UN HUMANITARIAN SITUATION ROOM - COLOMBIA REPORT MAY 2004 I. NATIONAL CONTEXT · The Second Chamber of the Constitutional Court, through decision T 327/04 issued 15 April 2004, ruled in favor of the members of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó and other persons related to the Community’s members with work contracts. This community sued to protect its fundamental rights to life, personal integrity and security, freedom of movement, personal dignity, privacy of the home with the exception of judicial order and intimacy. The Constitutional Court ordered the Commander of the XVIIth Army Brigade, or his substitute, to comply with the obligations placed on the Colombian State in his order of jurisdiction, by the Inter- American Court for Human Rights on June 18th, 2002. Via this resolution, the Inter-American Court requested the imposition of provisional measures for the protection of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, as they were the target of serious acts of violence, blockades and multiple killings of community members by paramilitary groups. In addition, the Resolution required the Colombian State to present the Inter-American Court a detailed report of provisional measures every two months. The Constitutional Court also ordered the State to adopt and maintain all necessary measures to assure that those persons affected can continue to live in their habitual residences within the Community, and also to facilitate the return of IDPs to their homes. At the same time, the Court ordered that the State guarantee free movement to Tierra Amarilla, a center of great importance for the transport and commercialization of food products and other goods. · The Annual Report of the U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR) indicated that Colombia is third on a list of the 10 countries according to number of IDPs. According to the Report, Colombia has 2,273,000 IDPs, placing it immediately behind Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The report also noted that during 2003, the armed conflict obliged 250,000 persons to abandon their homes. In addition, 200,000 Colombian refugees are currently in neighboring countries, and another 34,000 in countries such as Costa Rica (8,300 persons) and the United States (19,400 persons). The report attributes the causes of displacement both to the military offensive of the Government, as well as confrontations between the Armed Forces, the guerrillas and the paramilitaries. · On May 13th, in the town of Santa Fe de Ralito, located in Tierralta municipality (Córdoba), representatives of the national Government and members of the negotiating team of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) paramilitaries signed an agreement designating part of the municipality of Tierralta as a “Zone of Temporary Location”. The agreement was signed in the presence of representatives of the Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia of the OAS and the Catholic Church. The purpose of the accord is to contribute to the completion and verification of a cease-fire agreement, to define a timeline for the concentration and demobilization of the AUC, to permit a dialogue table with representation by national and international sectors of society, and the participation and contribution of citizens to the process. The Zone comprises an area of 368 km2, which includes the corregimientos of Santa Fe de Ralito and El Carmelo. Ten commanders are expected to arrive in the Zone (two of them requested in extradition by the United States) together with another 400 men. The Zone will last for six months, with the possibility of an extension. If the Zone would cease to exist prior to completion of the process, AUC members will have a five day period to evacuate the Zone. The agreement suspends orders for the capture, extradition and military operations of AUC members in the Zone, as well as the suspension of all commercial and private flights at less than 10,000 feet altitude. At the same time, a Security and Co-existence Committee will be created, along with a Verification Committee, made up of delegates from the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace, the OAS and the AUC. 1 Project supported by: II. ARMED CONFLICT - AFFECTED POPULATION North of Santander: El Tarra: Guajira: Dibulla: Displacement of 126 persons. At-risk Displacement of 21 A) Population movements community. San Calixto: At-risk indigenous families. community. At-risk community. Chocó : Alto Baudó: Displacement of 25 Uribia: Mass displacement of 100 families. Vigía del Fuerte (Antioquia) and families. At-risk Córdoba: Borders of the Zone of Bojayá: Displacement of 2,000 persons. Location: At-risk community. Saiza: Novitá: Displacement of an undetermined community. San Juan del Cesar: Return of 10 