JOINT COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sub-Committee on Development Co-Operation) debate -
Wednesday, 28 May 2003

Vol. 1 No. 21

Colombian Development NGOs: Presentation.

Chairman

I welcome a delegation of 12 Colombian development NGOs, which are undertaking a visit to Ireland organised by Trócaire and co-funded by Ireland Aid. The aim of the visit is to promote mutual learning and exchange of experiences among the Colombian development NGOs and organisations in Ireland, both North and South, on issues regarding peace building from the grass roots, peaceful conflict transformation and human rights. The members of the delegation represent development organisations that are committed, at times at great personal risk, to peace building in Colombia and to a resolution of the conflict.

The delegation appearing before us represents Trócaire's most important partners, which have received support from Ireland Aid. Ireland Aid is supporting a programme of 12 Trócaire projects in Colombia as part of its multi-annual programme scheme totalling almost €1 million as a sign of Irish support and commitment to peace building in Colombia. I remind the meeting that, while members are covered by privilege, witnesses appearing before the committee are not. Mr. Jose Giron from the Institute of Popular Education and Ms Patricia Abozalgo from Trócaire will make a presentation. Ms Abozalgo will translate as necessary.

Ms Patricia Abozalgo

I thank the committee on behalf of Trócaire for this opportunity to make this presentation with our selection of partners from Colombia. It is a good opportunity to gain first hand information from the ground. I introduce Mr. Jose Giron, who is the president of one of the organisations. He has been chosen by the delegation to speak and I will translate for him.

Mr. Jose Giron

Greetings to the Chairman, Deputy Kitt, and the other members of the sub-committee. We are very pleased to be here as 12 representatives of Colombian organisations. These organisations work for peace building and human rights in Colombia. They work with organisations at grass roots level with a population that is suffering exclusion and inequality in our country. Our organisations are working for peace, human rights and a peaceful solution to the armed conflict in Colombia.

Colombia is a country at war that is experiencing a humanitarian crisis. The human rights situation and the humanitarian crisis continue to deteriorate. This includes social, political, economic and cultural rights and international humanitarian law. Armed actors are directing their attacks towards the innocent civilian population. Twenty people are killed every day through politically motivated violence and crime. A total of 35,000 civilians were killed in 2002.

A total of 6,000 people become internally displaced every day. Internal displacement of the population is caused by the interventions of armed actors, especially paramilitaries and guerrilla groups, and, also, by fumigation in the areas where Plan Colombia is implemented. Internally displaced populations are persecuted by the various armed actors and support from the government has been reduced, especially regarding health services and other basic living conditions.

Ten people are kidnapped every day by various armed actors, especially paramilitaries and guerrilla groups. Kidnapping figures have increased at local level, despite official figures showing a reduction in this crime. These figures seem to include only kidnappings denounced by authorities and do not include the others that, through fear and intimidation, are not denounced.

There are increasing threats and attacks on, and intimidation of, development, human rights and community-based organisations and social movements and their members and other human rights defenders such as journalists and trade union leaders. There is an increasing number of human rights abuses, especially those relating to rape. This has been pointed out by the special rapporteur on human and women's rights. Economic and social rights have deteriorated, affecting millions of Colombian citizens. At the same time new government measures focus on increasing taxation and reducing labour and social rights.

New measures introduced by the new government seem to prioritise military solutions to social and economic problems, putting aside constitutional mechanisms to protect human rights and contributing to the deterioration in political and civil rights. The UN High Commissioner on Human Rights' office in Colombia has expressed concerns about the fact that new legislation introduced such as the anti-terrorist law, among others, shows a tendency to increase human rights abuses such as disappearances, arbitrary detentions, etc.

Measures taken by the new government have led to the dismantling of the state's structures and the protection mechanisms of human rights included in the Colombian constitution. The anti-drugs policy implemented in Colombia and the Andean region has been focused on the destruction of coca and other illegal crops rather than having an integrated approach to the whole process of drugs production and trade. Over the last decade this has been shown to be an ineffective strategy that has not resolved the main causes of drug trafficking. Cultivation of coca and other illegal crops has shifted to other areas and is damaging key sources of natural capital and, more importantly, the population is living in areas where fumigation has been carried out.

In light of the above, the Colombian delegation and Trócaire urge the sub-committee to call on the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Ireland to continue supporting peace building and human rights initiatives in favour of the most excluded and poor in the Colombian population and the work that these organisations today represent.

