provided assistance to institutional endeavours aimed at developing a training strategy for human rights and international humanitarian law characterized by coherence, permanence and ongoing evaluation of functional performance.
28. As a result of the Office's activities in the context of the agreements signed with the Supreme Judicial Council and the Attorney-General's Office, two compilations were released.
29. The institutionalization of the human rights and international humanitarian law course at the Attorney-General's Office School of Criminal Investigation and Criminal Studies and at the Supreme Judicial Council Rodrigo Lara Bonilla Judicial Training School, and the recommendations on training that the Office has made, have led to the establishment by these two judicial entities of medium-term training strategies for all their officials.
30. As a training method, the Rodrigo Lara Bonilla Judicial Training School is developing a module for self-education on human rights for magistrates and judges. A network of trainers and facilitators (3) is responsible for evaluating the progress of those taking the course. The Office is advising on the development of the module so that it will serve as a methodological tool to facilitate the study of the laws, the jurisprudence and the doctrine found in the compilations referred to above.
31. The Attorney-General's Office School of Criminal Investigation and Criminal Studies was affected by financial difficulties. This kept it from fully implementing its plan for training in human rights at the regional level. The Office, aware of the importance of human rights training for prosecutors, supported the plan with the participation of prosecutors who are members of the training network. The course was given in two regions, Medellín and Bucaramanga, with the participation of 56 officials, among them prosecutors, investigators and members of the Attorney-General's Office Technical Investigation Unit.
32. At the request of the United States Justice Department and the Attorney-General's Office, the Office and trainers from the Attorney-General's Office School taught the human rights and international humanitarian law course to 70 members of the new human rights satellite units in Medellín, among them three specialized prosecutors, four judicial procurators, judicial technicians and members of the Technical Investigation Unit, the Administrative Department of Security and the National Police.
33. At the invitation of the Procurator-General's Office, and with the support of USAID/MSD, the Office gave an intensive course on human rights and international humanitarian law to 35 regional procurators, almost all of whom had been recently appointed. It advised the Procurator-General's Office on incorporating the course in the regular training programme for local, regional and rural procurators. In conjunction with the team of advisers and delegates from that institution, discussion workshops were held on the Office's main issues of concern.
34. In the training programme for municipal ombudsmen, 15 workshops were held in 2001 with the participation of over 300 ombudsmen from 14 municipalities, with 20 from districts of Bogotá, and 40 officials from municipal ombudsmen's offices. Seventy per cent of the ombudsmen were new to their jobs. As a first step, the national consultants participating in the project undertook an analysis of training needs. This made it possible to decide on subject matter and to define commitments on the part of the Office of the Ombudsman and the Office of the Procurator-General, which were involved in the project. Both institutions named officials to act as directors for the subjects in the programme; under the guidance of the Office, they assumed responsibility for developing a new pedagogy and training methodology, as well as for developing materials for their workshops. As this project continues to develop, training is planned for the country's 1,100 municipal ombudsmen. To this end it will receive second phase financing from the European Union with the objective of extending training to the 800 municipal ombudsmen not yet covered by the programme.
35. A seminar workshop was held on judicial guarantees for management assistants at the National Department for Public Advocacy with the objective of requiring that public defenders take an active role in ensuring that these are respected. With a team of senior officials from the national departments, training was provided in international United Nations bodies and mechanisms for protecting human rights - their functions, reports, doctrine and jurisprudence.
36. The Office provided training to 14 United Nations system officials. Participative workshops were held to transmit basic concepts on human rights, international humanitarian law, and the universal system and the inter-American system for the protection of human rights. The participants were also informed about the 2000 annual report and the Office's mandate and human rights in terms of their place in the United Nations.
37. Participants' evaluations of the different courses have been very positive, highlighting the importance of continuing to offer these seminar workshops at the national level. The experience of training acquired over the past year has made it possible to consolidate methodology, validate content and materials, and share lessons learned with other judicial schools in the Andean region (4) .
38. The Office was active throughout the year, making speeches and presentations on human rights and international humanitarian law at different seminars.
(c) Cooperation for institutional strengthening
39. In the context of the agreement signed with the Office of the Ombudsman, the Office has published an analysis of service provision and presented it to the National Department for Public Advocacy. This document served as the basis for discussion with 42 academic coordinators, 55 implementation managers, and 35 regional and sectional public defenders from the Office of the Ombudsman. A subject that concerns the Office is the public defenders' lack of control over the protection of and respect for judicial guarantees. The National Department for Public Advocacy, with the Office's guidance, has adopted measures representing very significant changes in that institution. Of particular note are the separation of the administrative and management functions, the development of a set of general regulations for public advocacy, and modifications to the system for overseeing performance, among other matters.
40. The Office completed its analysis of the situation at the National Department for Examination and Processing of Complaints of the Office of the Ombudsman. The analysis highlights the institution's lack of resources and the need to define procedures consonant with the mission that the Constitution of Colombia assigns to the Office of the Ombudsman.
41. The Office also provided technical assistance to the Division for Criminal and Penitentiary Policy. To that end it organized a Mission of international experts who visited 15 jails, interviewed inmates, government and non-governmental authorities, defence lawyers and inmates' relatives, and drew up a technical-juridical report on the prison situation. The report indicates the human rights violations that are committed in Colombian prisons and suggests a series of possible actions for preventing and ending these.
42. The High Commissioner has repeatedly expressed her concern at the insecurity that affects those participating in the investigation of human rights violations as a result of impunity. In the context of technical assistance to the Attorney-General's Office, the Office carried out an analysis of the programme to protect victims, witnesses and participants in criminal cases and officials of the Attorney-General's Office. The report, submitted to the Attorney-General's Office, contains an analysis of the main problems affecting the programme's effectiveness and formulates a series of recommendations to improve performance. The Office is waiting for the Attorney-General's Office to implement the recommendations.
43. The Office has paid special attention to preventive action by the Procurator-General's Office. In the context of the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Procurator-General's Office, the Office has provided support to the Division for Preventive Action on Human Rights and Ethnic Affairs of the Procurator-General's Office, so as to define and implement a policy for preventive action.
44. In terms of strengthening NGOs, in Medellín the Office held a regional seminar that was attended by 70 civil society representatives from Antioquia and Chocó. The seminar covered the Office's mandate, activities, potential and limitations.
45. The Office provided support to Paz y Tercer Mundo (Peace and the Third World) to host "Eastern Antioquia and the international community: respect for human rights and international humanitarian law and prevention of enforced displacement", at which the participants received information on the situation in that region and commitments were defined.
III. Visits by the special representative of the Secretary-General on the situation of Human Rights Defenders and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women
46. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights defenders, Ms. Hina Jilani, visited the country from 23 to 31 October 2001 at the invitation of the Colombian Government. The purpose of the visit was to study and evaluate the situation of human rights defenders and the security conditions under which they pursue their labours in the context of the armed conflict in Colombia. Thus, one of the objectives was to examine the reports of threats to the personal integrity of human rights defenders and their organizations, as well as the conditions that undermine the rights enunciated in the "Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms" (Commission on Human Rights resolution 2000/61).
47. The Special Representative met with the President of the Republic, civil and military authorities, judicial and oversight bodies, human rights defenders and organizations, and representatives of United Nations agencies and the international community. As well as visiting Bogotá, the Special Representative also visited Medellín and Barrancabermeja. She met with delegations from the departments of Tolima, Atlántico, Bolívar, Santander, Arauca, Putumayo, Valle, Cauca, Nariño, Casanare, Córdoba, Cesar, Chocó, and Urabá. She also spoke at a press conference for the leading national and international media.
48. The Special Representative's visit provided backing for the work undertaken by human rights defenders and their organizations, and contributed to highlighting the important role that the defenders play in strengthening democracy and respect for fundamental rights and freedoms. At the same time, the Special Representative's visit was an essential complement to the work of the Office.
49. The Special Representative expressed her concern at the climate of impunity that surrounds human rights violations in Colombia; she emphasized the importance of subscribing to a global accord on human rights and international humanitarian law, with the objective of ensuring respect for the civilian population's human rights, in particular respect for human rights defenders and their organizations (5) .
50. The Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, visited the country from 31 October to 7 November 2001 at the invitation of the Colombian Government. The purpose of the visit was to examine and evaluate violence against women in Colombian society and, in particular, in the context of the armed conflict.
51. The Special Rapporteur met with the Vice-President and other national government authorities responsible for gender issues, the Ombudsman, other competent State authorities and officials from judicial and oversight bodies, representatives of women's organizations (agricultural labourers, indigenous, Afro-Colombian and displaced persons), academics, reporters, and with representatives of United Nations agencies and the international community. In Bogotá, the Special Rapporteur met with women from Medellín, Putumayo and Norte de Santander, and from the Altos de Cazucá and Ciudad Bolívar districts of Bogotá. She also visited Cartagena and Cali, where she met with women from southern Bolívar, Cauca and northern Valle del Cauca. She also spoke at a press conference for the leading national and international media.
52. The Special Rapporteur expressed her concern at the problem of impunity in terms of violations of women's rights, especially those that take place or are aggravated as a result of the armed conflict. The Special Rapporteur placed particular emphasis on reports of sexual violence against women by illegal armed groups in different areas of the country, the situation of displaced women and the situation of women and girls who are combatants and former combatants.
