The promotion and protection of human rights of indigenous people, a particularly vulnerable sector of the population, is an integral part of the present government's Policy on the Promotion, Respect and Guarantee of Human Rights and the Application of International Humanitarian Law, 1998-2002. Protecting the lives, personal integrity and liberty of persons who are victims of threats and harassment, and preventing massacres and murders in the context of the armed conflict is a priority aspect of this policy.

The human rights problems facing indigenous people, particularly violations of the right to life, are the subject of special attention by the Presidential Program for Human Rights and IHL. The Program promotes avenues of agreement with the communities, gives support to the work of the organizations involved, and takes up the communities' initiatives.

Representative of the indigenous groups' efforts to keep out of the armed conflict are a number of initiatives that have been nominated for the National Peace Prize. These include courses of action adopted by the Antioquia Indigenous Organization, OIA, the Yaconana indigenous community of the Rioblanco Reservation, municipality of Sotará, Cauca, the U·wa community, the Wayuu families of Guajira, who signed a peace pact, the Páez community of Gaitanía, Tolima, and the award-winning Nasa Project of Santander de Quilichao.

The national Government is currently taking steps to give fresh impetus to the National Commission on Human Rights for Indigenous Peoples, created by Decree 1386 of 1996 with the aim of promoting the government's policies. The Commission has allowed strategies to be worked out to find solutions to the difficulties of this sector of the Colombian population, taking account of their habits, customs and worldviews. From this perspective, the Commission provides a space for constructive dialogue. This contributes to conciliation, allows a better understanding of the problems that indigenous reservations and the areas under their jurisdiction are faced with, and makes it possible for the national government to gain first-hand knowledge of the situation of indigenous peoples and their perception of issues of high significance at a national level, such as the peace process and its implications. It also has allowed the real dimensions of the conflict in their territories to be determined.

The Commission is made up of indigenous representatives from the National Indigenous Peoples' Organization of Colombia, ONIC, the Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Colombian Amazonia, OPIAC, the Tairona Indigenous Councils, CIT, special guests from other communities, national government officials, and representatives from the Attorney General's Office, the Prosecutor General's Office and the Office of the People's Advocate. In addition, it receives advice from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Commission is responsible for the analysis of critical issues relating to individual cases of human rights violations, particularly those involving certain indigenous communities that have filed complaints recently. These include the Huitoto-Barí, the Chimila, the Zenú, the Nukak, the upper Naya, the Arhuaco and the Nariño communities.

In collaboration with a number of civil society organizations and the international community, the Commission provides humanitarian assistance in cases of violations of human rights of indigenous people. The communities that have received assistance include the following: Embera and Tules of Juradó, Chocó, the Páez communities of the upper Naya, in the departments of Cauca and Valle, the Arhuaco, Wiwa, Kogi, Kankuano and Yukpa communities of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Perijá Range, departments of Magdalena, Guajira and Cesar, the Embera-Katío communities of the upper Sinú, department of Córdoba, and the Barí communities of Northern Santander.

Furthermore, the Commission deals with more general issues, of interest to all indigenous peoples. These include the drawing up of a Special Statute on the Protection of Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the incorporation of indigenous issues and indigenous rights into the peace process, the way of dealing with forced displacement of indigenous peoples within the framework of the Program for the Provision of Care to Indigenous People Victim of Violence, the funding of emergency programs, the strategies to improve relations with the armed forces and the police, and the issue of illegal crops. The Commission was given a new dynamism by a proposal for comprehensive care agreed on with indigenous people affected by human rights problems in the context of the armed conflict.

The Office for Indigenous Affairs of the Ministry of the Interior also fulfills functions in connection with the protection and defense of the indigenous population. It deals with complaints of abuses of human rights of the indigenous population of Colombia, promotes the inclusion of a human rights element in the development plans of municipalities with indigenous populations, and is a member of interinstitutional commissions responsible for assessing special situation, such as the extreme poverty of indigenous people in Bogotá, or the particular stance of the Embera-Katío on the internal conflict. In another example, it played a role in the accompaniment of returning displaced indigenous communities living in Cupica Bay and Turbo, and in the Cacarica River Basin, in the departments of Chocó and Antioquia.

The Social Solidarity Network is responsible for attending to problems relating to the displacement of indigenous people. The Colombian Institute for Family Welfare, for its part, deals with cases of indigenous children affected by the armed conflict. The Presidential Program for Human Rights and IHL of the Vice President's Office provides special assistance in cases of violation of human rights of indigenous communities, expediting the processing of complaints and the attention to cases. In particular, its intervention has been requested by the CRIC, the ONIC and the Embera community. During the past month it arranged the allocation of funds for special events organized by five indigenous communities.

The Witnesses and Threatened Persons Protection Program, of vital importance in the present government's human rights policy, includes the provision of protection for indigenous leaders, and the reinforcement of indigenous organizations headquarters.

The armed forces and the police are strengthening their presence in areas where, according to reports from indigenous authorities, the communities are in danger. The cases to which the Ministry of Defense has given special attention during this year include the following: Violent events affecting the Embera-Katío community of the municipality of Tierralta, in the department of Córdoba; the murder of José Ángel Domicó-Jarupia, a leader of the same community; the disappearance of indigenous leader Kimi Pernía-Domicó, and threats against another leader, Emiliano Domicó-Majore; the situation facing the Embera-Chamí of Pueblo Rico, Risaralda; the murder of three indigenous persons, Víctor Manuel Villazón, Eneida Arias, and Fredy Arias, in Rioseco, Córdoba; threats from illegal armed groups against the community of the upper Naya region, in Cauca, the community of the municipality of Morales, Cauca, and the Munchique and Canos reservations of Santander de Quilichao, Cauca; the kidnapping of Reinero Jurado and Fabio Ruiz-Cajas in San Miguel, Putumayo; the presence of self-defense groups and the murder of an indigenous person, Fredy-Hamilton Piaguaje, in Puerto Asís, Putumayo; several cases involving the Bari community of Catatumbo and Río de Oro, Santander; the problems confronting the indigenous people of San Andrés de Sotavento, Córdoba; threats by self-defense groups against the Chimila Issaurituna communities in Sabanas de Ángel, Magdalena, and the reservations of San Juan del Cesar, in Guajira; and alleged abuses by members of the armed forces and the police.