families. Cesar: number of persons. At-risk community. Becerril, manaure, Agustín Codazzi, Belén de Bajirá: Displacement of 60 persons. At-risk communtiy. Return of 173 familes Pueblo Bello, El Copey, and Bojayá: At-risk community. Valledupar: At-risk communtiy. Return of 46 indigenous families. Bolivar: San Pablo: At-risk community. Antioquia : Cocorná: Displacement of 62 families.. San Carlos: Displacement of 50 Arauca: Tame: At-risk families. community. San Rafael, San Luis, Cocorná, Nariño, San Francisco, Dabeiba, Granada, Ituango, and San Santander: Landázuri and Carlos: At-risk communities. Cimitarra: Displacements of an Dabeiba: Return of an undetermined number of undetermined number of persons. persons. Cauca : Puracé, Toribío, Jambaló and Tambo: At- Cundinamarca: Desplazamiento de 96 familias risk communities. (371 personas) en 25 municipios. Silvana, pasca, Pandi, Huila: Neiva, Palermo, Granada, Tibacuy, Chía: Tello and Santa María, Comunidades en riesgo Baraya: Displacement of an undetermined number of persons. Bogotá: Ciudad Bolívar: At-risk community. Nariño: Barbacoas: Displacement of 91 persons. Vaupés: At-risk indigenous communities. Tolima: Planadas: Displacement of an undetermined number of persons. Putumayo: Puerto Asís: Displacements from the Caquetá: Cartagena del Chairá: area of Teteyé. At-risk Displacement of 353 families community.Puerto (1,755 persons). Leguízamo, San Miguel, Milán: Displacement of 96 Puerto Guzmán, Valle persons. del Guamuéz: At-risk Region of the Yarí plains: communities. Displacement of an undetermined number of indigenous persons. Curillo, San José del Fragua, Albania, Solano, and Milán: At- risk communities. Meta: Vista Hermosa: Displacement of 155 persons. Lejanías and El Castillo: Displacements of an undetermined number of persons. EL Castillo, Mapiripán and Puerto Gaitán: At-risk communities 2 Project supported by: B) Other Impact § At-risk Communities: San Rafael, San Luis, Cocorná, Nariño, San Francisco, Dabeiba, Ituango, Granada and San Carlos (Antioquia); Tame (Arauca); Borders of the Zone of Location (Córdoba); Ciudad Bolivar (Bogotá); San Pablo (Bolivar), Curillo, San José del Fragua, Albania, Solano and Milán (Caquetá); Puracé, Toribío, Jambaló, Tambo (Cauca), Becerril, Manaure, Agustín Codazzi, Pueblo Bello, El Copey and Valledupar (Cesar); Silvana, Pasca, Pandi, Granada, Chia and Tibacuy (Cundinamarca); Bojayá, Novitá (Chocó); San Juan del Cesar, Dibulla and Uribia (La Guajira); El Castillo, Mapiripán and Puerto Gaitán (Meta), El Tarra and San Calixto (Norte de Santander), Puerto Leguízamo, Puerto Asís, Puerto Guzmán, Valle del Guamuéz and San Miguel (Putumayo); Vaupés. § Returns: Dabeiba (Antioquia), Valledupar (Cesar), Tierralta (Córdoba), San Juan (La Guajira). § Needs: According to SSN, although local governments and some international organizations are controlling the high number of endemic sicknesses such as dengue fever, tuberculosis and typhoid fever in Caquetá, the situation could get out of control easily in case of influx of large number of IDPs. The corregimiento of Aquitania in San Francisco (Antioquia) needs a state presence to re-start academic, commercial and transportation activities. Although the Mayor’s Office of Barbacoas (Nariño) is distributing emergency assistance to IDPs in rural veredas El Playón, El Chocho, Conquisté, La Belleza and Ricaurte municipality, this assistance is insufficient due to the size of the displacement. According to the NGO MINGA, the rural IDP population from El Tarra and San Calixto (Norte de Santander) has been forced to take refuge in the mountains without any protection or food. RESPONSE ACTIVITIES NATIONAL LEVEL ICRC During the first quarter 2004, distributed emergency assistance to a total of 21,213 new cases, of whom 4.6% are indigenous persons and 4.8% Afro- Colombians. ANTIOQUIA San Francisco CISP, SSN, WFP, ICBF, Participated in a humanitarian caravan to the corregimiento Aquitania. The DEPARD, Municipal convoy distributed food to the IDP and blockaded population. Also realized Committee for IDP community activities and offered psychosocial assistance. Assistance Dabeiba CISP, WFP Participated in a humanitarian caravan to the corregimiento San José de Uramá. During the convoy, distributed food and psychosocial assistance to the IDP population. San Luis UNICEF Held a training workshop on sexual and reproductive health, with the participation of 49 adolescents and 21 teachers. Bojayá y Vigía UNICEF Implemented recreational therapy with 715 IDP children. And held group del Fuerte therapy sessions for IDP women from Bellavista. (Antioquia) ARAUCA SSN Assisted recently displaced persons, especially with shelter, habitat kits and kitchen kits. BOGOTÁ SSN Implementing production activities that guarantee the well being of 166 IDP families. SSN also