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Understanding the Roles and Experiences of Female Combatants in Colombia’S Armed Conflict

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Understanding the Roles and Experiences of Female Combatants in Colombia’S Armed Conflict The Victim/Perpetrator Continuum: Understanding the Roles and Experiences of Female Combatants In Colombia’s Armed Conflict Savitri Restrepo Álvarez Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Prerequisite for Honors In International Relations-Political Science April 2016 © 2016 Savitri Restrepo Álvarez TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ACRONYMS ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CHAPTER 1: Introduction o Preface 1 o Impetus for Research 2 o Relevant Scholarship 10 o Methodology 20 o Structure 28 CHAPTER 2: Historical Context o Colombia’s Armed Conflict 31 o Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) 37 o Women in Colombian Society 41 CHAPTER 3: Why and How do Women Join the FARC? o Who Does The FARC Recruit? 44 o Theoretical Framework: What Constitutes Consent? 46 o Why and How do Women join the FARC? 55 CHAPTER 4: The Roles and Experiences of Women in the FARC 74 o Women’s Roles and Responsibilities 78 o Women and Combat 90 o Women, Politics and Belonging 98 o Women, Relationships and Sexuality 111 o Conclusion 123 CHAPTER 5: Implications for a Society in Transition 126 o Recommendations for the Reintegration of Female FARC Ex-combatants 140 CHAPTER 6: Conclusions 155 APPENDICES o Appendix A: Interview Questions 165 o Appendix B: Photographs of FARC Interviewees 169 o Appendix C: Maps 171 o Appendix D: Life in a FARC Camp in the Northwest Andes 173 o Appendix E: ACR Center and the Reintegration Process 175 BIBLIOGRAPHY 177 LIST OF ACRONYMS ACR: Agencia Colombiana para la Reintegración (Colombian Agency for Reintegration) AUC: Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (United Self-defense Forces of Colombia) BACRIM: Bandas Criminales Emergentes (Emerging Criminal Groups) DAS: Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (Colombia’s Administrative Department of Security) DDR: Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration ELN: Ejército de Liberación Nacional (National Liberation Army) EP: Ejército del Pueblo (The Army of the People) EPL: Ejército Popular de Liberación (Popular Army for Liberation) FARC: Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) GAHD: Group for Humanitarian Attention for the Demobilized IDPs: Internally Displaced Persons IEDs: Improvised Explosive Devices M–19: Movimiento 19 de Abril (19th of April Movement) MOS: Military Occupational Specialty NCHM: Centro Nacional de Memoria Histórica (Colombia’s National Center for Historical Memory) IOM: International Organization for Migration IUD: Intrauterine Device TRC: Truth and Reconciliation Commission UNDDR: United Nations Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Resource Center ABSTRACT In December 2015, supported by the Schiff fellowship, I traveled to Colombia to interview recently demobilized female FARC guerillas participating in state reintegration programs. Estimates suggest that 40% of the combatants in Colombia’s decades-long conflict are women.1 However, the complex role that women have played has largely been overlooked. Much of the literature on conflict resolution assumes a dichotomy in which women are either ‘victims’ or ‘perpetrators.’ In reality, the distinction between these absolute categories is never entirely clear. The purpose of my trip was to examine women’s particular experiences as combatants, looking at the circumstances that led them to join the FARC, the roles they played within the organization, and their transition back into mainstream society. My research reveals that there is no easy distinction between victims and perpetrators in the conflict, as the majority of female combatants describe an ambiguous experience in which coercion and consent, empowerment and abuse coexist in uneasy and tenuous relationships. 1 Keith Stanski, "Terrorism, Gender, and Ideology: A Case Study of Women Who Join the Revolutionary Armed ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost I would like to thank my advisor, Professor Christopher Candland, for his unconditional support, insightful guidance and tireless encouragement throughout this process. As my professor, major and thesis advisor at Wellesley, I take this opportunity to thank him for pushing me, over the past years, to take my work in new directions and for nourishing my interest in social science fieldwork. Without his mentorship, this thesis would not have been possible. I would also like to extend the deepest gratitude to Professor Joy Renjilian-Burgy for her thoughtful advice and constructive feedback that have been absolutely invaluable. I am profoundly thankful to Professor William A. Joseph and Professor Lois Wasserspring for their enduring support. I am also grateful for the funding I received from the Jerome A. Schiff Foundation to conduct field research in Colombia. I cannot express enough thanks to the Colombian Agency for Reintegration (ACR) in Cali, particularly to Andrea Barrero, without whom I would not have been able to conduct my interviews. I am indebted to Fabio Cardozo, regional peace negotiator for assisting me in preparing for the fieldwork, to former combatants of the M-19 