We would like the Minister for Foreign Affairs to urge the Colombian Government to set up a humanitarian agreement that would guarantee the release of kidnapped people, the return of internally displaced people and respect for the rights of the civilian population affected by the conflict; respect for the rights of organisations and associations and participation of development and human rights organisations, social movements and community-based organisations according to the Colombian constitution; implement the recommendations made by the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, especially those made after her trips to Colombia; and follow the recommendations made by the UN human rights commissioner at the 59th session in April 2003 regarding anti-terrorist legislation which suggests that any legislation of this kind should respect the human rights of ColomÍbian society.

We would like the Irish Government to ensure that the European Union supports peacebuilding efforts with the participation of civil society in the planning process to guarantee successful interventions and does not support proposals that would increase armed conflict and abuses of human rights by the state and contraventions of international humanitarian law by other armed actors; supports sustainable alternatives to coca and illegal crops substitution, such as the one that calls for co-responsibility of all consumer countries participating in the drug chain, which should consist of control of arms sales and chemical ingredients to Colombia, implementation of concrete measures to reduce drug consumption in their own countries and confiscation of illegally earned drugs money; and supports initiatives towards a negotiated solution of the armed conflict with the participation of civil society, including women, indigenous peoples and the Afro-Colombian population, to guarantee sustainable development and lasting peace.

We thank the committee both for the opportunity to be present today and for listening to our proposals.

Deputy M. Higgins

A warm bienvenido to the organisations and their representatives.

This is a new sub-committee, but in its previous form it discussed Plan Colombia and the European Union. It appeared to the sub-committee at the time that the Irish Government and the European Union were being asked to assume the humanitarian consequences of what was effectively a militarily driven initiative. It concluded that the funding being sought from the EU for Plan Colombia effectively meant the Union was being asked to pick up the social, economic and human consequences of a larger project that was at heart military. The sub-committee decided to recommend to the Irish Government of the day that it should oppose Plan Colombia. This remains my view.

That was the basis of our presentation. We were left with a number of questions and this is where I see the value of the delegation's presentation. We did not have a discussion on an alternative at that stage, but it was the view of the members of all parties at the time that it should be one that took into account the needs of indigenous peoples and those involved in agricultural production. In other words, it should be development driven rather than militarily driven.

We have not progressed very far in this regard and it appears that matters have deteriorated. Such discussions and messages we have had have been concerned with the further collapse of civil society. Irish and European opinion and interest has faded. Irish interest has been concentrated on the much-publicised trial in Bogotá. Some of us have received letters, information and requests relating not only to high-prestige people who have been kidnapped, such as the presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, but also to ordinary people and their insecurity. It is important that we have up to date information.

I take it that the first proposal in the second part of these recommendations is an objection to Plan Colombia. I am supportive of the work of Trócaire, but I see much interest in the human rights area. There is a marked lack of interest among European parliamentarians, and indeed in the information available to our own people, on the socio-economic dimension, the question of the civil society and the displacement of agrarian workers and peasant farmers. We have very little information coming to us on this. European interest in Colombia has always been related to high-profile, politicised trials and not the Colombian people.

I do not want to delay the visitors, so I have only two points. I support the observations of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the emergency law, but, perhaps because I was a sociologist for a large part of my life, the missing dimension is the socio-economic civil society. The committee would welcome such submissions as people may want to make on what would be an acceptable alternative socio-economic plan, which would offer land security, agrarian reform, credit for co-operatives, rural industrialisation, participation and so on. We are grateful to the NGOs for such information as they give us, but it is not being distributed in Europe.

Senator Ryan

Bienvenido a Irlanda. Hay muchas cosas que me gustaría decir. Hay muchas preguntas pero no puedo decirlos en Español. Lo siento. I wish I could speak to the delegation in Spanish.

Through the Internet, it is possible to access much of the media, particularly the print media, in Latin America. Since I have a limited knowledge of Spanish, like many people in Ireland, could somebody from the delegation tell us what communications media we could rely on to get honest information about Colombia? What proportion of the government's budget is spent on armaments and military affairs? What proportion is spent on health and education? From what country does the Colombian military import its armaments? What happens to most of the people who disappear? Do they ever turn up again? There used to be an Irish multinational in Colombia, Smurfit-Stone, about whose behaviour we got very unfavourable reports. Could one of the witnesses tell us more about this or where we could find out more? That company makes great promises here.

