COLOMBIA:
Rebels, Government Urged to Tackle Plight of the Displaced
Patricia Grogg

HAVANA,  (IPS) - A draft agreement on forced displacement proposed by civil society groups to the Colombian government and the leftwing National Liberation Army (ELN) may open up possible solutions to one of the most serious problems generated by the armed conflict in Colombia.

The proposal was presented at the end of meetings in Havana between ELN delegates and sectors of Colombian civil society, on the eve of another round of exploratory talks that began Friday between the guerrillas and the Colombian government's high peace commissioner, Luis Carlos Restrepo.

"It would be very good news for the country to hear that two of the parties to this war have agreed not to displace people any more, out of respect for the civilian population in the context of the armed conflict," Jorge Enrique Rojas, director of the non-governmental Consultancy on Human Rights and Displacement (CODHES), told IPS.

Studies by CODHES and the Colombian Catholic bishops' conference estimate that 3.8 million people (of a total population of 43 million) were forcibly displaced from their homes between 1985 and 2005 as a result of fighting between government troops and far-right paramilitary groups, on one hand, and leftwing armed organisations like the ELN and the much bigger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on the other.

"In the midst of this conflict there is a serious and long-term humanitarian crisis which is demonstrated mainly by the forced displacement of eight out of every 100 Colombians in the last 20 years," said the text of the proposal, to which IPS had access.

The initiative would commit the ELN and the government to comply with international humanitarian law as expressed in the Geneva conventions, in force since 1949, which prohibit forced displacement and stipulate that goods essential to the survival of the civilian population in times of conflict should be protected.

According to the proposed "Special Agreement on Forced Displacement", the Colombian government would implement and fund a programme of voluntary, safe and coordinated return for communities and people displaced from areas where the ELN is active.

Under the accord, both the government and the ELN would commit themselves to respect the civilian status of people who have returned to their homes or settled in 'humanitarian peace zones'.

"The return of the population must be accompanied by concerted plans for local development, with social investment, international aid and incentives that contribute to the full restoration of their rights," the document says.

A commission for follow-up and protection would be in charge of "discovering and evaluating any actions that infringe this agreement, and contributing to the protection of the civilian population," in the Colombian war that has gone on for more than four decades.

"The members of the commission would be named by common accord between the national government and the ELN, and the International Committee of the Red Cross will function as its Technical Secretariat," the proposal adds.

CODHES director Rojas said that achieving an agreement to solve the plight of the displaced would open the way to consolidating a peace process that would have much greater social legitimacy. "We presented the proposal and we want it to be considered, discussed and approved by the parties as soon as possible, because people are in an extremely difficult situation," he said.

Colombian society has been torn apart by the war, leading to a serious humanitarian crisis, he said. "We are destroying the country's human resources, and this must not go on," he stressed.

Rojas was a member of the working group on forced displacement that presented the draft agreement, alongside representatives of the national Social Pastorate Secretariat and the Colombian bishops' conference, and a number of Colombian lawyers.

The activist said that the presence of antipersonnel landmines, another matter discussed by civil society groups and the ELN between Monday and Thursday, add to the blockade and confinement of the population. "This agreement (on displacement), which is very concrete and tangible, could also open the way to the removal of landmines on humanitarian grounds," he said.

Mehme Balci, the director of the Middle East and Colombia programme for the non-governmental Geneva Call, told IPS that the working group on landmines had presented a proposal to remove mines from 14 districts in the municipality of Samaniego, in the western Colombian province of Nariño.

These devices are used to a greater extent by the guerrilla groups in the conflict. In 2005 they killed or wounded 1,150 people, 63 percent of whom were military personnel and the rest civilians, according to Balci's estimates.

"The humanitarian agenda is very important if we want society to be involved in the peace process, and the most direct way is to remove the mines and let people go home to the places from which they were displaced. That would create favourable conditions," he said.

Antonio García, military commander of the ELN and head of the group's delegation at the preliminary talks with government representative Restrepo in Havana, did not rule out the possibility that this and other issues might form part of a humanitarian agenda.

The ELN "is always open" to everything that can be done to ensure the safety of the communities, he emphasised.

García also said Thursday that a peace process that makes no effort to solve the problem of displaced people "is useless," and any initiative must deal with this aspect.

On Friday, García and Restrepo resumed their conversations, which will continue until Oct. 25. Afterwards, a meeting will be held with representatives of civil society and the international community, to report on the results of the fourth round of exploratory talks.

In the meantime, Colombian President Álvaro Uribe broke off efforts Friday to negotiate a humanitarian swap of imprisoned guerrillas for hostages held by the FARC, after a car-bombing on Thursday in Bogotá that the government blamed on the rebel group.

"The only path that remains is a military rescue" of the captive soldiers and politicians held by the FARC, said the president.