for welcoming me into their home and entrusting me with her stories, and to all ACR participants who contributed personal experiences for the realization of this study. Finally, I want to extend warm thanks to my wonderful support network of mentors, friends, and family. To my parents, I am indebted for their endless support all throughout this long journey, for facilitating my research and keeping me company during long hours of fieldwork. To Saul, I am grateful for his unwavering support and encouragement, meticulous and insightful comments, and belief in me. Last but not least, a huge thank you to Bonnie, Nikita, Mariajosé, Hannah, Julie, Leila, Stephanie, Mariya, and Zena for their patience, love, and laughter that have kept me smiling and inspired. CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION Preface As a Colombian woman, my honors thesis arises from a personal concern about how the decades-long military conflict has affected women in Colombia’s illegal armed forces, and how female guerrillas can overcome the contradictions, voids, and strains that result from their participation in the nation’s conflict. I come from a family that has been largely unaffected by the worst forms of violence, often characterized by massacres, forced ‘disappearances,’ and cases of torture and displacement. However, my family and I have not been completely isolated from the serious threats and dangers that are a constant product of Colombia’s armed conflict. As a young girl, I often heard my parents speak of ‘The Violence’ being inflicted upon thousands of people. However, given my inability to fully comprehend it, I disassociated myself from the conflict. The FARC remained a distant notion, “a group of bad people living in the jungles.” This perception was shattered, however, on the 20th of September 2001, when a high school friend was kidnapped by the FARC. At the age of eleven, Laura was captured and held hostage for over a year in the Cordillera Mountains. Laura was sitting in the back of our school bus. About twenty minutes away from the school, five men with guns boarded the vehicle. One of them ordered everyone to put their heads down, as the other men pulled Laura off the bus. In less than an hour, she was already being taken up to the mountains. As a witness to Laura’s capture and to her family’s grief following the incident, I experienced first- hand the real effects of war and violence. After Laura’s release I became increasingly familiar with the destruction and trauma that accompany Colombia’s war, as several other incidents of violence involving family members and friends followed. 1 Through these experiences, I gained a firsthand knowledge of the most immediate victims of the conflict. At the same time, I was left with many unanswered questions regarding the people on ‘the other side’; the guerrilla fighters and operatives categorized as the ‘victimizers.’ Until very recently, discussion of the guerrillas in Colombia was taboo. Colombia’s ‘code of silence’ was strongly rooted, I believe, in society’s fear of being accused as sympathizers of the insurgent groups. This fear and reluctance to discuss the complexities of the pervasive conflict, violence and human rights abuses has had fundamental socio-economic costs for individuals, local communities, civil society institutions and Colombia as a whole. This research seeks to contribute to the important emerging debate on conflict and peace within Colombia by challenging ingrained taboos regarding women’s situations as members of active guerrilla groups. As proposed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu in his famous 1997 address, I believe that all Colombians, victims, victimizers, civilians and negotiators, need to understand that forgiveness is liberating and is the only path to “true enduring peace.”2 By the end of this research, I hope that my readers will be able to re-imagine a new Colombia, where forgiveness and reconciliation lie at the heart of the post-conflict national initiative. In this way, I hope to contribute to building peace and understanding in my country. Impetus for Research The Colombian government, under President Juan Manuel Santos, and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country’s largest left-wing rebel group led by ‘Timochenko’ (aka Timoleon Jimenez)3 began formal peace talks in November 2012 in 2 Desmond Tutu and Douglas Abrams, God has a dream: A vision of hope for our time (Image, 2004). Pg.52 3 Given name: Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri 2 Havana, Cuba. This has been an effort to end more than five decades of armed conflict with devastating consequences for the country. After President Santos took office in 2010, he began secret peace talks with the FARC, which ultimately resulted in the formal negotiations currently being watched by the international community. As these negotiations come close to reaching a final deal regarding the terms of the transition, all parties have reiterated their commitment to achieving a ‘Final Accord for the Termination of the Conflict and the Construction of a Stable and Long-Lasting Peace,’ which includes a definitive, bilateral cease- fire and disarmament.4 The agenda of the ongoing talks comprises six all-encompassing points, which aim to address both the causes and the effects of the conflict.
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