53. The Special Rapporteur reiterated the importance of subscribing to a global accord on human rights and international humanitarian law. Such an accord should include special protection from sexual aggression and sexual slavery for women and girls. She urged the Government to advocate respect for displaced women, in particular for women heads of household, by means of economic and psychological support (6) .
IV. National context
54. The general context in Colombia during 2001 was marked by a series of events that explain and provide a better understanding of the country's critical situation. Among these it is worthwhile mentioning the peace talks between the Government and the guerrillas, including the different political positions concerning these talks, and the opposing strategies of peace or war. The electoral campaign in preparation for the upcoming presidential elections in May 2002 was also important. Another relevant element is the new world situation after 11 September, the date of the terrorist attacks on United States cities. Along with these, other problems have afflicted Colombia, such as the continued economic crisis, aggravated by world recession, and the continued, pernicious activities of the powerful drug trafficking networks.
55. Although some of the issues mentioned here will be discussed at greater length in other sections of this report (see chaps. V.E and VI.A below), this chapter briefly provides a general overview of them, without exhaustive analysis of each of the subjects mentioned. This is because, even though these issues impact on the pursuance of the Office's mandate and the human rights situation in the country, some of them are beyond the Office's specific functions and transcend the scope of its mandate.
56. Nonetheless it is appropriate to reiterate that the polarization that was noted in the previous report worsened over the year, in a dynamic directly affected by the subjects addressed in this report. This polarization explains, at least in part, the difficulties affecting the rule of law in Colombia, as it accentuates the divergent positions underlying repressive, military action at the expense of civil, democratic, preventive and peace-seeking strategies.
57. Throughout the year the unfolding of the peace talks with the guerrillas made manifest not only the difficulties in making progress towards agreements that would bring the prospect of a solution closer, but also the precariousness of the social and political support for the process. Growing criticism and the disenchantment of significant sectors of the population have given rise to policies and strategies that favour a military response. Armed groups had increasing recourse to violent actions that were apparently moves to bolster negotiating positions. The slim achievements in the peace process must be understood in the context of the worsening of the war, the progressive weakening of institutions and the rule of law, and the State's absence from vast swathes of the country, thus heightening the crisis of governability. In parallel with this, the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General continued his efforts to support the parties and promote the process of dialogue (7) .
58. The events of 11 September had two significant outcomes for Colombia: the adoption of a Security Council resolution against terrorism (8) , and the inclusion of the paramilitary groups in the list of terrorist organizations issued by the United States Government, on which the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC) and the Unión Camilista - Ejército de Liberación Nacional (National Liberation Army, UC-ELN) already appeared. These two developments have resulted in the questioning of armed action by illegal groups and the formulation of government strategies in the framework of the National Security Act, which contains provisions that contravene international standards and democratic principles (see comments, chaps. VII.B and VIII below).
59. In this context, and in response to incidents perpetrated by FARC - such as the kidnapping of three German aid workers from the Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and the former Governor of Meta, Alan Jara, who was removed from a United Nations vehicle protected by immunity - the international community has made stricter demands concerning behaviour by the guerrilla groups. In parallel, the resources of the anti-narcotics programme known as Plan Colombia were brought into play. This plan has sparked wide-ranging opposition and questioning of some of its strategies, such as the fumigation of illicit crops, because of possible side effects on humans and the environment.
60. Against this backcloth, and in particular the debate on criticism of the peace process, the campaigns by the presidential candidates, in a further demonstration of the polarization of society, reflect a cross-section of the more or less firm positions held regarding the future of the talks with the insurgent groups and the conduct of the armed groups.
61. In the context of the above situation, in which a considerable part of the population lacks viable political and social alternatives, it is worth stating that only a wholehearted commitment to the rule of law, democratic strategies and respect for human rights can ensure peaceful coexistence. For this reason, there is greater relevance than ever in the recommendation by the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for the adoption of a global accord on human rights and international humanitarian law as a minimum element in a plan which the parties must move towards in order to achieve a definitive negotiated solution and lay the basis for a solid and lasting peace.
V. Situation with regard to human rights and international humanitarian law
A. Conceptual framework
62. In compliance with the mandate of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia, the present report refers to both violations of human rights and breaches of international humanitarian law. Acts of commission and omission against rights embodied in international human rights instruments or international law in general are considered violations when perpetrated by public servants or by private individuals acting at the instigation or with the consent or acquiescence of the authorities (9) .
63. In the context of the armed conflict in Colombia, breaches of international humanitarian law, which are mainly committed by the direct participants in the hostilities, are acts or omissions contrary to article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions, to Additional Protocol II and to customary law. In Colombia, international humanitarian law applies to the State, the guerrillas and the paramilitary groups.
64. In Colombia, the main insurgent armed groups (guerrillas) which oppose the State are the following: the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC), the Unión Camilista-Ejército de Liberación Nacional (National Liberation Army, UC-ELN) and the Ejército Popular de Liberación (People's Liberation Army, EPL). There are also paramilitary groups that refer to themselves as "self-defence groups" and claim to be purely counter-insurgent. The majority of these identify themselves publicly and collectively as the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (United Self-Defence Groups of Colombia, AUC), the strongest and best-known core group being the Autodefensas Campesinas de Córdoba y Urabá (Córdoba and Urabá Peasant Self-Defence Groups, ACCU).
B. State responsibility
65. In this section it is important to note the various forms of the State's responsibility for human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law (10) .
66. As stated above, as well as the direct actions or omissions of public servants, acts of individuals or groups that do not exercise public functions may also entail the international responsibility of the State. These actions or omissions are related to the obligations to protect, provide for and fulfil international obligations, including the enactment of relevant internal legislation, and to abstain from enacting legislation that is contrary to international laws, as well as to punish those responsible and to provide suitable redress for victims (11) .
67. On this subject, there are four types of conduct by individuals, acting alone or as members of groups, that are not subordinate to the State but that must be considered to have a bearing on State responsibility: (a) conduct instigated by public servants; (b) conduct engaged in with the express or tacit consent of public servants; (c) conduct engaged in owing to the manifest tolerance of State agents; and (d) conduct resulting from the State's failure in its duty to provide a guarantee. This last case is based on the tenet "The responsibility of the State can result not only from a lack of vigilance in prevention of injurious acts, but also from a lack of diligence in the criminal prosecution of those responsible and in the application of the required civil sanctions " (12) . Although the State's obligation of prevention refers to preventing the means or the opportunity - not the result - and the fact that a violation has taken place does not mean that the State has failed to fulfil its duty, a key element in identifying failure to fulfil the obligation is the fact that failure has been systematic (13) .
68. As regards the type of responsibility, responsibility by omission occurs in the event of failure to fulfil the duty to provide a guarantee, to the extent that this failure is not deliberate and State agents did not participate in the preparation, concealment or abetment of the act in question. Responsibility by action occurs when State agents are found to have been involved in the preparation of the acts, or to have participated in them, or to have concealed or protected their perpetrators. On the basis of the existence of responsibility for the existence, development and spread of paramilitary activity, and the different types of conduct referred to above, the High Commissioner has reiterated in her various reports on Colombia that the actions of the paramilitary groups entail State responsibility for the violation of human rights.
69. International humanitarian law also imposes on States the obligation to respect and enforce these provisions, demanding not only negative action or abstention, but also proactive conduct to prevent and punish breaches, and protect the civil population, including the duty of assistance. Thus, the same criteria as those stated above are applicable in this area.
70. As a result of what is stated here and the Office's mandate in both fields, it should be emphasized that several of these types of conduct, when they take place in the context of the armed conflict, simultaneously and indiscriminately violate the various international instruments relating to human rights and humanitarian law. Thus, several of the cases discussed below are mentioned as examples of a given practice or type of conduct, but their inclusion in one chapter or the other (human rights or international humanitarian law) does not mean that they are excluded from consideration as a violation in the other area. Their absence from one of the categories should be understood as an effort to avoid repetition of examples.
C. General situation
71. What follows is a discussion of the situation with regard to various human rights, on the basis of what the Office has considered to be reliable information received in the course of its mandate of observation. First, the human rights violations are identified, and then actions constituting breaches of international humanitarian law are described.
72. The human rights violations are taking place in a context of serious, massive and systematic repetitive practices which are causing a steady deterioration in the situation. Because several of the violations are occurring on a large scale, massively and systematically, they also constitute crimes against humanity, according to the provisions of the relevant international instruments and customary international law.
73. The breaches of international humanitarian law also constitute a widespread practice occurring on a large scale, and several of them occur through the commission of war crimes whose main victims are members of the civilian population.
D. Civil and political rights
1. Right to life
74. Over the reporting period, extrajudicial executions constituted the most serious violations of the right to life. These took the form of individual and group killings, whose victims included people of all ages and status, including children, pregnant women and older persons.
75. Most of these executions appear to be politically motivated, but some of them were perpetrated against members of social groups that are discriminated against or marginalized, or against persons in a situation of "manifest weakness" owing to their financial, physical or mental condition (homosexuals, street vendors, drug addicts, needy persons, people with psychological disorders, street prostitutes, transvestites, street children, etc.). This practice would appear to indicate the existence of "social cleansing" campaigns.
76. The departments where most extrajudicial executions took place were Antioquia, Cauca, Sucre, Valle del Cauca and Tolima. Members of the paramilitary groups perpetrated a significant number of these executions. During 2001, the paramilitaries are considered to have been responsible for 89 massacres (14) , in which 527 people lost their lives. In several cases there were reports that members of the security forces and other State officials were involved in these killings.
