EDITORIAL
During the course of the year
Colombia was visited by several international delegations with an interest
in Human Rights (HR) and International Humanitarian Law (IHL), Child Protection
and Forced Displacement. The main objective of the delegations was to gather
information from different sources (government, affected communities, national
NGOs and the international community – diplomats, the UN system, the International
Committee of the Red Cross- ICRC, and development agencies) as a follow
up in some cases and to previous visits and in others to get a first idea
about the socio-political and HR situation of Colombia.
Among the most important
of these visits were those of the UN Secretary General´s Representative
for Internal Displacement, Mr. Francis Deng; the Special Representative
for Children in Armed Conflicts, Mr. Olara Otunnu, and the international
delegation to the Tribunal Internacional de Opinión (International
Tribunal of Opinion) that sessioned in Barrancabermeja (Santander). During
the second half of the year, the country was visited by an International
Policy Commission made up of seven HR experts (the Spanish judge, Baltazar
Garzón, the Kennedy Foundation director, Kerry Kennedy and the International
HHRR Federation vice-president, Francisco Soberón, amongst others).
The second visit from Amnesty International (AI) this year also took place
with the presence of Javier Zúñiga, the Latin America representative.
As a result of the work,
the delegations produced reports with very specific recommendations aimed
mainly at the government – seen as the principal responsible for HR protection
in Colombia and for the protection of its citizens. In the same way they
urged the armed actors to stop their attacks to the civil population and
humanitarian delegations, as these acts violate IHL.
All the delegations emphasised
the need for more protection and attention for the most vulnerable people,
particularly the displaced communities. The work of HR defenders was recognised
by all the delegations , which called for their activities and lives to
be respected. This support was extended to national and international organisations
providing accompaniment and support to the displaced population.
Regarding international work
on forced displacement, the delegations urged for the strengthening of
the UN presence in Colombia, in particular the office of the UN High Commissioner
for the protection of Human Rights (UNHCHR) and the UN High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR) which are directly concerned with the protection and
attention of the internally displaced population.
The delegations travelled
to some of the most conflictive areas of the country: Antioquian and Chocoan
Urabá, Magdalena Medio, Meta and the demilitarised zone in the south
east. Unfortunately, due to security and time restrictions the delegations
were unable to visit other regions of the country like Putumayo, Norte
de Santander, Valle del Cauca, and Cauca, where the numbers of displaced
population resulting from the upsurge of the armed conflict in Colombia
has increased during recent months and looks likely to worsen.
In this edition we shall
consider the events of the last six months since the visit of Mr. F. Deng,
Special Representative of the UN General Secretary for Internal Displacement.
We shall focus particularly on some of the commitments resulting from the
seminar on displacement that took place in Colombia, with Mr. F. Deng´s
participation. James Lupton, Christian Aid representative in Colombia,
presents a made 6 months on from the visit.
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