Colombia “Extrajudicial killings are not isolated”
Since assuming responsibility as head of the UNHCR in March this year, Christian Salazar has been charged with promoting and seeking to protect the rights of all Colombians.
In an interview with El Espectador, Salazar denounced serious problems such as the blocking of investigations into cases of extrajudicial killings in the prosecution, the growing threats against human rights defenders and judicial sector, the violence committed by groups and post-conflict, what more it reveals, assassinations duplication of leaders and members of indigenous people.
How has enforced disappearance changed in recent years in Colombia?
It (enforced disappearance) is fairly old, the UN recorded the first case in Colombia in 1973.
The office handles about three different phases. The first, in the 90s, when selective disappearances were committed against the opposition, NGOs and alleged guerrilla sympathizers. Many of these disappearances were committed by members of the security forces. The second was at the end of the decade and early this, when the paramilitaries were the main actors and the forced disappearance was combined with mass atrocity. In recent years, we are concerned that the missing are more and more young and live in marginal areas of the country. This practice has to do with the misnomer of “false positives”. Post demobilisation paramilitary groups also perform more and more disappearances.
What successes have you noticed in the investigation of extrajudicial killings?
Observation in our work we have detected a significant reduction in new cases. National statistics that I report are those of the Human Rights Unit of the Office. According to them, to date there are 1273 cases with 2070 victims. So far there have been 38 convictions and there are about 23 trials under way.
Does the prosecution have capability to investigate so many cases?
Compared with last year, the cases investigated by the Prosecutor has doubled, meaning that the workload on the Human Rights Unit has increased significantly. It is very important that you are giving this research, which has trials, find the respective responsible and punish them, but I think the prosecution needs urgent strengthening its research capacity.
Yes, these cases are being reported and people are afraid?
We have already seen an assassination attempt against witnesses in these cases and we know of threats, then it is important to reinforce a policy of zero tolerance of extrajudicial killings and that those responsible can be condemned in the right way.
The fact that more cases have arisen gives us a clearer picture of the scale of the issue and more people, because the subject is to light, are daring to declare and denounce. To conduct judicial proceedings without intimidation, I think it is very important that the Ministry of Defense implement the 15 measures enacted to prevent violations of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law with force and effectiveness.
For UNHCR, are the ‘false positives’ a particular problem or institutional?
Our position has been clear, we believe that extrajudicial killings in Colombia are not isolated incidents but a widespread practice committed by a large number of military units throughout the country. Any event that is happening is very serious for the Armed Forces, they must ensure law and democracy. For this diagnosis very important we ensure the sustainability of this decline in the numbers we see now that there is only a temporary reaction to drastic measures by the Government, as the dismissal of three generals and four officers.
[The scandal of false positives is as known to the disclosures at the end of 2008 involving members of the Army of Colombia with the murder of innocent civilians to pass them off as guerrillas killed in combat in the context of armed conflict in the country. These murders were aimed to present results by the combat brigades. These cases are known in international humanitarian law such as extrajudicial executions and Colombian criminal law as murders of protected persons.]
In recent months, human rights defenders have complained that they are victims of harassment, what information does the Office on this?
Since 1997, we denounce threats against defenders. This year itself we have seen a wave of threats in the country with pamphlets and emails daunting. These pamphlets began against youth, sex workers, drug addicts. After threats were implemented against leaders and social organizations, specific individuals, human rights defenders, including against members of the Ombudsman and Early Warning System.
The latest case of harassment I have seen in the case of Claudia Julieta Duque, a journalist who has done important work in monitoring the murder of Jaime Garzón, and some criminal cases against members of the DAS. Now that many of these processes are in their final phase, three weeks ago his parents received threatening calls and makes an, unknown persons tried to enter his apartment.
I should also mention the concern over threats against the judiciary. One issue that we are working these days are members of the judiciary in Cali. In August, a prosecutor killed there two weeks ago there was an attempted assassination to a judge. Both judges and prosecutors are threatened and believe that the Colombian authorities must take urgent protective measures.
What happened to the investigations of the genocide of the UP?
The Colombian State has already accepted responsibility. In the case of Senator Manuel Cepeda is known that involved members of the paramilitary forces. Hopefully there are more investigations and indictments.
What it reveals?
The situation of indigenous peoples and Afro-Colombians living in areas where armed conflict is still intense. We have seen a shift in armed encounters to more remote areas of the country, areas that are inhabited by these populations.
They are among the crossfire of all actors: guerrillas, army, post demobilisation groups and drug gangs that have their own interests there. For example, the two massacres against the Awa people this year with so many children who died were the expression of this violence. In the middle of this year we have seen a significant increase: it has doubled the assassinations of leaders and members of indigenous populations.
What is this?