77. Among the massacres resulting in the greatest number of victims were those in: Alto Naya (Cauca), 10-13 April 2001, 32 killed; Chengue (Sucre), 17 January, 24 killed; Buga (Valle), 10 October, 24 killed; Aguacatal (Cauca), 15 January, 10 killed; Río Bravo (Valle), 25 August, 9 killed; Frías (Tolima), 15 September, 9 killed; and Granada (Antioquia), 20 April, 7 killed.
78. It should be emphasized that during the period covered by this report paramilitary groups also carried out other attacks on the civilian population. Although these had less drastic effects than the massacres, those involved committed numerous individual executions. The Office was informed of cases in which the paramilitaries, after choosing their victims from a large group of people they had abducted, killed them individually or in small groups, leaving the bodies scattered in different locations. This took place in Salto Arriba (Antioquia) on 31 May, in El Obelisco (Cauca) in early August and in Santo Tomás (Antioquia) on 16 August. In Catatumbo (Norte de Santander) the paramilitaries set up illegal roadblocks at which they abducted a number of civilians and subsequently killed them.
79. During 2001 it became clear that the paramilitaries were committing certain extrajudicial executions in order to punish their victims for their political or social ideas, opinions or activities. This was the case with: Gilberto Zabala and Angela Andrade, a married couple killed on 6 August on the Tumaco-Pasto road (Nariño), who were leaders of the Movimiento popular multiétnico del litoral pacifico (Pacific Coast Multi-ethnic People's Movement); Doris Lozano, a trade union leader from Fusagasugá (Cundinamarca), killed on 16 August in a rural area in Sumapaz; and Octavio Sarmiento, member of the House of Representatives, murdered in Tame (Arauca) on 2 October.
80. Not all the extrajudicial executions took place in rural areas. The paramilitaries also committed massacres and individual homicides in urban areas, as in certain poorer districts of Medellín.
81. During 2001 the Office received reports from several areas of the country concerning the existence of criminal ties between members of the armed forces and members of paramilitary groups involved in perpetrating massacres (see chap. VI.B below).
82. In many cases extrajudicial executions would appear to have been facilitated by the failure of members of the official armed forces to fulfil their legal duty to protect and defend the victims. As mentioned above, some of these acts of omission could entail liability by commission, when the omission was deliberate, with the intention of allowing the crimes to be committed. In the case of the Alto Naya massacre, both our Office and the Office of the Ombudsman alerted the competent authorities to the deployment of an illegal armed group in the area. Despite this, the paramilitaries roamed through several places in the region over the course of a week, whereas senior army officers reported only clashes between irregular groups. The timely warnings did not prevent the paramilitaries from carrying out without serious hindrance their violent campaign in the Alto Naya villages of Patio Bonito, Río Minas, El Playón and others. Concerning the killings in Chengue and Buga, disciplinary and criminal investigations are under way to determine whether members of the security forces bear any responsibility for the acts of violence perpetrated by the paramilitaries in those places. The information obtained by the Office points to a high likelihood of responsibility by omission.
83. Numerous homicides attributed to paramilitaries were committed in urban areas. This was particularly the case in several municipalities in eastern Antioquia, such as San Carlos, and in Barrancabermeja. In the latter city, between 9 and 20 October, four trade union members and one member of an NGO fell victim to extrajudicial executions perpetrated by paramilitaries in the street, despite the presence of significant numbers of armed State security personnel.
84. There were also reports of extrajudicial executions attributed to members of the security forces. Between 26 August and 6 September, in the settlement of Santa Ana, municipality of Granada (Antioquia), as men from the army's Fourth Brigade were engaged in a military operation, several people were killed in incidents that took place, according to those making the reports, away from the fighting.
85. The Office has learned of some cases of violations of the right to life involving soldiers and policemen who were acting out of personal interest in lending their services as perpetrators or accomplices to a paramilitary group that is believed to have been responsible for multiple killings of civilians. On 1 October in Maicao (Guajira), several soldiers fired at a residence where members of the Wayuu indigenous community lived, killing two of them. The incident was apparently the consequence of an indigenous family feud. On 30 May, an armed group raided the district of Los Tupes in the municipality of San Diego (Cesar) and threw fragmentation grenades at several dwellings. Eight people were killed, including five minors. Subsequently, the Attorney-General's Office detained two serving soldiers for their direct involvement in the incident, which was apparently motivated by a dispute between local residents. These cases are noteworthy for the ease with which members of the security forces have access to their service-issue weapons and make use of them for reasons entirely unconnected with their official duties.
86. Other violations of the right to life were the result of actions by State employees who caused death through the excessive use of force or negligent use of weapons. Despite the provisions of the National Police Code and other internal regulations on the subject, law enforcement officials do not always respect their obligation to employ legally authorized methods for keeping the peace or make use of methods and weapons that cause the least harm. Some of these incidents took place during student demonstrations at the University of Valle, the University of Nariño and the National University. In the case of the latter, a medical student was killed.
87. Article 57 of the National Security and Defence Act (No. 684) of 2001 provides that the legitimate use of force by members of the military and police forces in each operational situation shall be regulated by decree. The Office has had occasion to remind the Colombian authorities that the regulation of the use of force is related to protection of the right to life and that it is accordingly the exclusive responsibility of the national legislature to enact the laws that indicate how, when and where members of the security forces may use lethal weapons.
88. Among the violations of the right to life are death threats made by phone or by mail with the aim of intimidating the recipients into leaving the country or moving to another area, or of halting judicial or administrative proceedings intended to clarify human rights violations or war crimes. During the first 10 months of 2001, the Ombudsman's Office received 474 reports of death threats.
89. The victims of these death threats have included human rights defenders, trade union leaders, leaders of ethnic communities, reporters, officials and people who, as public servants, witnesses or victims, have been involved in criminal or disciplinary proceedings.
90. Threats have also been used to intimidate people who are the targets of extermination or so-called "social cleansing" campaigns. This was the case, for example, in Lorica (Córdoba), where in April paramilitaries made death threats against 28 people, whom they accused of using or selling drugs, considering them "harmful" to the "people of Lorica". A similar incident occurred in the municipality of Sahagún (Córdoba).
91. On other occasions threats are made in the presence of the people whom the paramilitaries wish to intimidate. An example is provided by the case of the residents of the settlements on the Cacarica river on 8 June, the members of the Carmen del Darién peace community on 2 August, or the García Montes family in San Carlos (Antioquia).
92. Finally, certain intimidatory practices engaged in by members of the security forces in different places around the country may be considered to constitute threatening behaviour. These practices include the involvement of hooded individuals in operations, as in Granada (Antioquia), the allegations that entire populations are collaborating with the guerrillas and the holding of censuses whose purpose is not explained to the citizens questioned. In particular, the Office received a report that intelligence service agents had been terrorizing the population of Loma Alta in Silvania (Cundinamarca) in order to elicit information about the guerrillas.
93. For actions and attacks perpetrated by the guerrillas and other armed groups, see section H.2 below.
2. Right to personal integrity
94. As in previous years, during 2001 there were further reports of torture with intent to punish or intimidate the victims, or to intimidate or coerce persons related to the victims. This took place as a prelude to extrajudicial executions by members of paramilitary groups, sometimes in the form of sexual violence against women. Not all acts of torture are recorded in the autopsy reports, particularly in rural areas. For these reasons the information on the action of the perpetrators of torture is limited and incomplete. The Procurator-General's Office reports that it has 45 disciplinary investigations of government employees under way for torture.
95. A retired navy non-commissioned officer reported that on 25 March 2001 a police van stopped him in Bogotá. About seven policemen pulled him into the vehicle where they handcuffed him and beat him with their fists and truncheons, leaving him incapacitated for 10 days. He was later released but not before the policemen had threatened to kill him if he reported the incident. In another incident, a criminal investigation is currently under way concerning the death of army second lieutenant Jorge Rodríguez Castillo, whose body bore signs of serious ill-treatment. The officer died in mysterious circumstances while attending a course at Tolemaida (Tolima).
96. As well as cases of torture, there were cases of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. These took place while members of the security forces were attempting to arrest people, move street vendors or squatters, break up public demonstrations or repress disturbances in prisons. The police's treatment of displaced people in Bucaramanga is a disturbing example of this problem (see chap. VI.C below).
97. There is a chronic pattern of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of prisoners in prisons and police stations. Detainees have to put up with extreme overcrowding, insanitary conditions, mixing of categories of prisoners, inadequate night-time privacy in cells, inadequate sanitary installations, lack of drinking water and personal hygiene items, non-existent or poorly organized health services and other forms of deprivation that are contrary to international standards relating to the treatment of prisoners. The situation of men, women and juvenile prisoners in the so-called "holding rooms" in police stations is especially inhuman (see chap. VI.E below).
98. Furthermore, there were reports of violations of the right to personal integrity through the excessive use of force. In Bogotá in late November, National Police officers, using disproportionate force, hit a number of girl students who were protesting in the street against the closure of two girls' schools. Several girls suffered bruising from blows with police truncheons and one injured her legs when the riot containment fence erected by the authorities fell on top of her.
