With tens of thousands of violent deaths, hundreds of abductions and thousands wounded, Colombia remained one of the most violent places in the world in 1996. The violence between the main armed opposition groups and government forces was still further complicated by the growing emergence of paramilitary groups. There were very few encouraging signs that a negotiated settlement could be reached between the government and the armed opposition.

The direct effects of the internal conflict in humanitarian terms were serious. The fighting left hundreds of thousands of people displaced within the country, including about 75,000 in 1996 alone. According to official sources, some 27,000 people were killed in violent incidents, but the actual figure was probably much higher; many of these were victims of the conflict. There were about 1,100 abductions, half of which were directly attributable to the conflict, and some 2,700 people were arrested on charges related to it.

Heightened awareness of humanitarian law

Colombians' awareness of international humanitarian law was among the highest in the world after years of debate over accession to the Additional Protocols and extensive coverage in the national press concerning the applicability of humanitarian law in internal conflicts (the country's accession to Protocol II came into force on 14 February). The government continued to take measures in support of humanitarian law. On 17 April Colombia recognized the competence of the International Fact-Finding Commission established pursuant to Article 90 of Protocol I additio nal to the Geneva Conventions, and on 11 October the President of the Republic signed a decree instituting a governmental commission for the implementation of international humanitarian law and to render the conflict more humane [3], a body which was to include representatives of the Ministries of the Interior, Justice, Foreign Affairs, Defence, Health and presidential advisors, with the ICRC and the Colombian Red Cross as observers.

Despite the fact that both the government and the armed opposition acknowledged the need to decrease the level of violence, and notwithstanding some progress in spreading knowledge of humanitarian rules, serious and repeated violations persisted. These were attributable to all the groups taking part in the conflict and included extra-judicial executions, forced disappearances, ill-treatment, threats and hostage-taking.

The ICRC and the Colombian government concluded a Memorandum of Understanding on 16 February, which confirmed the government's authorization for the ICRC to conduct its humanitarian activities, and in particular to have contact with all groups taking part in the conflict.

The ICRC subsequently concluded a number of agreements with government ministries and departments, which were annexed to the Memorandum. For example, during the mission of the Delegate General for the Americas in April the ICRC signed an agreement with the Fiscalía General de la Nación (the Attorney General's Office, an autonomous body established as part of the judicial branch under the 1991 Constitution), and other agreements were later concluded with the Ministry of Defence and the DAS*. These agreements mainly addressed the question of procedures for ICRC visits to detainees and the arrest notification system, which had previously been set up with the assistance of the ICRC and which operated throughout the year. In 1996 the ICRC continued to monitor the effectiveness of this notification system.

Increased ICRC presence in the field

With no let-up in the conflict in sight, the ICRC stepped up its activities, increasing its expatriate presence in Colombia from 27 at the beginning of the year to 43 by the end of December, and the number of its offices and sub-delegations from seven to eight (at the end of the year the ICRC had sub-delegations in Apartadó, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, Cali, Medellín and Villavicencio and offices in Florencia and Saravena, in addition to its delegation in Bogotá). In May the delegation increased its presence in the field, and in the Urab region in particular. By so doing it was able to have more contact with victims, as well as with all armed groups and the military, and thus to intensify its activities.

The delegation's main activities included dissemination of knowledge of international humanitarian law, documenting and confidentially reporting on violations of this law, visiting detainees, assisting people directly affected by the internal conflict (providing medical and material assistance, paying for travel to allow families of detainees to visit their relatives in prison and to enable people whose lives or well-being were in jeopardy to move to safer areas), and acting as a neutral intermediary for the release of people held by armed groups.
A summary report on ICRC visits to penitentiaries and prisons was handed over to the authorities. Early in the year the ICRC handed over to the FARC* a summary report on violations of humanitarian law committed against civilians, covering the period from January 1994 to March 1995 (in November 1995 a similar report had been submitted to the ELN*, another armed opposition group). The delegation constantly reminded the armed opposition and the paramilitary groups of the need to allow people detained by them to communicate with their families, and repeatedly obtained permission for its delegates to visit such people.

