| Statistics on displacement continue
to reveal a worrisome image of Colombian reality. According to the Human
Rights and Displacement Advisory Office (Codhes), 47,864 people were displaced
in the first quarter this year. During the second half of the year the
number and situation of displaced people will likely be worse. During this
period there has been an escalation in guerrilla raids and fighting, and
self-defense group massacres. The civilian population is fleeing across
the border into Venezuela to escape the conflict.
This scenario is also aggravated by
the ELN's (Army of National Liberation's) mass kidnappings. The ELN wants
to be part of the government's negotiation agenda. The international community
has been energetic in its disapproval and condemnation of the kidnappings
and forced disappearances and protests by civil society have been held
throughout the country. All of this has not been enough to stop this kind
of violence against the civilian population. The Colombian United Self-Defense
Groups' (AUC) object to one of the agenda points that the FARC and the
government have agreed upon: to persecute the self-defense groups. In consequence,
the AUC kidnapped Senator Piedad Córdoba. Many sectors responded
with indignation to this incident.
Some have suggested that these incidents
are part of what is known as "wartime negotiations," involving civilian
society and "using it" to measure the strength of each of the warring factions.
Under these conditions it is logical that the most vulnerable and populous
sectors of the civilian population, such as children, wind up being the
most affected when there is no commitment to control the excesses and abuses
committed by the warring parties. In this respect, the international community
is committed to raising awareness of children's right not to be involved
in the conflict. We feel that this view is shared by many sectors in this
country.
Under the circumstances, we feel that
it is appropriate to dedicate this issue to displaced children and the
Colombian conflict, coinciding with the recent visit by Olara Otunnu, Special
Delegate to the Secretary General of the United Nations. For the occasion,
Martin Kelsey, Program Director for South America at the international
agency Save the Children (SCF), has prepared an article on Mr. Otunnu's
main commitments and views. |