3. Right to liberty and security of person
99. Enforced disappearances continued to be reported during the months covered by this report (15) . Members of paramilitary groups were blamed for a high percentage of these incidents, but cases were also reported in which those responsible may have been officials of the Colombian State or other individuals, with no ties to paramilitary activity, who were acting with the acquiescence of State officials. The Office received reports of the disappearance of five persons from an army detention centre during the Audaz military operation in the east of Antioquia. Indigenous, trade union and community leaders and municipal officials were the main victims of enforced disappearance. The Procurator-General's Office has reported that it is investigating 104 cases of enforced disappearance. Despite the new criminal legislation establishing penalties for enforced disappearance, the urgent search procedure provided for by law has not proved effective or flexible enough in several cases, highlighting the need for its further refinement.
100. Many enforced disappearances are perpetrated in the course of paramilitary raids that also result in extrajudicial executions and enforced displacement, making it difficult to estimate the number of victims of this atrocious practice. Only on rare occasions has it been possible to locate the bodies of persons whose whereabouts were unknown from the time the paramilitaries took them away. On 7 October, for example, paramilitaries entered Ciénaga La Aguja and Remolino (Magdalena), and took away around 20 people. The next day the lifeless bodies of six of them were found. Two turned up alive but the whereabouts of the others remain unknown.
101. Over the period covered by this report, members of the National Police continued to take people into custody without complying with the requirements for such action set out by the Constitutional Court in its judgement C24 of 1994. Frequently these "temporary arrests" are made on mere suspicion, violating the principles of need and proportionality, for purposes other than to check identity and verify the facts, exceeding the constitutional limit for detention and overtly disrespectful of the rights to equality and non-discrimination. Many of the people who are apprehended by the police without an arrest warrant and who are not caught in flagrante delicto are, in fact, deprived of their freedom simply because of the way they look or because of their social or economic status (see subsect. 5 below).
102. It should be added that article 58 of the National Security and Defence Act (No. 684) of 2001 authorizes members of the security forces to continue to detain people arrested in flagrante delicto and formally placed at the disposal of the judicial authorities by means of a verbal or written communication. This measure violates international provisions recognizing the right of all persons deprived of their freedom to be brought before a judge or other judicial authority without delay.
103. In accordance with the provisions of article 357 of the new Code of Penal Procedure, which has been in effect since 24 July 2001, pre-trial detention has continued to be the general rule. The Office considers that the widespread use of this practice violates international law, which only allows pre-trial detention in exceptional cases, for serious offences or when there is a danger that the accused may escape or impede the investigation.
104. During 2001, the Office also received reports of illegal or arbitrary arrests by members of the military forces and the National Police. These arrests usually take place in regions of the country patrolled by forces engaged in counter-insurgency operations. Generally, the victims of these violations of the right to individual freedom are local peasants, who are apprehended on charges of supporting the subversive groups, with the aim of getting them to guide the troops or provide information on guerrilla activity. The Office has received reports that members of the Army have engaged in this unauthorized practice in Arauca.
105. For cases of deprivation of liberty which also constitute violations of international humanitarian law, see section H below.
4. Right to freedom of movement
106. During 2001 there was continued infringement of the right to freedom of movement of all Colombians who need to use the country's roads and highways, as, because of the absence of State authority, illegal armed groups set up checkpoints, carry out attacks with explosives, abduct travellers and commit other crimes. This is particularly the case in the department of Norte de Santander and on the Medellín-Bogotá highway.
107. The Office is concerned that article 54 of Act No. 684 provides for "searching members of the public" in geographical areas classed as "theatres of operations" without clarifying the purposes and procedures for such action. The Act leaves it to the discretion of the military commander in charge of operational control of the area in question to coordinate these searches with the local civilian authorities.
5. Right to due process
108. According to an Office study, most cases in the criminal justice system involve flagrant crimes, which means that the security forces have brought the charges (16) . These forces have considerable discretion to effect arrests and charge a person with a criminal offence. The judicial authorities usually legalize the arrests and defence lawyers do not question them. This situation is even more disturbing in the light of the observations by the High Commissioner concerning arrests that are not in conformity with legal procedural requirements and are not subject to the necessary controls.
109. In this context, the entry into force of the National Security and Defence Act, which broadens the security forces' participation in investigations, granting judicial police functions to the military forces, is deeply disturbing. The possibility of judicially protected arbitrary or illegal arrests has a direct impact on guarantees of due process.
110. The right to be judged by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal, and guarantees of the independence and autonomy of judicial officials, have also been violated during the period covered by this report. In this connection, two cases that violate this right and judicial guarantee may be mentioned. First, the investigation of Colonel Rito Alejo del Río for links with the paramilitaries, in which the autonomy of the investigating prosecutor has been questioned (see chap. VI.D below). Secondly, cases of human rights violations that are being investigated by the military criminal justice system (see chap. VI.D below).
E. Economic , social and cultural rights
111. The High Commissioner shares the concerns of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (17) , in particular those relating to the extreme inequalities in the distribution of wealth, social injustice and poverty in Colombia. These situations are aggravated by the armed conflict (see chap. VI.A below) and the steady increase in the phenomenon of displacement, which makes even more precarious the conditions in which the most vulnerable population groups (agricultural labourers, indigenous people, Afro-Colombians, women, children, displaced persons and the poor) live. Despite its awareness of the effect of the violence and the context of world recession, the Office did not detect sufficient political will to combat discrimination in the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights.
112. Poverty is even greater in the rural areas, where that State has not carried out genuine agrarian reform and where the effects of the armed conflict are most harmful. This situation affects agricultural labourers in particular. Approximately 8 million inhabitants of rural areas, representing 68.9 per cent of this population, live below the poverty line. Of these, 4.4 million live in abject poverty (18) . Women are more vulnerable to the widespread poverty in Colombia because of the failure to make progress and the decline in gender equality. Women make up about 52 per cent of the total population of the country and account for 54 per cent of the impoverished population. This situation particularly affects indigenous women, Afro-Colombian women and displaced women (19) .
113. The High Commissioner notes with concern that Colombians' purchasing power continued to decline. According to the latest figures from the National Planning Council, per capita income fell 5 percentage points in 2001, and 77 per cent of workers earned less than twice the minimum wage, whereas a consumer basket of goods for a family costs 2.4 times the minimum wage. The High Commissioner shares the concern of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in stating that the minimum wage is not sufficient to ensure a decent standard of living for workers and their families. Also, according to the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Equity for Women, women earn 25 per cent less than men, a fact which underlines the persistent disparity in this area.
1. Right to work and trade union freedoms
114. In this area, there has been a disturbing increase in unemployment, with significant effects on young people and women. According to the National Department of Statistics (DANE), unemployment in Colombia during the first nine months of 2001 was 14.3 per cent; in other words, 5,797,935 people were unemployed. According to information from the Office of the Ombudsman, during the first quarter of 2001 the unemployment rate in the country's seven major cities was 20.2 per cent; in June in Bogotá, the rate was 18 per cent. The Plataforma Colombiana de Derechos Humanos, Democracia y Desarrollo (Colombian Platform on Human Rights, Democracy and Development ) (20) states that unemployment reached 34.8 per cent among young people aged 24 or under. This situation is even worse for women in the same age range, with unemployment reaching 51.9 per cent and 39.1 per cent respectively (21) . It should be stressed that the increasingly frequent guerrilla attacks on infrastructure have had a negative effect on enjoyment of the right to work and job creation (see chap. VI.A below).
115. The High Commissioner notes with concern the situation of "community mothers", many of them heads of household, who do not even receive the minimum wage because they are not recognized as workers. This situation is worsened by the cutback in the budget for the Colombian Family Welfare Institute's "Community mothers programme". This programme provides care for nearly 1.3 million children (22) .
116. Over the reporting period violence against trade union movements continued to increase, affecting the right to work and trade union freedoms. Violence against businessmen and shopkeepers also increased, with serious repercussions on work and employment. The Office's concerns about this situation are set out in sections A and G of chapter VI of this report.
117. It is difficult to analyse education in Colombia because of deficiencies in the statistical information available. However, a report on the situation of basic, middle-level and higher education in Colombia (23) presents official statistics that substantiate some of the High Commissioner's concerns on the subject of education. Regrettably, it is apparent that the goals set in order to bring about universal basic education have not been attained. According to this report, 18 per cent of the population of rural areas are still illiterate. In addition, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights lists the low rate of adult literacy among its concerns.
118. Inequity in terms of access to education also persisted. According to the above-mentioned report, 2,035,607 boys and girls have never gone to school. The statistics compiled in this report indicate that in 2000, whereas practically all children aged 7 to 11 from the 30 per cent of the population with higher incomes attended school, about 11 per cent of the 30 per cent of the population with low incomes did not. Although the report notes that the latter now have increased opportunities to attend school, these have not been sufficient to ensure universal access. This situation is worsened by the dropout rate and the lack of places in schools. In rural areas 30 per cent of children drop out of school. The departments of Huila, Guajira and Valle del Cauca are the worst affected, with the lowest rates of primary school enrolment. Displaced children are particularly affected in terms of access to education.
119. The right to education is also infringed in that violence has given rise to threats against, and murders and displacements of, teachers. The Office continues to be concerned about the situation of members of the Colombian Education Workers' Federation (FECODE) (see chap. VI.G below).
3. Other rights
120. According to data submitted to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 43 per cent of the Colombian population do not have social security coverage. This demonstrates the limitations on the Colombian population's access to health care. The Committee also highlights the cutbacks in subsidies for health-care services, making access even more difficult for women, children, Afro-Colombians, and indigenous and displaced persons. This situation is worse in rural areas, where there is less health-care coverage than in urban areas. National vaccination campaigns have also been cut back, increasing the risk of a variety of infections and diseases, especially among children. The Office notes with concern the violence perpetrated against members of the National Trade Union of Health Sector Workers of Colombia (ANTHOC), and the attacks by armed groups on medical missions and medical transport vehicles, seriously affecting the provision of health care to the population (see chap. VI.G and section H below).