Contacts with all groups involved in the conflict

The ICRC maintained contact with all these and other armed groups so as to encourage full compliance with the provisions of international humanitarian law.

Throughout the year the ICRC continued its efforts to get or keep in touch with the newly formed paramilitary groups. The largest of these groups, the ACCU*, had established contact with the delegation in 1995. Thanks to these efforts, the ICRC was able for the first time to step in where certain paramilitary groups, including some associated with the ACCU, either were continuing to detain people (transmission of Red Cross messages) or wished to release them (assistance in organizing the release). At the end of the year prospects for developing contacts with some of the other paramilitary groups were good.

The delegation also kept up contact with the armed opposition so as to provide the same services and report violations of humanitarian law perpetrated by their forces. On numerous occasions the delegation assisted in the release of people detained by the guerrillas or forwarded Red Cross messages to people held by them.
In August, September and October the armed opposition carried out a number of attacks against army posts. One assault in August resulted in dozens of casualties, and the FARC captured some 60 soldiers. With humanitarian law high on the national agenda, and many Colombians from various circles placing a great deal of hope in the implementation of the law, the ICRC was asked to help seek solutions to problems such as this. The ICRC immediately requested a list of the soldiers captured (which the delegation received in mid-October) and permission for its delegates to visit them. It also offered its services to help arrange their release, reminding the FARC of its obligation to observe the provisions of international humanitarian law, and in particular those relating to the rights of the soldiers to be treated humanely, to be visited by delegates and to correspond with their families. Unfortunately, the delegation was still unable to visit these people or to forward Red Cross messages to them by the end of the year.

Joint programmes with the Colombian Red Cross

In May the ICRC launched two assistance programmes which were carried out with the Colombian Red Cross (CRC): one which provided material assistance to victims of the conflict not receiving any help from the government or from other agencies, and another which sent CRC health brigades to provide medical assistance in regions of Urab which, owing to the conflict, had become off-limits to other health workers. At the end of the year the ICRC concluded an agreement with the Spanish Red Cross under which the latter seconded staff to the ICRC-CRC programme in Urab. The delegation also cooperated with the Colombian National Society in dissemination activities, a mine-awareness campaign and various training programmes. A cooperation agreement between the ICRC and the CRC, signed on 14 August, and an annex to it, concluded on 24 December, strengthened this cooperation still further.

The delegation also continued its activities to promote knowledge of international humanitarian law. In October an agreement on the teaching of humanitarian law at university level was reached with the University of Antioquia in Medelln; it was the first such agreement to be concluded in Colombia.


IN 1996 THE ICRC:

- visited 2,240 security detainees, 1,183 of them for the first time, in 773 visits to 345 places of detention;

- visited 20 people detained by the armed opposition or by paramilitary groups, and facilitated the release of 25 people held under such circumstances;

- paid for the return home of 125 people after their release from detention;

- paid travel costs covering a total of 2,220 fares for travel tickets to enable family members to visit their relatives in prison.


- documented 365 cases (concerning 731 people) involving allegations of violations of humanitarian law, and in 248 cases submitted this information to the authorities or to armed groups;

- paid for the transport to safer areas of 2,194 people whose lives were in serious danger.


- covered the cost of medical care for some 120 people wounded as a result of the conflict and for 34 detainees, and provided basic medical supplies and assistance for displaced people and hospitals in need.


- together with the Colombian Red Cross (CRC), held regional meetings and seminars for directors of youth services, dissemination departments and first-aid services of the National Societies of Colombia and neighbouring countries;

- supported the institutional development and telecommunications infrastructure of the CRC, and held courses to prepare first-aid and relief workers for activities in conflict situations.


- together with the CRC, held dozens of dissemination sessions, reaching over 36,000 people, including members of the military, the police, the armed opposition, paramilitary groups, civil servants, journalists, church officials, non-governmental organizations and civilians.