Submission to UK and Irish governments in advance of the 60th United Nations Commission on Human Rights ABColombia Christian Aid, Cafod, Oxfam GB, Save the Children UK, SCIAF, Trócaire Agencias Británicas e Irlandesas trabajando en Colombia British and Irish agencies working in Colombia February 2004 Recommendations 1. We request that the High Commissioner submit his report to the General Assembly of the United Nations. 2. We support a strong statement by the Commission on Colombia, which calls on the government of Colombia to: • comply with its duty to protect civilians and those working in defence of human rights – members of non-governmental organisations, trade unions, and popular and social organisations • take rapid and effective measures to break the continuing links between state security forces and paramilitary groups, as recommended by the UN and inter-American human rights bodies • strengthen protection of human rights, through developing and implementing a national plan of action for human rights and international humanitarian law in line with the Vienna declaration, and international recommendations • prioritise creating an adequate policy on forced displacement, which places prevention of displacement and protection of rights at its centre, and is properly funded • ensure that justice and reparation for victims of the conflict do not become casualties of talks with paramilitary and other armed groups, and that amnesties are not offered to those responsible for gross human rights violations. Decree 128 should therefore be withdrawn and the draft Bill on the reintegration of armed groups should be reformed in accordance with UN recommendations • fully implement the 24 UN human rights recommendations made in 2003 and supported in the London Declaration (July 2003) • take urgent steps to comply with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, especially the right to universal, free, basic education for all Colombian children and the development of a state protection policy for children and young people • revise military and criminal-code provisions concerning children who take part in the conflict or are recruited into armed groups, in accordance with international standards of juvenile justice. 2 Introduction For the past five years, the international community, human rights groups and other elements of civil society, have been calling on the Colombian government to account for its policies and actions before the United Nations Commission for Human Rights. As in all previous years, we, the British agencies working in Colombia, refer the Colombian government to the clear and repeated recommendations of the UN system, the inter-American system and non- governmental organisations that could be incorporated into public policy. Considering the UN human rights recommendations made in 2003 to the Colombian government and the analysis of progress made to date,1 once again the recommendations of the Commission on Human Rights have been widely ignored – indeed, in many cases policies have been implemented that directly contradict the recommendations. The EU’s Council Conclusions (January 2004) and the London Declaration (July 2003) both reflect the priority the international community gives to the fulfilment of these recommendations. We urge the commission to send an unequivocal message to President Alvaro Uribe Vélez that: • respect for human rights and international humanitarian law is not ‘optional’ • UN human rights recommendations cannot be selectively implemented • the support of the international community depends upon the Colombian government making a genuine commitment to human rights. For these reasons, we press the commission for a strong and unambiguous statement on Colombia and for the commissioner’s report to be presented to the General Assembly, providing a second, more political forum at which the Colombian government can be held to account for its actions. A review of the past year It is now 18 months since President Alvaro Uribe Vélez came to power. The priority of the administration has been the development of a range of legislation under the guiding concept of the democratic security policy (DSP). Accordingly, there have been a number of changes since the last commission on human rights: • After eight months, the ‘state of internal commotion’ (SIC) and rehabilitation and consolidation zones (RCZ) were ruled unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court and dismantled. • The highly controversial network of paid, anonymous informers has expanded considerably, as has the peasant-soldier initiative. • Mass detentions of civilians without warrant have become commonplace. • Human rights groups and other non-governmental organisations 2 (NGOs) have become increasingly stigmatised and been made targets of multiple raids, threats and attacks, as well as being subjected to arbitrary judicial proceedings. A highly controversial process of paramilitary demobilisation is already underway in some parts of the country, with a potential amnesty for human rights violations in the pipeline. An anti-terrorist Bill has also been approved by CongressYet, while the military approach to addressing Colombia’s conflict is being ever expanded, there is still no sign of the Action Plan on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (IHL) that the Colombian government agreed to last year. 1 See State of Compliance by the International Office on Human Rights – Action Colombia, OIDHACO 2 Typically, these organisations are elements of civil society, working on human rights, displacement, peace and developmen issuest; they also encompass church groups, women’s groups, social organisations and movements, black and indigenous groups. 3 An ongoing disagreement over human rights statistics is currently dominating the dialogue between the state and civil society organisations, but whatever the definitions and enumeration methods used, human rights abuses remain extremely widespread. All sides in the conflict – guerrillas, paramilitaries and the state – systematically ignore the right of civilians to remain outside the conflict, using violence, torture, ‘disappearances’, kidnapping, killings, threats and blockades to control the population. The rights of victims to truth, justice and reparation are largely ignored. The proposed alternative justice Bill, effectively offering amnesties to paramilitaries and guerrillas who agree to de-mobilise, is likely to make matters worse. The Bill may also guarantee members of the security forces impunity. The UN and the EU have emphatically pointed out that the Colombian government must respect international humanitarian law and human rights conventions to which it is a signatory. The humanitarian situation remains extremely urgent, characterised by complex displacement strategies and dynamics.3 In 2003, illegal armed groups began to deliberately restrict the movement of civilians in conflict-affected areas, effectively preventing them from displacing. They now use intimidation and threats to prevent people displacing on a large scale, while selective killings and individual or ‘trickle’ displacement have begun to replace mass displacement. The relatively slow but steady flow of displaced people is much harder to monitor and record. There are often no conditions for safe and sustainable returns, resulting in re-displacement. In human rights cases almost 100 per cent impunity remains the norm. Members of the armed forces accused of human rights abuses are still being tried in military, instead of civilian, courts. Civilian courts fail repeatedly to advance investigations into human rights violations, particularly when high-ranking security-force officers are implicated. Collusion between the army and paramilitary groups continues to be reported across the country. And the government has appointed members of the military who have outstanding, credible allegations of human rights abuses against them, in particular, the recently appointed General Ospina as head of the armed forces. In December 2003, an anti-terrorist Bill was approved in Congress on its eighth reading. This reform Bill grants judicial police functions to the military, allowing them to waive processes of judicial authorisation, contravening UN human rights recommendations. The Council Conclusions of the EU urge the Colombian government to reconsider the Bill. This brief summary of the human rights context in Colombia has highlighted some of the elements of DSP that pose particular concerns for human rights. There is more detail below on each of these key issues, which we believe should be addressed in a strong statement by the Commission. Undermining the rule of law President Uribe started his presidency by declaring a ‘state of internal commotion4 (SIC) and followed by issuing Decree 2002, the first special legislation for the SIC. This decree gave the police and security forces judicial police powers, with authority to capture, search and intercept communications without warrant, and to use the results obtained as admissible evidence. While the SIC and the ‘rehabilitation and consolidation zones’ (RCZs) were revoked after the 3 Combatants on all sides continue to use strategies that draw civilians directly into the conflict, in many cases forcing them to abandon their homes and livelihoods, in other cases controlling the movement of the civilian population through armed sieges and blockades of entire communities. Although an expert NGO consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement (CODHES) recorded a significant decrease in the rate