COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE CONTINUES REVIEW OF REPORT OF COLOMBIA

12 November 2003



The Committee against Torture continued its consideration this afternoon of the third periodic report of Colombia on how that country was implementing the provisions of the Convention against Torture.

The delegation, led by Clemencia Forero Ucros, the Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, responding to questions put by Committee members upon presentation of the report on Tuesday morning, said among other things that no tolerance existed towards the actions of self-defence groups. On the contrary, the number of penal procedures against them was increasing.

The delegation also gave further details about the sanitary situation in Colombian prisons and indicated that programmes were provided within the penitentiary administration to give special care to detainees. The programmes aimed to prevent the risk of diseases in prison and to raise the penitentiary population’s awareness regarding the protection of their physical and mental health. Besides, training programmes coordinated by specialized staff drew the penitentiary personnel’s attention to drug addiction.

Ms. Forero stated that the number of complaints received involving armed forces and the national police was on the decline and that there was no amnesty or pardons for crimes of torture in Colombia.

Colombia, as one of the 134 States parties to the Convention against Torture, must submit periodic reports to the Committee on efforts to prevent torture and related ill treatment.

The Committee's conclusions and recommendations on the report of Colombia will be issued on 19 November in the afternoon.

The Committee will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 13 November, to begin its examination of the initial report of Latvia.

Discussion

The Colombian delegation, responding to questions put by Committee members upon presentation of the Colombian report on Tuesday morning, said among other things, that the “democratic security policy” of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Vélez did not affect the implementation of the Convention against Torture.

CLEMENCIA FORERO UCROS, the Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, gave further details about the content of the “democratic security policy”, and explained that even before his election, President Uribe had been speaking about the protection of citizens as a priority. The absence of legal authority that gave the opportunity to armed organizations to act outside the law had made this policy a necessity. This absence in many rural areas had been used by armed and self-defence groups which took advantage to exert violence on civilians. The Government was hoping to have complete police coverage of all areas of the country very shortly. A significant decline in the number of kidnappings, murders and other violations of human rights could already be seen as the intensification of the struggle against armed groups continued.

The Colombian delegation reaffirmed the country’s commitment to protect and respect human rights, and stated that Colombia was open to scrutiny by the international community. In this regard, it had accepted the competence of the Inter-American Court for Human Rights.

Regarding the issue of young soldiers in the rural areas, the delegation explained that all young boys between 18 and 24 years old were subjected to military service during which they were trained for three months. The training was under the responsibility of the Minister of Defence and included a course on human rights.

Referring to the decree on the reinstatement in civilian life of those who had been demobilized from armed organizations, the delegation said that a committee had been set up to issue a certificate proving the demobilization. This certificate authorized the beginning of a process of reinstatement. As for the draft project on the penal alternative, Ms. Forero stressed the fact that it was not a law in favour of leniency but an alternative sentence to imprisonment pronounced under certain conditions, such as compensating the victims.

The delegation informed Committee members that terrorist forces were able to carry out actions in Colombia because of the difficulty in communications, especially in the far away rural areas. Consequently, actions carried out by the Public Prosecutor were often incomplete because of the difficulty of identifying, finding, and catching those responsible. The Public Prosecutor could send Special Forces to investigate such crimes. The mandate of these Special Forces was limited to very clear and specific areas and did not affect the investigation and the trial procedures of the judges.

Ms. Forero assured that the provisions of habeas corpus were respected regarding draft pre-trial detention legislation. She compared it with the legislation of several European countries in the framework of the anti-terrorist struggle and noticed that most of them authorized the extension of the pre-trial detention period. The project of reform of the penal justice system still required two further debates and came in response to Colombia’s will to rationalise the mechanisms of human rights protection.

Responding to a question regarding the use of a criminal or a military court for cases, the delegation said that it was the responsibility of the High Council of the Public Office to determine which court was competent.

With regards to the protection programmes provided by the Ministry of the Interior, the delegation said that all human rights defenders could benefit from this programme as well as any member of a non-government organization acting in the field of human rights. Journalists and witnesses of human right’s violations could also be helped. Furthermore, the Ministry for National Defence had adopted a policy for the protection of trade unionists and human rights advocates.

Ms. Forero said that no tolerance existed towards the actions of self-defence groups. On the contrary, the number of penal procedures against them was increasing. There was no de facto amnesty for those who were not caught either, such as the case of Pablo Escobar, the famous drug trafficker who had disappeared.

Following the Committee’s request, Ms. Forero gave more details about specific cases, especially concerning the deaths of Hernando Muican and Wilson Duarte.

Another member of the delegation, JULIE ESTHER PLATA GOMEZ, Counsellor for the penitentiary policy of the Ministry of Interior and Justice of Colombia, also replied to a few questions regarding the sanitary situation in Colombian prisons and gave details about various existing programmes for the improvement of detainees’ health. She indicated that no faculty of medicine specialized in care for detainees existed. However, within the penitentiary administration, programmes were provided to give special care to detainees. The programmes aimed to prevent the risk of diseases in prison and to raise the penitentiary population’s awareness regarding the protection of their physical and mental health. Besides, training programmes coordinated by specialized staff drew the penitentiary personnel’s attention to drug addiction. An agreement with the International Committee of the Red Cross provided financial support as well as surgery material and vaccinations, such as vaccination against tuberculosis.

Ms. Forero then emphasized that the increased number of cases of torture between 1999 and 2000 was the result of the armed struggle occurring in the country, especially by the self-defense groups. Turning to sexual violence, the Ambassador noted that she had information from the NGO CISAD that indicated that 80 per cent of such cases took place within the family. She mentioned that a large number of units had been set up in Colombia to deal with sexual offences. In November 2001, for example, the Unidad de Violence had been created to help address this issue. The Government has also created a geo-reference map to help indicate where such cases of sexual violence had taken place.

Responding to a question on the rights of minors, the Ambassador said the Government had established guidelines to remove minors from armed conflict. Minors could be introduced to a special programme set up by the Government, which allowed for their protection, education, and health and their reintegration into society and with their family. She went on to say that in the first part of 2003, 297 minors had joined this programme.

The delegation then gave a number of detailed statistics concerning, among other things, the classification of the penitentiary population by sex, age, gender, and origin.
As far as the numbers of complaints received against the armed forces, Ms. Forero said she had no specific information at the moment but the number of cases involving armed forces and the national police was on the decline. Of the 10,804 complaints presented to the Prosecutor General's office during the period from 1995 to November 2002, they found violations in 1,399 cases or 13 per cent.
Ms. Forero stated that there was no amnesty or pardons for crimes of torture in Colombia. Although the measures taken may not be enough, Colombia was carrying out efforts to do away with problems of torture which constituted a “true revolution”.

The Chairman of the Committee as well as both Rapporteurs for the report praised the delegation for the very complete answers and details provided.