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The struggle against impunity in Colombia:
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KAIROS remains dismayed by the lack of accountability for human rights violations and breaches of humanitarian law committed by the government and by various armed groups in Colombia. Long-standing problems of impunity persist in Colombia for state and non-state actors including members of the paramilitary, military, and guerrilla groups, yet, according the UN, the Colombian government has taken steps over the past year which hinder criminals from being brought to justice. The following document gives an overview of developments in Colombian over the last year and offers recommendations for the Canadian government at UNCHR 61.
- Justice for Colombians
- Demobilization of the Paramilitary
- Peace with Justice in Colombia
- Recommendations for Canada at UNCHR 61
Justice for Colombians
The human rights situation in Colombia remains grave despite
the claims of President Alvaro Uribe. While kidnapping rates have
decreased, as the President claims, the number of arbitrary detentions,
extra-judicial executions, enforced disappearances and torture of
human rights defenders, union leaders, and civilians in general,
has increased. Most of these abuses were committed either by the
state or the paramilitaries. Gender-based violence is also widespread,
having become an integral part of the terror tactics used by all
parties to the conflict.
In short, as the Canadian government has previously recognized, human rights are not respected in Colombia due to the internal armed conflict, ineffectual institutions, and lack of will on the part of government, Congress, and ruling classes to improve the national systems of protection and reduce gross inequities within Colombian society. As a consequence of this lack of will, thousands of horrendous crimes persist in Colombia with extreme levels of impunity, placing at risk progress toward peace and social or economic development in the country.
According to the report from the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, efforts of Colombian officials to strengthen the judicial system to help combat violations of people’s rights have been insufficient. 1 Although Colombia has signed and ratified many international legal covenants, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, officials continue to “ignore the recommendations included in the annual report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights,” according to the Special Rapporteur, Ambeyi Ligabo.
Top
of pageDemobilization of the Paramilitary
The paramilitaries pose the greatest threat to democracy in Colombia. As the Canadian government’s brief for UNCHR 61 recognizes, the paramilitary have “infiltrated Colombian society and government and contaminated the rule of law.” Perhaps this is why we have witnessed efforts to weaken judicial mechanisms over the last year in Colombia, including, according to the Special Rapporteur, reforms meant to “weaken the authority of the Constitutional Court, its control functions and, ultimately, the independence of judges.”
Since July 2004, members of the paramilitary have been in formal talks with the government regarding demobilization of their 13,000 members. Altogether, according to government figures, 2,624 members have demobilized and 3,988 weapons were decommissioned in 2004. But the process remains flawed and without any appropriate framework for justice. Even the limited number of demobilizations has been conducted in a superficial manner, without the proper safeguards to ensure that the structure of paramilitary organizations is effectively taken apart and that those responsible for atrocities are brought to justice.
The paramilitaries refuse jail time or extradition to the US and have indicated they will not negotiate without the political, juridical and socio-economic conditions which they demand. The Organization of American States (OAS) Mission meant to support this “Peace Process” with the paramilitary in Colombia, established in 2004, remains under-funded due to the donor community’s reluctance to endorse a process which opens the door to impunity on such a grand scale. An Inter-American Human Rights Commission mission to Colombia has been highly critical of the demobilization process. 2
Colombia’s current demobilization procedures will not dismantle
paramilitary groups but will result in widespread impunity for
even the worst atrocities, according to human rights groups.
International donors, including Canada, are correct to withhold
aid unless Colombia enacts a law that can effectively dismantle
these groups and hold their members accountable for massacres and
other crimes against humanity.
Existing law provides substantial economic and judicial benefits
to those who demobilize. But the law fails to condition those benefits
on any specific action by paramilitaries other than a provisional
ceasefire. Paramilitaries will still receive benefits even if they
refuse to cooperate with any investigations by the authorities,
fail to disclose information about their structure or sources of
financing, refuse to turn over land and other assets taken by force,
and fail to make reparations to their victims.
Moreover, paramilitary leaders can receive benefits under the law
even if their group continues to engage in attacks on civilians
or other criminal activities such as drug trafficking. As a result,
paramilitary leaders have few incentives to ensure a complete demobilization
and ceasefire. “There is a real risk that this demobilization
process will leave the underlying structures of these violent groups
intact, their illegally acquired assets untouched, and their
abuses unpunished,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas
director of Human Rights Watch.
According to the Report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Colombia, “it was evident that the paramilitary groups, despite their declared cessation of hostilities and the disappearance of their traditional leader, Carlos Castaño, continued their expansion and consolidation, including social and institutional control at the local and regional levels, as well as close links with drug trafficking.” 3
Peace with Justice in Colombia
There are alternatives to a legal system which promises impunity
in Colombia. A multiparty group of Colombian senators, led by Senators
Rafael Pardo and Gina Parody, has made public a draft bill that
would correct most of the problems with the demobilization process.
Their bill would reflect international standards of justice and
accountability. As well, the victims and relatives of victims of
atrocities themselves have put forward a draft bill for the process.
These two bills are quite similar in that they seek at a minimum
truth, justice, and reparations for the victims of crimes by the
paramilitary.
Regrettably, the Uribe administration has strongly objected to
the Senate draft. Indeed, President Uribe appears poised to propose
another substantially weaker bill that would perpetuate most of
the problems with the laws and procedures already in place. Current
laws completely fail to require any investigation of the overwhelming
majority of paramilitaries. Unless they are already being prosecuted,
paramilitaries who have committed crimes against humanity and other
abuses will not be investigated, and many will go on to commit further
crimes.
Whichever bill the Colombian Congress ultimately passes will not
apply exclusively to the current paramilitary demobilization, it
should be noted. The law would also have a tremendous impact on
future demobilizations of other illegal armed groups in Colombia,
including the guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
(Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, or FARC) or the National
Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional,
or ELN). The template for peaceful disarmament must be fair, seeking
justice and reparations for victims of crimes perpetrated against
them.
Recommendations for Canada at UNCHR 61
Canada should ensure that the Chairperson’s statement on
Colombia:
- expresses the UNCHR’s great concern over the high levels of impunity for human rights crimes in Colombia, and that there is no resolution to the conflict in Colombia without attention to justice for the victims;
- outlines steps necessary to strengthen the Colombian legal system including those found in the Report from the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression;
- urges the Colombia authority to establish an appropriate demobilization process with the paramilitary which includes truth, justice, and reparations for the victims of violations of human rights and their families;
- calls for greater international support of the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Bogotá including renewal of its mandate; and
- states emphatically the Commission’s support for the efforts of Colombian civil society, including churches, labour organizations, and human rights groups.
As well, Canada should:
- consider leading a resolution on Colombia at UNCHR 61;
- insist in its Item 9 statement that Colombia comply immediately, fully, and substantially with the recommendations of the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights; and
- ensure that an interim report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights be submitted to the General Assembly in September, 2005 to follow-up on Colombian compliance with human rights recommendations.
1. UNCHR Report from the Special Rapporteur
on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Mission to Colombia,
United Nations Economic and Social Council document E/CN.4/2005/64/Add.3,
26 November 2004.
2. OAS, Report On The Demobilization Process In
Colombia, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights document OEA/Ser.L/V/II.120,
Doc. 60, 13 December 2004.
3. UNCHR Report of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights on the situation of human rights in Colombia, E/CN.4/2005/10,
28 February 2005.
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