Ms Abozalgo

Over the last few years the Irish Government has been very supportive towards Colombia. This trip is possible because of the Irish commitment to peace building and this is understood to be from a non-military perspective. We are very grateful for that. At the same time, however, we are aware that there are a number of things that could be done on the political front. We are grateful for what we have got, but it is important to mention the other points. Ms del Carmen Munos will now answer some questions with the information the committee members sought.

Ms del Carmen Munos

A number of organisations in Colombia are carrying out up to date research and providing information on the situation in Colombia, but not all of them are reliable. One of the reliable sources is called COVHES. It has a very reliable information system, especially on the issue of internal displacement and the general overall situation of Columbia. In relation to the military expenditure and expenditure on health and education, Feve Sarrollo is another reliable source for that kind of information. Those figures can be compared to the official ones produced by the planning office in Columbia.

Mr. Giron

There is another later publication by Luis Cortez Jaray, a researcher who has produced the best update on the social and economic situation.

Ms del Carmen Munos

There is also another later publication - a report on human development indicators, which gives a very good account of growth in Columbia in relation to those indicators.

Mr. Castellanos

On the question related to forced disappearances, this continues to happen in Columbia, especially at the responsibility of military forces. The situation of injustice is marked by a very high level of impunity. There is no procedure to penalise the crime of forced disappearances. In the few cases which have come to the courts, witnesses have been killed or relatives had to leave the country. New legislation which is currently being discussed to review the scope of mechanisms for protection of human rights would lead to increasing abuses in this field. This new law would give more power to the police to investigate cases of human rights abuses. At the moment, we are running a number of campaigns about this specific law that would seriously affect the mechanisms to protect human rights.

Deputy M. Higgins

Do I understand correctly that this involves constitutional reform?

Mr. Castellanos

Yes.

Mr. Munera

In relation to resistance by society, especially by people suffering because of the war, the 12 people present today represent the effort in this sense of resistance. For example, many of us work in areas where there are armed activists, especially in southern, central and western Columbia. We work with the population to strengthen their capacity to maintain their social and community life and to strengthen their productive systems so that they may have a life with dignity. This work of strengthening the life of communities, in a context of war, is possible thanks to institutions such as Trócaire and governments such as the Irish Government. One example of a very important movement of resistance is the women's network for peace building. Vamos Muher is one of the organisations represented on the delegation today which have been actively involved in that work. It has support from the Irish Government and Trócaire.

Monsignor Sanchez

On the position of the Catholic Church in Columbia, it has played a very important role in support of the population suffering from the war. We have prominently denounced actions against human rights, perpetrated by illegal armed activists and the military forces. Many people from the church, both religious and lay people, have paid for this work with their lives. One of the most important roles is to support community-based organisations at local level. Some of the organisations here today were born out of the Catholic Church, which continues supporting them even though they have their own autonomy.

One of the issues which shows the unfair system in the country is the distribution of land. This affects many peasant farmers and the overall economy of the country. The situation has deteriorated due to internal displacement and also due to the eviction caused by other armed actions. One of the efforts arising from the bishops' conference is that they will hold a conference to set up the rural pastoral work with the aim of coming out with proposals for the fair distribution of land.

Ms Abozalgo

I am aware that we must be at the Department of Foreign Affairs at 4 o'clock.

Chairman

I appreciate that. Before we conclude, we will have one more speaker from the delegation.

Mr. Granja

In Columbia there are about 3 million internally displaced persons who had to leave their land because of the armed conflict. Most of them are practically abandoned because they do not receive any supports from the government. Most of them were peasant farmers who lived off the land. Most of these thousands of displaced persons are based in small villages which do not have the capacity to hold them. They are facing a serious crisis, even from the point of view of basic needs such as food. Part of the population is receiving some help from organisations like ours, which receives funds from agencies in other countries, but unfortunately that support is not sufficient. There is a need for further assistance to guarantee food security and basic living conditions. It is also important to talk to the Columbian Government in order to guarantee the rights of these people and also their lives which are at risk.

Chairman

I thank the delegation for their informative presentation and for appearing at the committee. I also thank Trócaire and Ireland Aid for organising and co-funding the visit. Their efforts are making a real impact on the lives of the people of Columbia. The delegation raised a number of issues here today which we as a committee will follow up with the Minister and the Government. I wish the delegation well during the remainder of their stay in Ireland.

The sub-committee adjourned at 3.30 p.m. sine die.