Un Humanitarian Situation Room - Colombia Report March 2005

UN HUMANITARIAN SITUATION ROOM - COLOMBIA REPORT MARCH 2005

I. NATIONAL CONTEXT

• The Consultoría para los Derechos Humanos and el Desplazamiento (CODHES) reported that during the month of March threats, forced displacement, assassinations and generally, actions against Mayors and Council Members, either acting or retired, resurged in several municipalities in Colombia.

CODHES in particular noted the situation in the departments of Arauca, Norte de Santander and Santander, where there has been a surge of confrontations between the Public Forces and illegal armed groups. According to CODHES, during 2004, the highest rates of displacement per 100,000 inhabitants occurred in regions with similar characteristics, such as Catatumbo, eastern Antioquia and Montes de María, principally due to confrontations and other strategies on the part of armed groups, including strikes, assassinations, food control, threats and arbitrary detentions.

According to CODHES, in regions where there are military operations being implemented (principally Montes de María, Chocó, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Catatumbo, Caquetá, Tolima, Huila, Putumayo, Valle del Cauca and Sucre), there have been more cases of displacement, along with other actions such as threats and the displacement of teachers from Magdalena and Cesar to Barranquilla; blockades and confinement of the population in Catatumbo, eastern Antioquia, Chocó, Putumayo, Vaupés and Magdalena Medio. There have also occurred forced recruitment of minors in Meta; massacres in Barrancabermeja, and forced disappearances and kidnappings in northern Tolima.

• In the area of public policy, during March, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights demanded that the Government of Colombia adopt necessary measures to effectively protect the lives and personal integrity of the members of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó and the communities of Curbaradó and Jiguiamindó in Chocó department.

In reference to the first case, the Court required that the State: a) adopt other measures as necessary in order to strictly and immediately comply with orders from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, in order to effectively protect the lives and personal integrity of all members of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó; b) implement measures as necessary, since there has been an increase in violent acts against the members of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, in order to guarantee their protection and the security of the beneficiaries of the considered measures and to allow that they continue to live in their habitual place of residence, without any coercion or threat; c) assure and implement effectively those conditions necessary so that those members of the Peace Community who were forced to displace return to their homes; d) implement, in accord with the beneficiaries, the technical measures necessary to establish that the protection and supervision measures continue to be adequate, including the Early Warning System; e) investigate the events that led to the adoption and maintenance of provision measures in order to identify those responsible and to impose the corresponding sanctions; f) investigate, in particular, the incidents related to the deaths of Luis Eduardo Guerra, Bellanira Areiza, Alfonso Bolívar, Sandra Milena Muñoz, Alejandro Pérez, and minors Deiner Guerra, Natalia Tuberquia and Santiago Tuberquia, in order to effectively identify and sanction those responsible; g) investigate the alleged situation of members of the Public Forces as relates to the incidents of violence and threats to members of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, in order to apply the law in the terms required, among other measures.

Insofar as monitoring the provisional measures related to the case of the communities of Jiguiamindó and Curbaradó in Chocó, the Court in its Resolution requires that the Colombian State: a) adopt other measures as necessary in order to strictly and immediately comply with what has been ordered by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, in order to effectively protect the lives and personal integrity of all members of the Community Council of Jiguiamindó and the families of Curbaradó; b) implement orders as necessary to guarantee the protection and security of the beneficiaries of the measures under consideration, without any threats or coercion; c) assure and implement the conditions necessary so that the members of the 1 communities of Jiguiamindó and Curbaradó, who were forced to displace to jungle areas or other regions, return to their homes or to “humanitarian zones of refuge”; d) provide special protection to the “humanitarian zones of refuge”; d) grant special protection to the “humanitarian zones of refuge” and adopt measures as necessary so that they receive all humanitarian aid that is sent to them; e) implement services for the beneficiaries of the provisional measures in the “humanitarian zones of refuge”, along with the technical measures necessary so that protection mechanisms are established, with on-going adequate supervision, such as the Early Warning System and other permanent and immediate communication services for rapid response; f) investigate the events that motivated the adoption and maintenance of these provisional measures in order to identify those responsible and impose the corresponding sanctions; g) investigate, particularly, the incidents related to the death of Mr. Pedro Murrillo, in order to identify and sanction those responsible; h) investigate the alleged situation of the members of the Public Forces in the events of violence and threats to the members of the communities of Jiguiamindó and Curabaradó; i) continue providing for the participation of the beneficiaries in the provisional measures, including planning and implementation of said measures in order to establish the most adequate and maintain them informed regarding advances by the State insofar as their adoption.

II. ARMED CONFLICT - AFFECTED POPULATION

A) Population movements Bolívar: Carmen de Bolivar: Mass displacement of an undetermined number of persons. Santa Rosa del Sur: At-risk communities

Sucre: Ovejas: Displacement of an undetermined number of persons.

Norte de Santander: Cúcuta and Ocaña: Displacements of an undetermined number of persons. Chocó : Bojayá: Displacement of Tibú: Individual displacements of an 1,700 persons. At-risk communities. undetermined number of persons. At-risk communities.

Antioquia: Argelia, San Francisco, Nariño and Sonsón: Individual displacements. El Carmen de Viboral and San Francisco: At-risk communities. Urrao: Return of 145 persons (40 families)

Caldas: Pensilvania: At-risk communities

Valle del Cauca: El Cairo: At-risk communities. Buenaventura: Displacement of an undetermined number of persons. Riofrío: At-risk communities.

Caquetá: Belén de los Anadaquíes: Displacement of nearly 130 persons. Curillo: Displacement of 15 families. Montañita: At-risk communities

B) Other Impact

At-risk communities: El Carmen de Viboral and San Francisco (Antioquia), Santa Rosa del Sur (Bolivar), Pensilvania (Caldas), Montañita (Caquetá), Bojayá (Chocó), Tibú (Norte de Santander), El Cairo and Riofrío (Valle del Cauca). Returns: Urrao (Antioquia).

RESPONSE ACTIVITIES

NATIONAL LEVEL ICRC with the support of Reported that during the first quarter of 2005 (January – March), they have the Colombian Red Cross attended 8 mass displacements (the majority in Antioquia), although that which affected the largest number of persons was in Chocó. In total, ICRC attended to 2,772 persons (667 families) in 8 mass displacements.

At the same time, over the same period, ICRC offered humanitarian assistance to 8,550 persons (2,000 families) individually displaced in the 13 cities where ICRC has an office.

Assistance includes the distribution of means of basic subsistence (groceries, cooking utensils, personal hygiene articles, blankets and mattresses). ICRC providing the following assistance: 3,108 persons (744 families) from individual displacements attended in 13 cities with ICRC offices and 1,496 persons (365 persons) attended in three mass displacements in Bojayá (Chocó) and Barbacoas (Nariño). More information may be obtained at: www.ICRC.org

CISP Is providing psychosocial assistance to populations affected by displacement in the departments of Antioquia, Arauca, Caldas and Norte de Santander. The objective of this assistance is to improve the emotional situation of this population in order to achieve a degree of stability in the grieving process.

WFP, ICBF and SSN Attended with 237 tons of food for 19,304 persons in food crisis situations in the departments of Antioquia, Bolívar, Bogotá, Cesar, Chocó, Córdoba, Cundinamarca, La Guajira, Magdalena, Meta, Norte de Santander, Santander.

WFP also distributed 492 tons of food for 110,092 children from vulnerable families or those affected by the difficult humanitarian situation in Colombia, through School Feeding projects in 14 departments.

WFP distributed 58 tons of food to 7,711 persons through different Food for Work activities in 6 departments and principally focused on agriculture, self- construction, cattle farming, business management and support for re- establishment process for families in displacement situations.