121. The economic crisis has seriously affected the right to housing, making it more difficult for the population to gain access to decent housing. This situation is aggravated by the substantial cutback in the State housing subsidy. There has also been a decline in housing quality in terms of space and structure; Sucre, Córdoba, Bolívar and Magdalena are the most seriously affected departments (24) .
F. Women's rights
122. The Office notes with concern that the situation of women continues to be affected by violence, discrimination and inequality between the sexes. The Colombian State's lack of a comprehensive policy on women has aggravated this situation. Violations of women's rights are also aggravated by the intensification of socio-political violence. According to the report by the working group "Women and armed conflict, November 2001 " (25) , between October 2000 and March 2001, 189 women lost their lives because of socio-political violence. In other words, one woman died every day because of this kind of violence in Colombia. Every day, on average, one woman was killed in an extrajudicial execution or political homicide; every 10 days one woman became the victim of an enforced disappearance; every 17 days one was the victim of a homicide against socially marginalized groups; and every 25 days one was killed in combat.
123. The visit by the Special Rapporteur on violence against women made it possible to further the study of the various forms of violence against women in the context of the armed conflict.
124. The Office has received information on acts of sexual violence against women and girls, perpetrated mainly by members of the illegal armed groups. If the frequency of these incidents continues to increase, the phenomenon could take on even more disturbing dimensions. However, very few abuses against females are investigated and brought to trial because the victims refrain from reporting them, out of shame, fear or lack of faith in the judicial system. The lack of judicial records of sexual offences means that the perpetrators enjoy impunity and that the authorities have not implemented prevention, protection or follow-up mechanisms for this sort of crime. According to the information provided, in some paramilitary massacres the killers raped women before killing them, as at El Salado and Apartadó (26) .
125. The Office has also received reports of acts of sexual slavery of girls and women, mainly at the hands of members of illegal armed groups. According to the reports, several women have been deprived of freedom and held captive on rural estates, where they have been forced to have sexual relations and do domestic work. Other reports state that frequently women's rights are abused simply because they are the wife, partner, mother, sister, fiancée or friend of a man from the opposing side. The women who have suffered sexual aggression reportedly include a considerable number of indigenous or Afro-Colombian origin.
126. The Office notes with concern the situation of displaced women. According to the statistics published in the activities report of the Social Solidarity Network (January 2000-June 2001), during this period women made up 50 per cent of the displaced population. Out of a total of 283,734 people displaced during that period, 139,029 (49 per cent) were women and 144,705 (51 per cent) men. Caquetá, Cundinamarca, Risaralda, Antioquia and Cesar were the departments which recorded the largest numbers of displaced women (see also chap. VI.C below).
127. Displacement has a greater impact on women, in both psychological and social, economic and cultural terms. Furthermore, they are discriminated against not only because they are displaced, but also because they are women, or indigenous or Afro-Colombian. Poverty has more serious effects on displaced women who are heads of household and resettled in marginal areas. The Office has also received information on the overcrowded living conditions for displaced persons and the frequent cases of sexual abuse of women, leading to an increase in sexually transmitted diseases. The health-care services are not comprehensive and do not include, for example, psychosocial care for women who have been sexually assaulted (27) .
128. The situation with regard to the rights of women and girls in the ranks of the illegal armed groups continues to be a cause of concern to the Office. There are women and girl combatants who have been sexually abused by their superiors; most of them are forced to take birth control pills and there have been cases where women have been forced to have abortions. There is no special programme for reintegrating female former combatants into society. In November 2001, a UNIFEM Mission visited the country to undertake a global evaluation of the impact of the war on women and the role of women in building and consolidating peace. In this connection, the Mission mentioned the need to include women in the peace process (28) .
129. Women's organizations and women leaders, especially agricultural labourers, indigenous and Afro-Colombian women, are threatened and persecuted for the work they do to defend their rights and improve the living conditions of their communities. This is the case with NGOs such as the Organización Feminina Popular (Women's Popular Organization, OFP), the Asociación Nacional de Mujeres Campesinas e Indígenas de Colombia (National Association of Peasant and Indigenous Women of Colombia, ANMUCIC), and the Fundación Santa Rita para la Educación y Promoción (Santa Rita Foundation for Education and Advancement, FUNSAREP). Aside from the armed conflict attention must be drawn to the numerous cases of trafficking in human beings and social cleansing directed against female drug addicts, prostitutes and lesbians.
G. Rights of the child
130. Children's rights are even more affected by the consequences of the armed conflict and the socio-economic crisis. According to information sent to this Office by the Ombudsman, the basic needs of 54 per cent of the child population go unmet and 10.28 per cent live in extreme poverty (29) . The situation of child victims of the armed conflict and the subject of recruitment are addressed in section H.6 below.
131. The Office is also concerned about displaced minors. According to statistics from the Social Solidarity Network, of the 213,855 people who were displaced between January 2000 and June 2001, 103,403 (48.35 per cent) were under 18. Considering the upheaval of displacement, which directly affects children's development and emotional stability, the psychological care that displaced minors receive does not appear adequate for their needs. In cases where a minor is able to go to school, he or she is stigmatized and finds it difficult to integrate with the children of the receiving communities.
132. Concern about access to education is addressed in section E above.
133. According to information from the Office of the Ombudsman and the Ministry of Labour IPEC-ILO Programme (International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour), in Colombia there are 2.7 million children working in conditions that are highly dangerous for their mental and physical health. Of these children, 1.7 million are aged between 12 and 17 and 800,000 between 6 and 11. Eighty per cent of the children work in the informal sector of the economy, 50 per cent of children aged 12 and 13 do not receive a direct income but some other sort of remuneration, and their pay varies from 25 to 80 per cent of the legal minimum wage.
134. According to the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF), around 25,000 children are sexually exploited; of these 14,400 have received care from ICBF. This situation is alarming and requires more resolve from the Colombian State to fight these crimes. In addition, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has expressed concern about the situation of street children (30) .
H. Main breaches of international humanitarian law
1. Homicides and threats against protected persons
135. The guerrilla and paramilitary groups continued carrying out homicides against people who are not directly involved in the hostilities. The paramilitary groups occasionally benefited from State acts of commission or omission.
136. The main armed groups, FARC, ELN and AUC, killed residents of the zones under their military control, and people coming from zones under the control of their enemies, on mere suspicion of collaboration with the enemy or, increasingly, for motives related to drug trafficking.
137. In several of the regions where the paramilitaries and the guerrillas are battling for control the former control the urban areas and the latter control the rural regions, as in the case of Puerto Caicedo and Villagarzón. Those who dare venture from one sector to another run the risk of becoming the target of one of the armed factions. Thus, in the department of Antioquia, the inhabitants of some municipalities are referred to as guerrillas and the people from other areas are considered paramilitaries. At the roadblocks that the armed groups set up in the region, having the wrong sort of identity card could mean death. The paramilitaries target the inhabitants of the rural areas in the department of Guaviare as they approach the departmental capital of San José de Guaviare. The inhabitants of the urban centre face the same fate if they venture forth into the rest of the department, which is controlled by FARC guerrillas.
138. Generally, when the armed factions arrive in a territory that they have recently captured, they proceed to threaten and kill the opposing band's alleged collaborators. Thus, as AUC groups expanded their domain into the urban centres of the department of Putumayo, they perpetrated numerous civilian homicides. In the settlements of La Gabarra (Norte de Santander), FARC undertook an offensive to recover territorial control and killed numerous coca plantation workers in the process.
139. This year mayors, indigenous leaders, health-care workers, shopkeepers, presidents of community action boards and, above all, agricultural labourers, fell victim to the guerrillas and paramilitaries. Among others, FARC killed the mayors of Juradó (Chocó) and Puerto Rico (Caquetá). The indigenous communities were the victims of both the guerrillas and the paramilitaries for opposing the armed groups' use of their territories.
140. The armed groups are carrying out more of the homicides known as "selective killings". Occasionally, their modus operandi is to capture the victims and subsequently take them to areas adjacent to the town. The bodies are later found in fields, rivers, buried, or they simply never reappear. AUC perpetrated incidents such as these in eastern Antioquia, Chocó and Putumayo, although they did not get much coverage in the media. In turn, FARC have killed civilians in the areas bordering the demilitarized zone, in order to avoid news getting out.
141. Both the paramilitaries and the guerrillas continued to commit collective homicides or massacres, the paramilitaries being mainly responsible. The State's responsibility, by acts of commission or omission, has been called into question concerning several of the massacres perpetrated by the paramilitaries. The corresponding criminal and disciplinary investigations are under way (see chap. VI.B below).
142. In February, FARC killed nine hikers who were visiting the Puracé National Park (Cauca). On 22 May, FARC captured 11 members of the same family, among them a woman and a two-year-old child, as they were travelling on the Sinú River (Córdoba) in a boat. One of them managed to escape, but the others were executed and decapitated, and the bodies were dumped in the river. On 16 July, ELN killed three women and one man in Granada (Antioquia), accusing them of having connections to members of the security forces. On 10 October, members of the AUC Calima Bloc raided the settlements of Alaska, La Habana, and Tres Esquinas on the outskirts of Buga (Valle del Cauca) where they killed at least 24 civilians who were completely defenceless.
