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The Program of the "Personero" Office of Ibagué*

On the initiative of the Personero Office, the city of Ibagué, the capital of the department of Tolima, has drawn up a permanent program to defend Human Rights and particularly to encourage the development of a culture of Human Rights and peace. This initiative goes beyond the national level. The setting up of an Experimental Training Center and an open forum for the study of Human Rights and peace is being promoted at the Andean Community level.

The social and historical characteristics of Tolima, the scene of civil wars in the nineteenth century and partisan violence in the middle of the twentieth century, as well as of present-day conflicts in the south and north of the department, have given rise, as a reaction, to the idea of promoting a culture of Human Rights and peace.

The Personero Office of Ibagué has several areas of activity in favor of Human Rights. Work with children, who are regarded as the seedlings of the people of the new millennium, has been intensified, as part of the effort to create a new social mentality and new social behavior patterns. To this end School Peace Tables are being set up at the city�s schools, and a Primer for Children Friends of Human Rights and Peace has been produced. It is included in primary and secondary education curricula. The development of a culture of peace at schools is reinforced with books on peace and permanent training through group dynamics on such subjects as tolerance, peaceful coexistence, prevention of mistreatment of children, child sexual abuse, violence in the family, addiction to drugs, alcoholism and satanic sects. Some schools have implemented the idea of the "Honey Drops Vaccine" to stimulate tolerance and kindness among children.

The Personero Office, in coordination with the Municipal Education Office, is organizing a school campaign for the disarmament of children through a Personeros School Network. This campaign is aimed not only at discouraging children from using war toys, but also at achieving an inner disarmament in every child, in an effort to confront from school violence generated by negative emotional states.

In addition, educational campaigns on humanitarian issues and Human Rights are carried out among vulnerable people, particularly the handicapped and the elderly. Likewise, campaigns have been organized to train members of security bodies and military garrisons in International Humanitarian Law.

Furthermore, Peace Tables and Human Rights Committees have been set up in the city�s two prisons, to serve nearly 1,500 inmates. Permanent work is also done among the destitute of the city through a "Committee for the inhabitants of the street", made up of some 26 state and private institutions and NGOs. The Municipal Council has endorsed this effort, a Personero Office�s initiative.

Human Rights awareness among the community is raised through periodic visits to hospitals, old people�s homes, prisons, and also through local radio and television programs.