ANTIOQUIA Samaná CISP Distributed lumber, shingles, chimneys and cooking utensils as part of (Caldas), housing rehabilitation activities for 132 families in Samaná (Caldas), 113 Argelia and families in Argelia (Antioquia) and 52 families in Dabeiba (Antioquia). Dabeiba CAQUETÁ

Began the project “Strengthening associations and micro-enterprise made up of populations in the process of economic re-establishment”, the objective of Doncello and which is to improve production processes, the diversification of production Valparaíso IOM and market positions for two associative organizations and one group of plantain producers which are part of a population affected by displacement, along with 45 persons from the receptor community distributed up into COOPERCAMBIO (29 beneficiaries), ARCA (50 beneficiaries) and Plantain producers of Valparaíso and Doncello (24 beneficiaries).

CAUCA Guapi FAO Approved the project “Establishment of the foundations for fishing, for the agricultural peasant’s association ASOCAUCA”. This project is the first focusing on fishermen that has been approved in Colombia and benefits 80 persons including 20 vulnerable families, since it is basically focused on male and female heads of households. Its objective is to obtain the necessary instruments in order to implement fishing with the members of the Asociación de Agricultores del Cauca, ASOCAUCA, which permits the optimization of resources, thus obtaining improved production, assuring improvements to local diets and improved income for members and their families in the association. The project lasts for 12 months.

CORDOBA Offered technical cooperation to the Departmental Secretary of Health of PAHO/WHO Córdoba in the revision of the information system and the design of a work plan with IDP populations. Worked together jointly with the Secretaries of Health of these Montelíbano PAHO/WHO municipalities, in order to advance on topics of Sexual and Reproductive and Puerto health strategies among adolescents, healthy housing, community mothers Libertador and the medical mission. CUNDINAMARCA Soacha PAHO/WHO Participated in the definition of the Basic Assistance Unit together with members of the Municipal Coordination Mechanism for the project of the Global Fund for the Fight against Malaria, TBC and HIV/AIDS “Construction of an intersectoral sexual and reproductive health response with an emphasis on prevention and attention for STD-HIV-AIDS with an emphasis on youths and adolescents resident in IDP receptor communities”.

PAHO also offered technical assistance in the process of seeking to eliminate access barriers to offer healthcare services for the IDP population, including the Ministry of Social Protection, Departmental and Municipal Secretaries of Health, the Hospital Mario Gaitán Yanguas, Municipal ESE.

With the support of DANE and the technical cooperation provided by PAHO/WHO the Epidemiological Municipal Surveillance Committee was implemented, in which the behavior of events were analyzed within the target of Public Health Surveillance, approaching the topics of Vital Statistics, the Correct Completion of Birth and Death Certificates. MAGDALENA Aracataca ICRC Provided cooperation with medical personnel for the hospital at Aracataca, including the inhabitants of the rural veredas of Fuente Alta, Cerro Azul and Rio de Piedra Dos. Within the framework of this program there were 202 medical checkups, 77 dental checkups, 33 flouride treatments, 81 vaccine distributions, 67 injury treatments and nursing activities and 16 prenatal care sessions. NARIÑO Provided technical assistance in the areas of preparation and hospital plans Tumaco PAHO/WHO for disaster prevention, with a focus on earthquakes, floods and tsunamis in the region. Pasto PAHO/WHO Provided technical assistance to the Municipal Health Directorate of Pasto and several local universities, for the consolidation of a first level assistance model with a focus on Family and Community Health for vulnerable and IDP populations.

In addition, PAHO/WHO is working with IDP organizations, Opción Legal, IOM and other institutions in order to realize situation analysis, and decide on a baseline of action, and also to elaborate a Working Plan on Health with IDPs, to be presented to the healthcare authorities and before IDP assistance committees.

NORTE DE SANTANDER Tibú IOM Began the project “Construction of an initial stage of sewage construction in La Gabarra and a treatment plant for waste water” thanks to the intersinstitutional coordination actions by State organizations (EMTIBÚ ESP, the Tibú Mayor’s Office, the Government of Norte de Santander and the Social Solidarity Network) which united efforts in order to improve and provided high-quality and efficient sewage services through the construction of the first stage of sewage pipelines and the construction of a wastewater treatment plant in the municipality. The project seeks to radically improve the sanitary conditions of the population living in the urban areas of the corregimiento of La Gabarra.