143. The Office has also received reports of the guerrillas killing members of the security forces whom they had captured, despite the fact that under international humanitarian law there is an obligation to respect their life and personal integrity. On 6 October, FARC killed two policemen whom they had captured at a roadblock near Barbacoas (Nariño).
144. Death threats are the mechanism that the armed groups use most frequently to get rid of people considered "undesirable" because of their alleged collaboration with the "enemy" and to take over their property or to motivate them to displace. Furthermore, threats continue to be the means used to force shopkeepers, businessmen, cattle ranchers and other groups in the economic sector to make payments to the different armed groups. In the Department of Casanare, merchants must pay "taxes" to FARC, ELN and the Autodefensas Campesinas del Sur del Casanare (Southern Casanare Peasant Self-Defence Groups). In San Carlos (Antioquia), shopkeepers must go to the paramilitary camp in El Jordán each month to pay their "taxes". Also, the different armed groups have resorted to threats to hinder the free expression of ideas, to block social projects that are contrary to their political platform, and the public condemnation of their actions.
145. The Office has received reports that during military operations, members of the army have threatened the civilian population by announcing the imminent arrival of the paramilitaries. The Office has received reports about this in reference to the military operations that were undertaken in the department of Arauca during July.
2. Attacks on the civilian population and indiscriminate attacks
146. Attacks on the civilian population and indiscriminate attacks are prohibited under international humanitarian law because they are conducted with disregard for the principle of proportionality and the distinction between military objectives and civilian persons and property.
147. Attacking the civilian population is the main strategy employed by the paramilitary groups. As well as the massacres already mentioned, on 30 May an AUC group raided the district of Los Tupes in the municipality of San Diego (Cesar), where they threw fragmentation grenades at several houses, killing eight, including five minors. In the investigation of the incident, members of the army battalion stationed in Valledupar were found to have been involved.
148. The guerrilla groups continued carrying out indiscriminate attacks and claiming victims among the civilian population. On 5 January in Barrancabermeja (Santander), ELN detonated a bomb meant to attack a police vehicle. A local shopkeeper and her son were killed in the explosion and another 15 people were wounded, including 7 minors. On 15 August, FARC used gas tanks to attack the municipality of Anzoátegui (Tolima). One child was killed and several houses adjacent to the police station were destroyed. During the last week of August, FARC attacked the police station in Santa María (Huila), leaving one civilian dead, four wounded and a considerable number of the town's buildings destroyed.
149. In terms of the security forces, the Office has received information that members of the army have directly attacked the civilian population. On 1 October in Guajira, a group of soldiers from the Majayura base opened fire on a house where 13 civilians of the Wayuu indigenous community were gathered. Two men were killed and a woman and her six-month-old baby were wounded. There were other occasions when members of the army were responsible for the death of civilians. The Office has learned that on 19 September, an army patrol shot and killed Mr. Eduardo Ariza Casalla, 57, in a rural area outside San José de Guaviare.
150. There have also been reports of members of the security forces or the guerrillas making use of civilian houses, thus endangering the population in case of clashes.
151. Both FARC and ELN guerrillas have endangered the lives of civilian hostages held captive by dressing them in camouflage fatigues. This is a breach of the international humanitarian law requirement that combatants must differentiate themselves from the civilian population. For example, this was the case of former Minister of Culture Consuelo Araújo Noguera, in FARC captivity, who was found dead in camouflage fatigues (see subsect. 5 below).
3. Terrorist acts
152. ELN and FARC guerrillas perpetrated terrorist acts. Terrorist acts and violent acts and threats aimed at terrorizing the population are prohibited under international humanitarian law. Some indiscriminate attacks are also considered to be terrorism.
153. On 10 August, ELN detonated a bomb near the police station in the municipality of San Francisco (Antioquia), killing three children, wounding several others and destroying close to 30 homes. On 21 October, the ELN used 50 kg of explosives to attack a residence in the municipality of El Peñol (Antioquia), killing five, including a baby. On 22 October, FARC carried out a terrorist attack on the oil pipeline near Riohacha (Guajira), resulting in the death of a woman and her four young children.
154. On 21 May, a car bomb loaded with 250 kg of high explosives was defused outside the offices of the weekly newspaper Voz and the Unión Patriotica headquarters in Bogotá. AUC claimed responsibility.
155. Paramilitary groups frequently resort to violent acts and threats with the purpose of terrorizing the population as reprisals, to make people accede to their demands, out of regional economic interests or to cause the displacement of population (see sects. D.1 and F above and chap. VI.B below).
156. There have also been reports of practices and threats by members of the security forces to terrorize the civilian population (see sects. D.1 and F above).
157. In other cases, those behind the terrorist attacks have still not been identified, such as the case of the car bomb that went off on the night of 17 May in Lleras Park in Medellín, killing 8 and wounding 138. On the morning of 25 May, two explosives were detonated, one shortly after the other, in a busy sector of Bogotá near the National University, killing 4 and wounding 31.
4. Torture and ill-treatment
158. Both the paramilitary groups and the guerrillas have tortured their victims before killing them. Many bodies have been found mutilated and with signs of torture. In some cases the paramilitaries have raped female victims before executing them. On 3 October AUC tortured and then murdered three anti-narcotics agents and three civilians on the Caribbean Highway, between Santa Marta and the department of Guajira.
159. The military have informed the Office that the bodies of members of the security forces, whom the guerrillas have killed, showed signs of torture or mutilation.
160. The vast majority of the hostages taken in the context of the Colombian armed conflict are captured for the purpose of collecting extortion money, which is a source of financing for the armed groups. Colombia has the sad distinction of being the world leader in this area. According to the Fundación País Libre (Free Country Foundation), between January and November 2001, 2,856 kidnappings were perpetrated, of which 875 are attributed to ELN, 714 to FARC, 260 to paramilitary groups, 100 to the Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo (People's Revolutionary Army, ERP), 20 to EPL, 11 to the Ejército Revolucionario Guevarista (Guevara Revolutionary Army, ERG), and the rest to common criminals or unidentified perpetrators. The departments most affected were Antioquia and César, with 20 per cent and 14.4 per cent respectively.
161. Although in September FARC promised the Government that they would cease their "lucky catch" roadblocks or group kidnappings, they continued this practice. On 26 July FARC took 16 people hostage in an apartment building in Neiva (Huila), subsequently taking them to the demilitarized zone in Caquetá department.
162. Some hostages held captive by guerrillas were killed by them. On 24 September, 15 minutes away from Valledupar (César), Frente 59 of FARC kidnapped former Minister of Culture and wife of the Procurator-General, Consuelo Araújo Noguera, along with 30 others. One person was killed at the roadblock. On 29 September the army found Mrs. Araújo Noguera's lifeless body.
163. Hostage-taking affected all social groups, especially shopkeepers (11.8 per cent) and numerous foreigners (32) . On 18 July, FARC kidnapped the Cauca director of the German technical cooperation agency GTZ (see chap. IV above), and technical inspectors who were reviewing projects on the Quisgó indigenous reserve in Silvia (Cauca). They remained in captivity for two months before being released.
164. Minors were also the victims of this practice. A child, Andrés Felipe Navas Suárez, was held in the demilitarized zone until 10 October, when he was released, after a year and a half in captivity. In this, as in other cases, the lengthy captivity and the hardships faced by the hostages took their toll on their physical and mental health (see paras. 168-172 below).
165. FARC took many other hostages to the demilitarized zone, where they were held for lengthy periods, as in the case of former Meta Governor Alan Jara, who was kidnapped on 15 July in Lejanías (Meta). At the time that this report was written, he was still in FARC captivity in the municipality of La Macarena (Meta). Inhabitants of the regions that border the demilitarized zone, in particular those from the department of Huila, have been taken to the zone and their families have had to negotiate ransom fees with the guerrilla group. In their application of "Law 002", FARC have taken hostage persons whom they claim have not made a financial contribution to the armed group.
166. In the eastern part of the department of Antioquia, ELN has carried out a systematic and indiscriminate campaign of group kidnappings for ransom.
167. The paramilitary groups have increasingly engaged in this practice, so as to finance themselves or for allegedly "political" reasons. On 25 April in Yopal (Casanare), members of the Southern Casanare Peasant Self-Defence Groups abducted Diana Reyes Plazas, departmental internal affairs secretary, apparently with the intent of pressuring the governor. To date, she has not been released. This same group also perpetrated group abductions so as to forcibly recruit youths, as occurred on 15 May in Villanueva (Casanare), when 200 workers at a palm tree plantation were kidnapped.
6. Children as victims of the armed conflict and recruitment
168. Children continued to be among the main victims of the armed conflict, despite the special protection provided them under humanitarian law. The Office received numerous complaints that the different guerrilla and paramilitary groups have continued to recruit children under 15 years of age. The paramilitary groups, FARC and ELN, have forcibly recruited minors for their ranks.
169. Children were also the victims of anti-personnel mines and home-made explosive devices planted by the guerrillas. Examples of the former are mentioned below, in subsection 10.
170. On 21 March, in Bocas de Satinga (Nariño), two children, 8 and 10, were killed when an abandoned grenade exploded among the ruins after a FARC attack in the locality. On 25 March, a 13-year-old child was wounded while handling an explosive device that he found on the road in the district of Miraflores, municipality of Pisba (Boyacá). One of the child's hands had to be amputated because of his injuries.
