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FOLLOW-UP on the DEMOBILIZATION PROCESS of the AUC in COLOMBIA Digest of Published Documents (2004-2007)

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ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS OEA/Ser.L/V/II CIDH/INF.2/07 INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS FOLLOW-UP ON THE DEMOBILIZATION PROCESS OF THE AUC IN COLOMBIA Digest of published documents (2004-2007) GENERAL SECRETARIAT ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES 1889 F. St. N.W. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20006 2007 Internet: http://www.cidh.org OAS Cataloging-in-Publication Data Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Seguimiento de la Comisioń Interamericana de Derechos Humanos al proceso de desmovilizacioń de las AUC en Colombia : compendio de documentos publicados (2004-2007) = Inter-American Commission on Human Rights follow-up on the demobilization process of the AUC in Colombia : digest of published documents (2004-2007) / Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. p. ; cm. (OEA Documentos Oficiales; OEA Ser.L) (OAS Official Records Series; OEA Ser.L) ISBN 978-0-8270-5185-0 1. Justice, Administration of --Colombia. 2. Human rights--Colombia. 2. Civil rights--Colombia. I. Title. II Series. OEA/Ser.L/V/II CIDH/ INF. 2/07 Document published thanks to the financial support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency Positions herein expressed are those of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and do not reflect the views of Sida. INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS FOLLOW-UP ON THE DEMOBILIZATION PROCESS OF THE AUC IN COLOMBIA Digest of published documents (2004-2007) TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE REPORT ON THE DEMOBILIZATION PROCESS IN COLOMBIA (December 13, 2004)............................................................................................ 1 PRESS RELEASE Nº 26/05 - IACHR ISSUES STATEMENT REGARDING THE ADOPTION OF THE “LAW OF JUSTICE AND PEACE” IN COLOMBIA (July, 15 2005)...................................................................................................41 STATEMENT BY THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS ON THE APPLICATION AND SCOPE OF THE JUSTICE AND PEACE LAW IN COLOMBIA (August 1, 2006) .........................................................43 REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE JUSTICE AND PEACE LAW: INITIAL STAGES IN THE DEMOBILIZATION OF THE AUC AND FIRST JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS (October 2, 2007)..................................................63 REPORT ON THE DEMOBILIZATION PROCESS IN COLOMBIA Document published thanks to the financial support of the European Commission. Positions herein expressed are those of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and do not reflect the views of the European Commission. REPORT ON THE DEMOBILIZATION PROCESS IN COLOMBIA TABLE OF CONTENTS Page EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... 1 I. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 5 II. PRINCIPLES AND STANDARDS FOR OVERCOMING ARMED CONFLICTS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES FOR THE CIVILIAN POPULATION ...................................... 7 A. The right to know the truth about the crimes of international law perpetrated during the conflict ......................................................................................... 10 B. The right to justice and the judicial clarification of crimes of international law perpetrated during the conflict ........................................................................ 12 C. Victims’ right to reparation for the harm caused................................................ 15 III. CONTEXT: ORIGIN AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INTERNAL ARMED CONFLICT IN COLOMBIA.............................................................................................................. 17 A. Historical Origins ........................................................................................... 17 B. The impact of the conflict on the civilian population .......................................... 20 C. Background on efforts to resolve the internal armed conflict in Colombia and its legal framework.................................................................................. 23 IV. CURRENT EFFORTS TO DEMOBILIZE ILLEGAL GROUPS AND THEIR LEGAL FRAMEWORK................................................................................................ 25 A. Individual demobilization as a permanent strategy for disarming illegal armed groups....................................................................................... 29 B. Collective demobilization: The experience of the Bloque Cacique Nutibara ............ 33 C. The process of negotiating conditions for the return to civilian life with the Negotiating High Command of the AUC (zona de ubicación in Santafé de Ralito)... 35 V. CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................ 38 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. On February 6, 2004, the Member States of the Organization of American States (OAS), meeting in the Permanent Council, unanimously expressed their “unequivocal support for the efforts of the Government of President Álvaro Uribe Vélez to find a firm and lasting peace” in the Republic of Colombia, as well as their interest in the Organization accompanying these efforts (Resolution CP/RES. 859 (1397/04) ”Support to the Peace Process in Colombia"). The Permanent Council’s resolution highlights the need to “ensure that the role of the OAS is fully consistent with the obligations of its Member States with respect to the effective exercise of human rights and international humanitarian law” and invites the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to provide advisory services to the MAPP/OAS Mission. From July 11 to 17, 2004, a delegation of the IACHR headed by Vice-President and Rapporteur for Colombia, Susana Villarán, and the Executive Secretary of the IACHR, Santiago A. Canton, travelled to Colombia to examine the initiatives for the demobilization of illegal armed groups as well as the applicable legal regime and mechanisms aimed at ensuring that the process unfolds in keeping with the State’s international obligations. Subsequent to its visit, the IACHR adopted a report on the question of the negotiations between armed actors and the Government of Colombia and the challenges vis-à-vis the State’s international obligations in the area of human rights. 2. The four-decade internal armed conflict in Colombia is extremely complex and involves high incidences of violence. In the last 15 years, the excesses committed by the parties in the internal armed conflict have taken the form of serious violations of human rights and/or international humanitarian law against the civilian population. The IACHR has repeatedly stated its concern over the commission of crimes that continue to exacerbate the humanitarian crisis affecting more than two million persons, and that has caused hundreds of thousands of victims. 3. This is a situation that demands solutions, the search for which cannot be further delayed. Nonetheless, the road to peaceful coexistence is not simple: successive governments have failed in their efforts to eradicate the violence or have had only partial or relative successes. The demobilization mechanisms have not been accompanied by comprehensive measures to provide relief to the victims of the violence nor to clarify the many criminal acts that remain unpunished, and therefore the factors generating the conflict in large measure persist. In addition, many of those who have benefited from past demobilizations have been victims of retaliatory attacks and others have eventually chosen to join other illegal armed groups, re-engaging in the conflict. In any event, the mechanisms for demobilizing armed groups have not had the impact required to break the circle of violence in Colombia. Given this context, the complexity of the situation will no doubt require extraordinary efforts to regain peace and ensure the rule of law for all Colombians. 4. After the election and inauguration of President Álvaro Uribe Vélez in August 2002, some leaders of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) made public their intent to negotiate terms for the demobilization of their forces. One of the main issues discussed by the parties –and in public debate— related to the incentives for demobilization in terms of procedural benefits. The current legal framework established by Law 418 of 1997 (which was extended by Congress by Law 782 in December 2002) provides, inter alia, that those who have been involved in conduct constituting atrocious acts of ferocity or barbarism, terrorism, kidnapping, genocide, and homicide cannot benefit from a cessation of procedure (cesación de procedimiento), a resolution of preclusion of the investigation (resolución de preclusión de la instrucción), or a resolution of dismissal (resolución inhibitoria) because of their demobilization. Therefore AUC members either accused, or convicted of, the commission of these sorts of crimes might not be eligible to benefit from the mechanisms to extinguish penalties provided for by the current legal framework for individual and collective demobilizations. In response to this situation there are several legislative proposals advocating alternatives for the demobilization of the AUC, the applicable judicial procedures, and possible ways 2 of making reparation to the victims of the conflict. However, there are questions on whether these alternative proposals are truly consistent with the framework of the State’s international obligations with respect to truth, justice, and reparation. 5.
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