1.THE SELF-DEFENSE GROUPS CARRY OUT ATTACKS ON THE CIVILIAN POPULATION AND STATE OFFICIALS Substantial evidence does exist that the self-defense groups play a part in the deterioration of the situation in Colombia through their attacks against the population, particularly the peasants and the poorest sectors. Also, and less publicized, is the fact that the self-defense groups carry out attacks against state officials and political leaders. The self-defense groups carry out attacks on the civilian population The murder of civilians, the so-called massacres and other forms of
intimidation and attack against the civilian population, are well-known
war strategies of the self-defense groups, and constitute breaches of
international humanitarian law. These are unquestionable facts demonstrated by figures provided by government offices and non-governmental organizations. These include the records, kept by the Military Forces, of civilians killed hors de combat when the murderer has been identified; the figures about political homicides collected by the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace and the National Police; the data about massacres compiled by the Office of the People's Advocate; the statistics about political homicides and victims of massacres gathered by the Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights; the data for political homicides and extrajudicial executions provided by the Colombian Commission of Jurists; and the figures of CINEP-Justice and Peace for massacres and homicides of protected persons. An overall examination of the figures on fatalities in the armed conflict, particularly the victims of massacres, reveals that the self-defense groups bear responsibility in a very large number of cases, with a significant upwards trend since 1998. According to the Army Command, self-defense and subversive groups compete, month after month, for first place in the number of civilians murdered. While subversive groups were responsible for the majority of homicides of civilians in 1999, in the year 2000 the greatest number of them was attributable to the self-defense groups. The self-defense groups' responsibility for civilian deaths grew by 32 per cent compared to the previous year. According to the Office of the People's Advocate, the self-defense groups are responsible for the vast majority of massacres. Until September 2000 they had carried out 93 massacres with 512 victims. The number of massacres committed by the self-defense groups has increased considerably since 1995. As can be deduced from the information provided by the National Police, the rise in the number of massacres coincides with the expansion of the self-defense groups. The self-defense groups are also responsible for the largest number of mass displacements of peasants. According to the Social Solidarity Network's estimates system, the self-defense groups provoked 53 per cent of displacements in the first six months of 2000, with a number of regional variations.
KIDNAPPINGS CARRIED OUT BY THE SELF-DEFENSE GROUPS DURING 2000
Kidnapping and disappearance are also practices commonly resorted to by the self-defense groups, in violation of international humanitarian law. Data from the Program for Personal Liberty indicate that the number of kidnappings carried out by these illegal armed groups this year is on the rise, although it is still lower than the number of those carried out by the guerrillas. As demonstrated by the Ministry of Defense, kidnapping has turned into another method used by the self-defense groups to keep their income up, since the number of kidnappings for purposes of extortion carried out by them has increased. Army and National Police data indicate that the number of kidnappings by the self-defense groups went up from 45 in 1998, to 106 in 1999, to 203 during the first ten months of 2000. The self-defense groups are also responsible for the vast majority of homicides of protected persons and cases of torture, according to the records of breaches of international humanitarian law kept by CINEP, the non-governmental organization. In the past three years, according to the Military Forces General Command, they have also stepped up their attacks against life and personal integrity, in breach of international humanitarian law. The same source also informs of an increasing number of cases of disappearance of persons attributable to the self-defense groups. In some cases, the victims are found in mass graves, with mutilations and clear signs of torture. The self-defense groups carry out attacks against towns and villages, even if to a lesser extent than the guerrillas do. According to the Military Forces General Command, in 1999 the guerrillas and self-defense groups launched attacks on 106 Colombian towns, 9.7 per cent of the country's municipalities. In 1999 the self-defense groups made attacks on 11 towns, and on 4 more in 2000 until June. This represents 11 per cent of all such attacks. Furthermore, the self-defense groups murder persons who take no direct part in the hostilities, carry out attacks against public and private installations, commit piracy and set up road blocks, and continue to recruit children to take part in the conflict. The self-defense groups' war strategies, including attacks against the poor, peasant population, and the practice of human rights violations such as torture, murders hors de combat, massacres and enforced displacement, contribute to the critical situation facing Colombia. Kidnapping, raids on towns and illegal roadblocks are on the increase, and replicate the tactics of subversive groups, thus contributing to the intensification of the conflict. The growth of the self-defense groups and their territorial expansion go hand in hand with the increase in all these practices.