171. According to the Free Country Foundation, 103 children under 12 were taken hostage between January and September 2001.
172. The Office has received reports of guerrilla commanders sexually abusing girls serving in their ranks; the same is true of members of the paramilitary groups. It has also received reports that the Southern Casanare Peasant Self-Defence Groups have abducted young women for sexual purposes.
7. Enforced displacement
173. Enforced displacement continued to be one of the aspects of the Colombian armed conflict that most strongly affected the civilian population (see chap. VI.C below). The armed actors use death threats to rid their territories of persons accused of collaborating with the other side, and to usurp their properties.
174. Causing mass exoduses by means of terror was one of the armed group's warfare strategies. Sometimes, displacement was sparked by the fear that the arrival of one of the armed groups was imminent. The groups did not always have to make specific threats, since the population already knew what to expect if they were to turn up. Other displacements took place in the aftermath of massacres. On 1 January, ELN forced 1,100 peasants in the eastern part of the department of Antioquia to move, as retaliation for a similar action by AUC involving people who lived near the Medellín-Bogotá highway.
8. Violation of the protection of medical workers and attacks on medical units and transport
175. Both the guerrillas and the paramilitaries flaunted their complete disrespect for medical missions and the protection of the sick and wounded. On 6 March, AUC members intercepted a Colombian Red Cross vehicle that was transporting a wounded guerrilla fighter from San Alberto (Cesar) to a hospital in Bucaramanga (Santander). They removed the patient and killed him. This incident sparked the ICRC and Colombian Red Cross decision to suspend transport of the wounded throughout the country. On 13 August, 10 armed FARC members entered the San Ricardo Pampuri Hospital in Saravena in search of patient Vellanith Mendoza, who was there recovering from a murder attempt perpetrated the day before. The patient was taken out by the main door of the hospital and shot to death.
176. On several occasions, the armed factions have forbidden the use of the roads, either by means of what they term "armed work stoppages" or by establishing regular hours for use. Sometimes this prohibition has been applied to ambulances, resulting in the patients' death for lack of adequate medical care.
177. There have been cases of the armed actors entering hospitals, interfering with medical care and threatening patients, as took place in a hospital in San José de Guaviare where AUC members prevented inhabitants of the rural areas from receiving care.
9. Attacks on civilian property
178. Indiscriminate guerrilla attacks have caused significant damage to civilian property. During the FARC attack on San Adolfo (Huila) on 2 September, some 20 buildings adjacent to the police station were destroyed.
179. Attacks by the different armed groups culminated in looting and vandalism, as in the case of the paramilitary raid on the settlement of La Argelia in Carmen de Atrato on 18 April.
180. Concerning the attack allegedly perpetrated by members of the army in Guajira it was reported that after approximately 50 minutes soldiers entered the house and began to divide up everything of value that was found there, including clothing, cash, foodstuffs, identity cards, mobile phones and jewellery belonging to the deceased (see subsect. 2 above).
181. The frequent FARC and ELN attacks on the Caño Limón-Coveñas oil pipeline in the department of Arauca have caused extensive and serious damage to the environment, in particular to drinking water sources (see chap. VI.A below).
10. Use of anti-personnel mines
182. The guerrilla groups continued to use anti-personnel mines, endangering the civilian population, especially children, and disregarding the principle of distinction. ELN placed mines on the highway from Quibdó to Carmen de Atrato and in central Atrato. They cited their conflict with FARC in the region as justification.
183. Among the examples of the vulnerability of children in this respect, it is worth mentioning that on 21 March in Felidia (Valle del Cauca), a child was killed by an anti-personnel mine allegedly left by FARC. Also, on 11 April, Irma Janeth Restrepo Cifuentes, aged 10, was gravely wounded in the stomach and arms and legs when she stepped on a mine that had been placed by ELN in the municipality of Zaragoza (Antioquia).
VI. Situations of special concern
A. Developments in the armed conflict and peace negotiations
184. Throughout 2001 the armed conflict increasingly affected the daily life of the country's inhabitants. Two noteworthy features have characterized the past 12 months. The first of these was the increase in the rate at which the conflict deteriorated as shown by the number and frequency of atrocities committed by those directly participating in hostilities. The second aspect involved the difficulties and contradictions concerning actions aimed at commencing, nourishing and maintaining dialogue and negotiations to facilitate a ceasefire and lead to peace.
185. There were cases in which the civilian population, faced with the violence perpetrated by the combatants, confronted the armed actors in a peaceful manner without weapons so that these groups would cease attacking their homes. Such was the case of the residents of Caldonó and Bolivar (department of Cauca) in mid-November. Most of the time, however, the civilians have had to submit to the de facto power of the different illegal armed groups and suffer abuses at their hands.
186. In the course of 2001, both the guerrillas and the paramilitaries engaged in combat against alleged "infiltrators" or "collaborators" belonging to the other side, without regard to humanitarian considerations.
187. The peace process with FARC has been seriously affected since late 2000 by a succession of crises, two of which occurred within a few days of the expiration of the demilitarized zone. The crises resulted from the grave acts carried out by the guerrillas (such as the kidnapping of three German aid workers, the use of force in order to deny entry to presidential candidate Horacio Serpa into the demilitarized zone and the murder of former Minister of Culture Consuelo Araújo Noguera), and also from accusations of non-fulfilment of the agreed conditions. Dialogue between the parties was kept afloat owing to the fact that, each time that a crisis intensified, meetings were held at which mechanisms for facilitation and follow-up were agreed upon, such as the International Commission of 10 countries (Canada, Cuba, France, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Venezuela) and the Commission of Notables.
188. The incidents that affected the peace process prevented substantial progress. In other areas, two factors have had adverse effects on the process, the first being inconsistencies and contradictions on the part of FARC, and the second the State's inability to dismantle the paramilitaries or at least to diminish the intensity of their attacks on the civilian population. The guerrillas have frequently cited this problem in order to draw out the talks. It is also discouraging that neither the Government nor FARC have shown a willingness to negotiate a general accord on human rights and international humanitarian law in accordance with the recommendations of the international community.
189. In June, 55 policemen in FARC captivity and 14 imprisoned guerrillas who were in poor health were released after the parties reached an agreement. The guerrilla group then unilaterally released 242 soldiers and policemen in La Macarena (Meta) as well as another 60 in Antioquia. Some 100 soldiers and police, many of whom have been deprived of their liberty for more than three years, remain in FARC captivity.
190. At the same time, the peace process between the Government and ELN experienced a series of ups and downs concerning the so-called "meeting zone" that was agreed upon by the parties in order to host a national convention, to be held in three municipalities in the departments of Antioquia and Bolívar. The international community, and particularly the five countries that are sponsoring the process with ELN (Cuba, France, Norway, Spain and Switzerland), supported the creation of the zone. However, it was not possible to arrive at a final agreement owing to strong opposition on the part of certain social sectors led by the Asociación Civil para la Paz en Colombia (Civil Association for Peace in Colombia, Asocipaz) and because of the surge in paramilitary activity in the region. The peace talks with ELN were formally dissolved on 10 August, although at the end of the year the parties agreed to resume discussion.
191. It is worth noting that the peace talks with the guerrillas did not produce any improvement with regard to the situation of human rights or international humanitarian law, nor did they result in greater protection for the civilian population. Other agreements were subsequently concluded by the parties, among which it is worth mentioning the San Francisco de la Sombra Accord. The implementation of this accord could lead to an improvement in the humanitarian situation (see para. 57 above).
1. Behaviour of the guerrilla groups
192. The guerrilla groups continued to engage in very grave acts (see chap. V.H above). This Office on various occasions alerted the Government to the presence of, or threats made by, these groups in different areas of the country. As in previous years, in 2001 many of the FARC and ELN attacks targeted police stations, using home-made explosive devices with little accuracy. Time and again, these methods of warfare caused the destruction of property that could not be considered a military objective, as well as civilian casualties. With specific reference to ELN, this group perpetrated frequent car-bombings on inter-municipal roads.
193. Both ELN and FARC focused their actions on the country's infrastructure by blowing up electricity pylons, oil pipelines and bridges. Those most affected by these attacks were the civilian population, in that the provision of electricity was interrupted, thus hurting industry and commerce, and there was also serious environmental damage.
194. The practice of hostage-taking on the part of the guerrilla groups went to such extremes that in several cases, involving incidents in Neiva (Huila) and Calarcá (Quindío), the kidnappers apprehended their victims through the use of commandos armed with rifles and explosives, who forcibly entered homes in urban areas.
195. The guerrillas' "armed work stoppages" also had a negative impact on the inhabitants. These actions led to restrictions on access to basic goods and services, a decline in nutrition, food shortages and difficulties in access to health care. For example, from 28 September to 15 October, FARC imposed an "armed work stoppage" in the department of Arauca, causing a shortage of produce and basic supplies, which had serious consequences for the population most at risk.
196. The attacks on the civilian population, on civilian property and on State infrastructure have had a serious negative impact on the community's enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights and on the State's capacity to safeguard rights and services for its people.
2. Demilitarized zone
197. In the demilitarized zone, in addition to the absence of the State judicial and disciplinary authorities, 2001 saw FARC throw up obstacles to the work of the Office of the Ombudsman. The guerrillas also disrupted police activity in the San Vicente del Caguán region. This confirmed the guerrillas' intention to control all of the administrative and legal functions that would normally be performed by the State in a demilitarized area and indicated that they would not respect the fundamental rights and liberties of the inhabitants.
