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| Aguilas Negras - Paramilitaries |
On 7 August 2010 Juan Manuel Santos was inaugurated as President of Colombia, replacing the notorious Alvaro Uribe Velez. In his maiden speech President Santos spoke of the need for prosperity, justice and peace, that he was willing to seek a “true reconciliation among Colombians” and notably, of an unlocked “door to dialogue.” Almost immediately Santos began pushing through a Law on Land and Victims, ostensibly to restore land to victims of displacement and compensate victims of human rights abuses. Whilst these initiatives and the change in rhetoric compared to Uribe are welcome, Colombian trade unions and human rights groups maintain a healthy scepticism in the light of continued abuses by both paramilitaries and state forces. It remains to be seen both whether President Santos’ rhetoric is sincere, and if it is, whether he will be able to overcome the hardline vested interests among political supporters and in the state’s apparatus.
Since his inauguration more than 70 trade unionists, social activists, human rights defenders and members of the political opposition have been killed, among them several leaders of the displaced population who campaigned for the return of their lands. This lack of security for returning victims of displacement is just one of the reasons why the victims movement in Colombia does not support President Santos’ much-vaunted Land and Victims Law. Victims organisations note that the law has arbitrary cut-off dates that exclude abuses committed during the early 1980s when paramilitaries and the army carried out several notorious massacres, and only includes displacements that occurred after 1991. The reality is that forced displacement goes back much further. Furthermore, they point out that the proposed law does not admit state responsibility for abuses or displacement, in effect giving immunity to members of the armed forces and police. According to the victims, the scale of abuses is such that only an unlimited truth and justice commission can hope to achieve a true reconciliation among all Colombians.
According to Codhes, a highly-respected human rights NGO, this year Colombia’s displaced population hit 5 million – the highest in the world. This figure, over 10% of the population, hides an ocean of grief that demands justice. Yet the lands stolen from these people have in many cases been turned over to large landowners who have planted the land with palm oil trees, or who have sold it to mining concessions. The victims claim that Santos’ new law will in many cases favour these wealthy usurpers, legalising their displacement.
The victim’s concerns are the result of the impunity with which abuses against them have been committed. Of the thousands of registered cases, only a handful have resulted in convictions of any kind. While old crimes remain unpunished new ones are committed by both state forces and paramilitaries. On 11 February paramilitaries in Putumayo massacred three members of the Roa family and two others working on their farm. The youngest victim was 5 years old, and had her hands chopped off by the attackers. The crime occurred whilst a human rights hearing was taking place nearby and was clearly meant to intimidate locals to prevent them from testifying. Moreover, paramilitaries continue to operate alongside the armed forces, as noted in recent reports from the San Jose Peace Community in northern Colombia.
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| Sandra Cuellar, an environmental activist who was disappeared in February 2011 |
Nor are abuses confined to the paramilitaries. The ‘False Positives’ scandal proves that the Colombian military was involved in killing civilians and then dressing them up as guerrillas in order to boost body count figures. In return troops and officers received bonuses. The victims were generally young men and boys from the poorest urban areas, lured to distant parts of the country by promises of paid work. Their families never saw them alive again. Troops are encouraged to view peasants as ‘guerrilla auxiliaries’ and treat them with disdain and outright brutality. On 15 March 2011, Jose Rojas Largo, a young peasant, was shot and killed by army troops in Boyaca. In October last year troops sexually abused and killed three children in Arauca, and locals claim more than 20 similar assaults during 2010. The judge in charge of the case against the soldiers was shot dead on 22 March this year.
The context for this tragic situation is the continuing war. While the government claims to have ‘defeated’ both paramilitarism and the FARC, the reality lies in the figures. More than 13% of GDP is still being spent on the war and last year security forces suffered between 2500 - 4500 casualties. Guerrillas remain active in many parts of the country. Therefore both the war in rural areas, and the undeclared war against trade unions and the political opposition continue making a mockery of talk of prosperity and reconciliation.
The reality is that the first steps towards true reconciliation are addressing inequality and injustice, ending the repression of the trade unions and the political opposition, and opening a frank and honest dialogue with the guerrillas. Colombia needs peace, and to achieve it Colombia needs a peace process. It is this that will define whether Santos spoke the truth in his inaugural speech or whether he will merely be another in the sorry litany of presidents that failed the Colombian people.
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