In that there is an escalation of conflict in parts of Indian reservations or Afro-Colombians. We and the Constitutional Court we made the call to the State to accelerate plans to safeguard indigenous peoples. Not only this year but those who come, the situation of communities living in conflict areas will not improve, get worse and we must do everything to improve their protection.
These ethnic groups are not only being ravaged by war …
Indigenous peoples and Afro-Colombians in the country suffer from poverty rather large, we are concerned. Data from a recent study by the United Nations Program for Development, the World Food Program and Unicef on the Choco Indians reveal that 95% of the indigenous population has serious food security, chronic malnutrition of children under 5 years is 73%. If you imagine that child malnutrition during early childhood affects the entire brain and body development of children, have chronic malnutrition in these conditions is a social tragedy. The case of Colombia on indigenous rights is exemplary in the world, however, the distance between legal norms and social reality is truly alarming.
What does that suggest to the government?
Protection programs must be adapted to situations of indigenous peoples; I know efforts are being made in that direction, but these programs are often developed for situations in urban life, I believe we should improve them. Second, compliance with the orders of the Constitutional Court to improve the protection of indigenous peoples. Similarly, improving consultation with the indigenous people about any interference in their territory, whether by economic or military means.
For you is (the threat) emerging criminal gangs, the Government, or rearmed paramilitaries?
This is a very heterogeneous spectrum of groups and different behaviors. Many of these groups do have a clear criminal connotation in drug trafficking, some are paramilitary in nature between these two extremes there is a series where the schema is not so clear.
We are concerned about the wave of violence that these groups are having on the civilian population, threats. On the leaflets we think it has to do with them. We receive many complaints, we know there is recurrence of massacres committed by these groups. We also know that there are many middle of the old AUC (United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia) that are involved there.
In the four years it has been in existence, what are the merits and flaws of the Justice and Peace Law?
Until now there has been a failure. There was a sentence, but that was overruled. In that sense the theme of justice has to seriously rethink how to improve the law to create justice. In the aspect of truth has become a big effort, many of the truths that came under the Justice and Peace process were not expected.
This law has generated a lot of information, eg for investigations of the Supreme Court on parapolitics, not have been possible without these disclosures. It is also a consequence of the law that relatives of people who suffered enforced disappearances this year are encouraged to report to the exhumations and to search for their loved ones.
The historical truth about the internal conflict can not be solved by means of justice, truth is something very deep that covers all fields: political, economic, cultural. It is therefore important to strengthen this bill with other truth-seeking mechanisms. However, the issue of justice, the law has not so far yielded what the victims expect.
Last year 12 paramilitary leaders were extradited. Do you think that the truth will come with them?
Extradition is a very important international instrument in the fight against impunity. We have said that there was a risk in extraditing these paramilitaries who are detrimental to the investigation of justice and peace.
It was very important that the Supreme Court in its jurisprudence has clarified that comparing the relevance of research on crimes against humanity with the investigations of drug crimes is necessary to prioritize the former. Hopefully with these steps have been taken to establish better cooperation between the justice of the United States, the Supreme Court and the Prosecutor are capable of promoting research with paramilitary leaders jailed in the U.S.
In your opinion, how important was the presence of the Ombudsman in all processes related to human rights?
The work being done in the Early Warning System of the Ombudsman is very valuable. State institutions are not giving enough space to the work. Last year we recorded risk reports of possible massive human rights violations to civilian populations in different regions of the country only half of which were accepted the authorities.
What can be done to make use of these risk reports?
We spoke with the Ministry of Interior on the importance of further follow-up to these reports. We appreciate that Parliament recently approved a budget with a significant rise in funding for advocacy work on Early Warning, but again you have to solve these issues by the more practical application of the analysis and alert from the Ombudsman.
What will change this year with the presence of ICC in Colombia?
Colombia is one of the signatories of the Treaty of Rome (which gives effect to the Court), but Colombia made a reservation when they signed on the jurisdiction of the Court on war crimes. This reservation expires this November, then the Treaty will be fully implemented. The prosecutor of the ICC is monitoring the situation in Colombia and we will see what happens next November.
interview byLaura Juliana Muñoz |
translated and reproduced from THE SPECTATOR
Christian Salazar Volkmann, a German citizen, is the Representative in Colombia. of the High Commissioner for Human Rights since March 2009.
Mr. Salazar Volkmann has worked with UNICEF and the German Society for Technical Cooperation GTZ. He has consistently supported the rights of the child and the prevention of juvenile executions and has researched, extensively applied, and trained on human rights based approach to programming.
In Guatemala, he provided technical advice to the Human Rights Office of the Archdioceses of Guatemala, to the Truth Commissions of Guatemala and to the Inter-American Court for Human Rights on gross violations of children’s rights on behalf of UNICEF and GTZ. Furthermore he was responsible for a variety of programmes related to peace building, peace education, legal reform and alliances of child rights defenders.