The self-defense groups carry out attacks on state officials and political leaders It has been a traditional belief that the guerrillas are responsible for all homicides, kidnappings and disappearances of government officials and political leaders. Little attention is paid to the fact that the self-defense groups are also responsible for a large number of these crimes. We consulted and processed lists of facts and statistics frequently overlooked from a variety of sources, including CINEP-Justice and Peace Databank, the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace, the Administrative Department of Security, DAS, and the Prosecutor General's Office. One significant difficulty associated with this approach to the problem is that in many of the cases we studied it is virtually impossible to establish responsibility. CINEP files on cases in which responsibility is attributed to self-defense groups contain information on 91 homicides of local, regional and national public servants and political leaders belonging to the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government, in the forty-two months under study. However, the actual figure could be higher. Statistics collected by the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace indicate that the self-defense groups are responsible for a larger number of these crimes than that attributed to them by CINEP-Justice and Peace. DAS lists of the occupation of persons murdered between January 1995 and December 1999 allowed us to categorize the victims more accurately. Our conclusion was that, out of a total of 676 victims, including state officials and political leaders, only 167 are specifically attributed to the guerrillas (25 per cent). The remaining 75 per cent are attributed to other illegal armed organizations, notably the self-defense groups. In addition, according to DAS data, between January and October 15, 2000, self-defense groups and guerrillas murdered at least 105 local-level political leaders and government officials. Eleven mayors, 43 councilors, 13 candidates for mayor, 17 candidates for councilors, 2 candidates for deputies, 7 police inspectors, and 12 more, including government officials and political leaders, were killed. Although most of these crimes are attributed to unidentified persons, it is quite clear that the self-defense groups' part in them is not marginal, particularly in the context of the struggle between these organizations and the guerrillas.
The attacks carried out by the self-defense groups do affect national power. This is corroborated by the assassination of national figures, possibly in connection with drug trafficking interests, and the kidnapping of members of Congress and their relatives, which the self-defense groups carry out to exert political pressure. Self-defense groups recently kidnapped seven members of Congress (Zulema Jattin, Juan Manuel López, José Ignacio Zapata, Antonio Guerra, Anibal Mosterrosa, Luis Villegas and Miguel Pinedo). It is not the first time that this happens. They had previously kidnapped Senator Piedad Córdoba, on May 21, 1999, and Guillermo León Valencia Cossio, the brother of a senator and government negotiator, in June of the same year. In addition to kidnappings for purposes of extortion, the self-defense groups have adopted the practice of kidnapping for political ends, traditionally associated with the guerrillas. According to DAS information, 40 departmental political leaders, 6 deputies, 120 mayors, 136 councilors, 67 candidates for mayor, 68 candidates for councilors and 4 police inspectors, not to mention other lower rank officials, were kidnapped by these two organizations between January 1997 and July 2000. Although it is true that the guerrillas are responsible for an approximate 75 per cent of kidnappings for political ends, the fact remains that, for the same period, 25 per cent of these crimes, corresponding to 147 cases, are attributed to illegal organizations other than the guerrillas, particularly the self-defense groups. No reliable statistics on threats exist, although the information available suggests thast they play an important role, and are a frequent practice among the self-defense groups for purposes of intimidation2. As far as the top levels of the state are concerned, threats have been issued against public figures as the Prosecutor General of the Nation and the former High Commissioner for Peace, Víctor G. Ricardo.