198. Throughout the year this Office and the national authorities received reports and complaints that FARC were using the zone to lodge their kidnap victims (including young children, such as Andrés Felipe Navas) and to negotiate ransoms; to plan, prepare and direct belligerent actions; to acquire and store new armaments; to recruit minors; to threaten the owners of businesses and farms in order to take over these assets; and to detain and execute those who were against the guerrillas or who were suspected of harbouring sympathy for the paramilitaries.
199. FARC continued to exercise very strict, authoritarian and repressive control over the lives of the zone's inhabitants. In the municipality of Vistahermosa, the guerrillas went to the extreme of making more than 20,000 people take an AIDS test at the local hospital. The Office received information that at least four people who were found to be HIV-positive were forced to leave the area.
200. In this same municipality, FARC detained and, in some cases, executed people accused of violating the guerrilla group's monopoly over the buying and selling of coca leaf. Several such persons were incarcerated in the municipal jail and kept under surveillance by the Civic Police in the demilitarized zone.
201. At the same time, the paramilitary groups stepped up their pressure on the areas surrounding the demilitarized zone. This included setting up roadblocks, demanding financial contributions and executing people who were coming from the five municipalities of the demilitarized zone. Examples of this latter phenomenon are the killing of people coming from municipalities in Granada (Meta) and the murders of the mayors of Cartagena del Chairá (Caquetá) and Lejanías (Meta). The inhabitants greatly fear the possibility of a paramilitary onslaught in the zone.
B. Paramilitary activity
202. During 2001, the Office continued to observe that paramilitary activity was strengthening and spreading throughout much of the country's territory. The Office noted the limited effectiveness of the measures taken against paramilitary groups to curb their activities, contain their advance and respond to their aggressions, as well as the fickle commitment on the part of the State in this struggle. The members of the paramilitary groups continued to be the main parties responsible for the increase in human rights violations. They also greatly contributed to the deterioration in the conflict through their systematic use of violence and terror against the civilian population in zones under their control and in areas affected by their raids. Toleration, support and complicity on the part of public servants, as well as non-fulfilment of their duty to safeguard rights, with respect to several acts by these groups, mean that the State continues to bear responsibility.
203. Changes have come about during the period covered in this report which reflect intense dynamics of transition within the paramilitary movement. These include the changes in their discourse and modifications to their internal structure that took place in May. AUC announced that Carlos Castaño had become one of the organization's political directors, while a joint chiefs of staff took over military affairs.
204. At the same time, external factors, such as the fact that on 10 September AUC was included in the list of foreign terrorist organizations of the United States Department of State, as well as the international climate after 11 September, also explain some of the strategic changes, above all with regard to the group's public discourse.
205. With their expansion and consolidation, the AUC groups seemed to be responding to interests of a broader nature than merely territorial control or the domination of the routes leading to the coast. In some cases (the communities of Nariño and Chocó, for example) in addition to recovering territories that had been under guerrilla control, AUC exerted clear influence on economic activities and forced the inhabitants to modify their work. In other cases, such as La Gabarra (Norte de Santander), AUC controlled a significant proportion of coca production and sales.
206. Undoubtedly, evidence of the spread of paramilitary activity may be seen in the appearance of so-called self-defence groups in regions where they had not previously had a significant presence. Examples of this were the massacre of 20 people in El Naya (Cauca and Valle) from 9 to 15 April, as well as AUC actions this year in Nariño, a department where they were able to establish a new theatre of operations towards the Pacific coast without encountering more than token resistance. This year AUC has taken more than 40 lives in municipalities such as Tumaco and Samaniego.
207. Another case that illustrates paramilitary expansion is the emergence of the AUC Bloque Tolima, thought responsible for some of the deaths in municipalities in the southern part of the department, as in Natagaima. At the same time, the Frente Omar Isaza belonging to the Autodefensas del Magdalena Medio (Central Magdalena Self-Defence Groups) concentrated its efforts in the northern part of the department where, on 15 September, it killed 13 people. Finally, in the month of August, some 1,000 AUC members entered the department of Arauca after mobilizing troops in the northern part of the department of Casanare. The warnings that were sounded did not succeed in averting several homicides, among them the killing of a congressman.
208. At the same time, the consolidation of paramilitary activity in departments such as Chocó, Antioquia, Valle and Putumayo was evident. In Putumayo, AUC groups increased their presence in the urban centres of the municipalities of Villa Garzón and Mocoa as well as in others in which there was a substantial army presence. This fact and numerous testimonies received by the Office suggest the existence of a direct relationship between the security forces and AUC. In the department of Guaviare, AUC groups consolidated their presence in the urban centre of the capital and in the rural area around San José del Guaviare. At the same time they succeeded in establishing a substantial contingent in the southern part of the department of Meta. The Southern Casanare Peasant Self-Defence Groups strengthened their manpower in this department by means of massive recruiting campaigns, in part enforced, and by increasing extortion against all segments of society.
209. In addition, AUC groups increased their operations in Bogotá, as exemplified by the brazen executions of Congressmen Luis Alfredo Colmenares Chía and Jairo Rojas. Another case was that of Carlos Nicolás González, a helicopter pilot employed by Carlos Castaño, who was gunned down inside his residence complex while under the protection of the Attorney-General's Office.
210. The growth in paramilitary activity is evident and the manner in which paramilitaries carried out their violent operations can only be understood as a demonstration of the consolidation of their power. One illustration of this was that on 10 October there were two massacres in the departments of Magdalena and Valle del Cauca that left more than 35 dead. In the latter alone, AUC killed 24 inhabitants in rural districts in the municipality of Buga (Valle), within 12 kilometres of the county seat where the Palacé Battalion is headquartered.
211. The Office continued to receive troubling reports of ties between members of the security forces and elements of the paramilitary groups. The existence of pending criminal and disciplinary investigations of members of the security forces shows how widespread these relationships are (33) . However, the investigations have not led to any determination of responsibility or the application of the relevant sentences and punishments to ensure that these acts do not benefit from impunity (34) .
212. Another source of concern to the Office is the fact that certain court cases, having to do with illegal executions in which members of the security forces are involved, come up against various obstacles. One example was the investigations into the massacres in Chengue and Ovejas (Sucre). It is worth mentioning that two investigators from the Human Rights Unit of the Attorney-General's Office who were investigating the Chengue massacre and the paramilitaries' finances were the victims of an enforced disappearance in Sincelejo (Sucre) this year. Prosecutor Yolanda Paternina, who was in charge of the investigation, was killed violently in the same place on 29 August. There are clear indications of direct involvement by public servants, both military and civilian, in these massacres. The same is true of the investigations into the paramilitary massacres in La Gabarra (Norte de Santander) as well as those concerning military authorities' involvement in these acts (see sect. D below). The impunity that shelters the perpetrators of these massacres and the government officials allegedly involved, adds one more element of State responsibility.
213. Some of the cases cited above lead the Office to believe that the growth in paramilitary activity has been aided by the State's inaction or slow reaction in preventing the formation of illegal armed groups, and in keeping new territories from falling under the de facto control of these organizations. In the majority of the cases summarized here, the Office alerted the national authorities to the consolidation or spread of the paramilitary groups without there being an adequate response to such warnings.
214. In this regard, the Office provided the State with information on roadblocks, bases and other movements and threats involving paramilitaries, with the results summarized above. Such was the case in municipalities such as Campo Dos and on the Tibú-La Gabarra road (Norte de Santander) where the existence of seven AUC checkpoints was verified, one of them only 2 kilometres from the La Gabarra police station.
215. Faced with the blatant nature of these raids and operations, the State has not demonstrated that it is resolved to confront the challenge of these organizations by means of effective, timely and sustained actions on the part of the security forces and other government entities.
216. Over the reporting period, however, there have been some indications of a change in attitude in combating the paramilitary groups. Military operations, arrests and raids demonstrated that, in those cases where the political resolve and the determination to take action exist, worthwhile results can be achieved, above all when there is pressure by the central Government.
217. However, any evaluation of the effectiveness of the mechanisms depends on whether preventive or protective military actions aimed at arresting members of the paramilitary groups, as opposed to the political or judicial actions targeting ties to public officials, are being examined. The same examples that may serve as a positive example in one area are representative of negative responses in others.
218. Thus, the Office has taken note of actions such as Operation Dignity and the 13-14 October raids by the army 3rd Brigade and the Technical Investigation Unit of the Attorney-General's Office in Calima Darién (Valle). However, these operations do not seem to have had any effect on the paramilitary groups in the zone.
219. The Office has also taken note of the operation carried out on 24 May in Montería (Córdoba) in which the security forces provided support for judicial searches and arrests of people accused of financing paramilitary activity. The ability of the diverse State institutions to work together in this way is essential to the success of actions and mechanisms to prosecute and combat paramilitary activity, and their effectiveness is intimately related to decisive commitment on the part of the central Government. This Office hopes that actions like these will be carried out in other areas of the country with the same cooperation, coordination and effectiveness. However, it is worth noting that unless there is follow-up, progress in the investigations and comprehensive action, isolated efforts will not succeed in weakening the operational capability of these groups.
220. On the subject of prevention and protection, the slow response on the part of the security forces in the case of the El Naya massacre (Cauca and Valle del Cauca) and