The election in June of a Presidential candidate who had peace talks high on his agenda did much to raise hopes, but did little to alleviate the internal violence. The new President took the unprecedented in-itiative of holding a meeting with the leadership of the FARC* in the hope of setting a negotiating process in motion. The FARC and the ELN,* the other major armed opposition group, stepped up attacks on government forces throughout the year, while at the same time seeking ways to initiate a dialogue. The autodefensas, or self-defence groups, increased their activities in the north and in coastal areas and extended them to other regions which had previously been spared.

Many observers saw the very tenuous beginnings of direct dialogue between the government and the FARC and the ongoing broad discussions between the ELN and representatives of civil society as moves towards a peace process. But that process was both fragile and difficult, and there were numerous setbacks and delays.

The election of the new President also made it necessary for the ICRC to renew its contacts with government officials. In August, the Delegate-General for the Americas and the head of delegation met the new head of State and cabinet ministers in Bogotá, and discussed the ICRC's relations with the Colombian government.

Meanwhile, the political violence grew worse. As previously, it took the form of assassinations, hostage-taking, threats and massacres. Mass killings were nothing new, but they increased in intensity and frequency throughout the year. In Puerto Elvira, some 20 people were massacred on 4 May; in mid-May, another 20 were summarily executed in Barrancabermeja; in Mitu, a department capital near the Brazilian border, 10 civilians and 25 policemen were killed during a major FARC attack on 1 November; in Machuca, Antioquia, 70 perished and another 60 were badly burnt as a result of an attack on an oil pipeline in October. Apart from the worst massacres, there were scores of attacks on civilians and the number of direct victims of the violence rose steadily. The ICRC remained in touch with both main guerrilla groups, for the first time meeting face to face with the leadership of the FARC, and further developed its contacts with self-defence units at all levels and in all regions of the country in order to remind them of their obligation not to target civilians.

Increasing activities of self-defence groups

The self-defence groups continued to consolidate, notably through a national umbrella body, the AUC,* and to develop their operations, for example by increasing attacks on civilians in zones reputed to be under the influence of the armed opposition. These attacks, which became more systematic during the year, prompted the displacement, for the first time, of tens of thousands of people from those areas. Late in the year, as the army started to try to curb such activities, clashes were reported for the first time between the armed forces and certain self-defence groups.

Assistance for internally displaced people

The insecurity resulting not only from massacres but also from constant hostage-taking, threats, harassment and isolated killings created a climate of fear which caused tens of thousands of people to leave their homes. Some left en masse, while others simply set out on their own. As the phenomenon grew throughout the year, displacement of Colombians became a very serious problem in humanitarian terms.

Following the National Society's suspension of its own programme of aid for individual displaced persons, in October the delegation increased its activities for them. All told, some 130,000 displaced people received assistance, nearly 90,000 of whom had been part of mass population displacements (defined as displacements in groups of 50 or more). The presence of delegates in the field also represented a unique and impartial source of moral support for victims of the violence – be they displaced or not – and for their families.

Owing to the general climate of insecurity, certain regions lacked basic services, including medical care. Through projects delegated to the German and Norwegian National Societies, and working with the Colombian Red Cross, the ICRC ensured that mobile health teams were able to provide medical care on a monthly basis in some of these areas, including the Riosucio region of Chocó department in Urabá, and along the Caguán river in Caquetá.

Visits to people deprived of their freedom

Visits continued to people detained by the government for security reasons. In January the ICRC handed over to the Ministry of Justice and the INPEC* a summary report on visits carried out to places of detention in 1996 and 1997. The situation in the prisons remained extremely difficult owing to overcrowding, violence and lack of personnel and resources.

As the main guerrilla force, the FARC, increased attacks on military and police outposts, it captured hundreds of men. By year's end the group reportedly held some 320 soldiers and policemen. It never made available a comprehensive list of those captured, thus leaving many families unaware of whether their relatives were in captivity or had died. The ICRC, for its part, constantly called on the FARC to produce a comprehensive list of names of the people it had captured and to allow visits by delegates, but to no avail. Delegates were, however, able to forward Red Cross messages between a few of the captives and their family
members.

Coordination of activities with other organizations

There was a very large number of Colombian and international non-governmental organizations active in fields such as human rights, material assistance for conflict victims and aid for the displaced. During the year the ICRC completed a study of the various agencies and their responses to the problem of the hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people, in order to take stock of needs and assess the resources available to cover them.

The delegation made several studies available to the parties to the conflict with the aim of facilitating negotiations or helping to find solutions to problems of humanitarian concern. For example, in September the ICRC presented the government and the FARC with a working paper on the the ICRC's experience with the release of prisoners in countries such as El Salvador and Croatia, which had recently undergone peace processes and had faced problems similar to those in Colombia. Other ICRC studies addressed the question of judicial guarantees and the protection of personnel and facilities involved in providing medical care. Together with the Javeriana University in Bogotá, the delegation also took part in the production of a brochure entitled "La Paz sobre la Mesa" (Peace on the table), which outlined the positions of the parties to the conflict and was distributed widely as a supplement in a national weekly magazine.

IN 1998, THE ICRC:

	– saw 2,527 security detainees, including 1,273 for the first time, in the course of 419 visits to 185 places of detention; – during visits, provided clothing, personal hygiene articles and recreational items for detainees; – paid 2,603 travel fares for family members to visit their relatives in prison; – paid for the return to their homes of 139 people after their release from captivity;
	– documented 1,119 cases (concerning 2,163 people) involving allegations of violations of humanitarian law; – made representations to the authorities, to the armed oppo-sition and to self-defence groups concerning the cases of 1,816 people; – paid for the transport to safer areas of 16,126 people; – provided its services for the release of 158 civilians and 25 policemen and members of the armed services who had been captured by armed groups and were freed under ICRC auspices;
	– handled over 1,200 Red Cross messages sent by or to detainees, displaced people and others who had lost contact with their families, including a number of soldiers captured by the ELN;
	– in the regions most severely affected by the conflict, distributed food parcels, cooking utensils, hygiene kits and mats to 137,431 displaced people;
	– covered the cost of medical care for 111 people wounded as a result of the conflict; – provided basic medical supplies and assistance to displaced persons and to hospitals; – through a project delegated to the National Societies of Germany and Norway, and working with staff from the Colombian Red Cross, provided medical supplies for mobile health teams, along with logistic support and funding, thus providing basic care for about 18,362 people in Urabá and along the Caguán river;
	– under a cooperation agreement concluded in February with the Colombian Red Cross and covering 11 projects, worked closely with the National Society on subjects such as training for its staff, dissemination for the armed forces, security during field operations, communication, fundraising and strengthening of the National Society's administrative structure;
	– together with the Colombian Red Cross, regularly held courses and seminars on humanitarian law for the military; – in mid-year, at the time of the World Cup football competition, carried out a large-scale campaign entitled "Juegue limpio" (Play fair), using media spots, posters and other means to relate the message of fair play in sports to respect for the law of war; – with the help of the delegation's legal specialist, continued to provide the authorities with legal and technical support for the adoption of national measures for the implementation of humanitarian law, notably in relation to the protection of the emblem, the repression of violations of the law and measures to avoid recruitment of children into the armed forces; – held some 654 dissemination sessions and events reaching over 37,000 people, including members of the military, the armed opposition, self-defence groups, government officials and civilians.