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As regards the local and regional powers, it is clear that mayors, councilors, deputies, candidates and political leaders, as well as the police inspectors appointed by the mayors, are caught in the crossfire between the guerrillas and the self-defense groups, and are under pressure from illegal organizations through threats, kidnappings and assassination. The confrontation between the guerrillas and the self-defense groups constitutes a setting for assassination, kidnappings and threats against state officials and political leaders looking for places in mayor's offices and municipal bodies. The majority of assassinations take place in areas where guerrillas and self-defense groups fight for control of local and regional power. This is particularly the case, on the one hand, in the northern departments of the country, such as Guajira, Magdalena, Cesar, Sucre, Bolívar, Córdoba, Antioquia, Norte de Santander, Santander, the Urabá and Middle Magdalena regions, and the departments of Valle del Cauca, Putumayo and Meta, where the self-defense groups have made significant advance in the past few years. On the other, many homicides have been committed in departments where the guerrillas exert strong influence, like Putumayo, Caquetá, Guaviare, Meta, Arauca, and Casanare. Statistics reveal that during election periods there is an increase in assassinations of public officials. In the last election campaign for mayors, governors, councilors and deputies the trend was upwards. But the assassination of public officials and political leaders is not restricted to election periods3. For example, in the past election the self-defense groups murdered councilor Bernardo Martínez in the municipality of El Piñón, department of Magdalena, in April. They also killed the police inspector of Bonda municipal district in Santa Marta in May, and the liberal councilor Francisco José López-Baldomino in Aracataca in the same month. In addition, on February 3, 2000 they assassinated the former mayor of Cúcuta, Pauselino Camargo. In August 2000 they killed the former mayor and candidate for mayor of Aguachica, Luis Fernando Rincón, and more recently, on 15 December, the mayor elect of Tenerife, Magdalena, Orlando Sandoval. One of the branches of government worst affected by the self-defense group's action has undoubtedly been the judiciary. The judicial authorities and witnesses alike are victims of homicide, kidnappings and threats. The outer parts of the areas in which the self-defense groups operate are protected by very complex security rings, practically impossible for the investigators of the Prosecutor General's Office and the authorities responsible for judicial investigations to penetrate. In addition, the self-defense groups hinder these tasks in the areas where they exert influence, putting enormous limitations on the administration of justice. Threats, pressure and attacks on the judiciary are practices that the self-defense groups have resorted to ever since they exist. It will suffice to mention here the so-called La Rochela massacre, that took place on January 18, 1989 in El Centro municipal district, municipality of Barrancabermeja. An attack against a judicial commission comprising fifteen officials resulted in the death of two preliminary investigation magistrates, two court clerks, seven preliminary investigation officers and two drivers. They were investigating a spate of murders and massacres committed by these illegal organizations.
Statistics about justice officials are far from comprehensive. The number of judicial officials murdered by the self-defense groups is estimated at about fifty. However, from information provided by the Prosecutor General's Office it can be established that at least 80 CTI investigators have been killed by self-defense groups and guerrillas in the past eight years 4. The cases suggest that responsibility lie mainly with the former. Acts of the nature of the La Rochela massacre, referred to above, have continued to be practiced by the self-defense groups. They persist in attacking joint investigation commissions, murdering, disappearing, kidnapping or issuing threats against their members (as a matter of fact, investigators refrain from coming into areas controlled by the self-defense groups by themselves) 5. In this way, the self-defense groups try to prevent the judicial authorities from investigating their illegal activities.The self-defense groups strike at the whole of the complex structure of the state, interfering with its operation. Apart from the cases that have already been mentioned, many other judicial officials of local and regional levels, members of the higher, middle and lower ranks of the administration, have been victims of threats, kidnappings and homicide.
From the details and cases described in this empirical analysis of frequent acts committed against public servants, particularly members of the judiciary, by armed groups other than the guerrillas, notably the self-defense groups, it can be inferred that the self-defense groups attack the state. This refutes the argument that they are a military project of the Colombian State. |
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