CISP Is working on the social re-establishment of 50 families in Tibú municipality and 100 in El Tarra. Assistance is being offered through the distribution of housing materials for IDP families and improving water services. IOM Began the project “Institutional Strengthening for the Secretary of the Interior of the Government of Norte de Santander”, the objective of which is to contribute to regional and local institutional development and socio- economic stabilization for IDP and vulnerable families in the department. For this goal, IOM will provide aid, assistance and opportune orientation to IDPs, along with training of public officials, coordination and organization of the assistance system, in such a way that dignified conditions for return and re- establishment are guaranteed. The project incorporates gender perspective within the framework of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law. PUTUMAYO Began the project Food and Nutrition connected to Food Security and IOM Psychosocial Assistance – Mental Health”, to be implemented with Pastoral Social – Diocese of Mocoa, to benefit 1,271 vulnerable persons and IDPs in

Mocoa, Villagarzón, Valle del Guamuéz and Leguízamo municipalities.

SANTANDER Bucaramanga PAHO/WHO Promoted and participated in the coordination process for the Plan for Basic Assistance for Bucaramanga with the community, involving IDP representatives. Girón PAHO/WHO As part of the monitoring of the response to the flooding emergency in Girón and Bucaramanga, PAHO/WHO supported the Secretary of Health of Santander for the design of an action plan with surveillance actions in the areas of community epidemiology, rapid situation monitoring, basic sanitation actions and vector control. Provincia de PAHO/WHO Held the second course on Local Organization in 6 municipalities (Onzaga, García Rovira Enciso, Capitanejo, Carcasí, San José de Miranda and Macaravita), as part of an on-going process to expand the AIEPI strategy (Integral Assistance to Prevalent Childhood Diseases) which seeks to eliminate infant mortality.

La Belleza ICRC Built a group meeting hall in Colegio San José A Beltrán, to benefit 1,164 persons of the community. TOLIMA Ataco ICRC Distributed 30 water storage tanks to the community. These tanks will

benefit 192 persons. In addition, ICRC held training on the proper use of the tanks and on care for water sources.

Chaparral ICRC Completed and presented the construction of the La Alemania school. This construction will benefit 350 persons. VALLE DEL CAUCA PAHO/WHO Began the implementation of a coordinated program with the Office for Peace Management of Valle and the Secretary of Health of Valle for the creation of an Operational Healthcare Plan for Valle with IDPs.

PAHO/WHO Provided technical cooperation to the Office for Peace Management, the Secretary for Peace Management of Valle, the Secretary of Health of Valle, the Social Solidarity Network of Valle, IOM, 16 municipalities with IDP populations in Valle (not including Cali), local Ombudsmen’s Offices, ICBF, and NGOs for the evaluation and adjustment of the healthcare component in Unified Integral Assistance Plans for IDP populations in each municipality.

Buenaventura Fundación FES, IOM, Began the implementation of the project “Nutritional Habits and Integral PAHO/WHO and the Control of Malaria, as a complementary strategy for the project Health Mayor’s Office Housing for IDPs and Vulnerable Populations”. The project seeks to benefit 100 IDPs and vulnerable persons.

IOM Approved the project “Improvements to housing in the corregimiento of Bajo Calima” through which there will be infrastructure improvements provided to 220 families, including roof repair, structure reinforcements, the construction of bathrooms and in some cases the construction of a bedroom. Cali PAHO/WHO Realized the operational coordination of the Secretaries of Health of Valle and Cali, of Hospitals Level I Carlos Holmes Trujillo and Level II Isaías Duarte Cancino of the Aguablanca District, IDP organizations and NGOs to realize situation analyses, to concrete a baseline and to prepare a Working Plan on Health with the IDP Population in Aguablanca District, Cali.