By Gustavo Capdevila
GENEVA, Apr 13 2005 (IPS)

Colombian activists believe that this year’s session of the United Nation Commission on Human Rights will issue a more harshly worded declaration than ever on the atrocities being committed in their civil war-torn country.

The human rights groups base their prediction on the critical tone of the report presented to the Commission on Tuesday by U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, and the statements made by the countries that have shown the greatest interest in the Colombian crisis.

Federico Andreu Guzmán, deputy secretary-general of the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), observed that “the forcefulness of the High Commissioner’s report was remarkable.” Moreover, the reactions of the European Union, as well as Canada, Norway and Switzerland, were “very strong,” he told IPS.

Arbour confirmed the accuracy of the portrait of the Colombian crisis previously outlined by the local Colombian office of the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR).

The human rights situation remains critical, with increased reports of extrajudicial executions attributed to the country’s security forces, she said. The incidence of torture and forced disappearances also remains high, she added.

In the meantime, however, the director of the presidential programme on human rights in Colombia, Carlos Franco, told the 53 member states of the Commission on Human Rights that there are conflicting versions of what is going on in the South American nation.

Franco noted that the reports gathered by the OHCHR office in Colombia speak of grave violations of human rights under the current government, and claim that these abuses form part of government policy.

These same sources allege that the human rights situation has grown worse, that the government lacks the will to negotiate peace, that there is a “secret agreement” with the right-wing paramilitary groups, and that the authorities willingly disregard the rule of law, he added.

Yet at the same time, Franco maintained, right-wing Colombian President Alvaro Uribe enjoys popularity ratings of over 65 percent, the armed forces and national police are the most highly respected institutions – whether public or private – in Colombian society, investors are regaining confidence in the country, and the economy is growing.

Franco’s statements led Andreu Guzmán to comment that the EU, Canada, Norway and Switzerland had presented an accurate picture of the true situation in Colombia, while the Uribe administration “once again presented Colombia as a kind of wonderland.”

Andreu Guzmán said that Norway, Switzerland and Canada were particularly insistent in stating that the current paramilitary demobilisation process was not enough, and that in addition to respect for the principles of truth, justice and reparations for the victims, there was also a need for measures to effectively dismantle the paramilitary forces.

“This is fundamentally essential for breaking the ties between state agents and officials and the paramilitaries,” he said.

As usual, he noted, the Colombian government addressed the Commission with the same arguments it always uses, pointing to a supposed improvement in the situation and stressing its purported good will. “It was a rather troubling presentation, full of lies about the measures they are taking,” he said.

In the meantime, the High Commissioner told the Commission that the investigations conducted by the OHCHR office in Colombia indicate that the ties between state agents and paramilitary groups persist.

At the same time, the illegal armed groups operating in the country have totally ignored the recommendations addressed to them in previous sessions.

Colombia has been plagued by armed conflict for over four decades. On one side of the ongoing civil war are the leftist guerrilla fighters of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) – the main rebel group – and the National Liberation Army (ELN).

They are pitted against the armed forces and the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC), an umbrella group of right-wing paramilitary forces that emerged in the 1980s, although their origins can be traced back much further to the militias organised and armed by wealthy landowners.

The paramilitaries have proven connections to drug trafficking and state that they are acting on behalf of the state. They also have close ties to the armed forces, as documented by U.N. agencies and leading international human rights groups, which hold AUC responsible for the lion’s share of the atrocities committed in the civil war.

Although AUC declared a unilateral ceasefire in 2003 and is negotiating demobilisation with the government, it has in fact continued to expand, said Andreu Guzmán.

Gustavo Gallón, director of the Colombian Commission of Jurists (CCJ), remarked that a striking aspect of the discussion in the Commission on Human Rights was the reiterated and unanimous concern shown by member countries and the High Commissioner regarding the bill under debate in the Colombian Congress, aimed at establishing a legal framework for the demobilisation of the paramilitaries, and the need to ensure truth, justice and reparations in this process.

“If the bill is adopted exactly as it was presented by the government, and thereby grants impunity for these crimes, it is going to be very difficult to predict what is going to happen with the situation in Colombia in the near future,” Gallón commented to IPS.

“If that is the final outcome of the negotiations, it will imply the full legalisation of the paramilitary groups, which would be freed of any pending debts with regard to justice, and could develop even greater power than they have now – legalised power, economic and social, as well as political,” he warned.

Paramilitaries could be elected as mayors, governors or even presidents of the Republic, or at least have a decisive influence on the presidency, he stressed.

The Colombian non-governmental organisations believe that the concern shown by the Commission, and by the member country representatives who participated in the debate, is well-founded.

Essentially, they are accurately interpreting the most pressing problems facing Colombian society at this moment in time, said Gallón.

Particular emphasis was placed on the need to secure compliance with the recommendations made to the Colombian government in previous sessions of the Commission on Human Rights, he added.

Next week, the Commission will issue a declaration similar to those of previous years, although judging by the statements made at Wednesday’s session, the tone will probably be stronger and more coherent, Gallón predicted.

He also highlighted the importance of the visit to Colombia announced by the High Commissioner, who will assess compliance with the recommendations handed down by the Commission and the status of the congressional debate on the bill that would essentially let paramilitaries accused of gross human rights violations off the hook.

Sources close to the OHCHR said that the High Commissioner’s visit would take place May 11-14.

Excerpt: