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In the Catatumbo in northeastern Colombia, along the border with Venezuela, civilians are being abused, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports in a report that has just been released. These populations, trapped in conflicts between the armed gangs in the region, are Colombian peasants as well as Venezuelan exiles. A violent situation denounced by HRW accuses the Colombian government of failing in its obligations to protect civilians in human rights.
A drama for the people, revealed by Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a 64-page report titled " The War in Catatumbo: Abuses by Armed Groups Against Civilians Including Venezuelan Exiles in Northeastern Colombia " (" The Catatumbo War: Abuse by armed groups against civilians, including Venezuelan exiles, in northeastern Colombia "). This report, published these days, is the result of a survey conducted by HRW in the region since April 2019 and is based on more than 80 testimonies collected from victims of abuse, their families, community leaders, representatives church leaders, judicial officials, humanitarian organizations, and local and
Violence in Catatumbo
According to the HRW report, in Catatumbo, civilians are victims of killings, enforced disappearances, sexual violence, recruitment of child soldiers (sometimes children under 12) and forced displacement. Violence committed by armed groups, who exercise control over the population through threats to community leaders and human rights defenders, some of whom have been killed. These armed groups are the National Liberation Army (ELN), the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and a group of demobilized elements of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
For many observers, this violence has increased considerably in the Catatumbo since the FARC left the region, following peace agreements with the government that led to their demobilization in 2017. The space left vacant, close to the border much sought by the drug traffickers, was quickly occupied and claimed, as summarized by José Miguel Vivanco, director of the Americas division at Human Rights Watch " As the armed groups clash to fill the void left by the FARC in the region of Catatumbo , hundreds of civilians are trapped in the middle of this conflict .
Populations in turmoil
In addition to the various abuses, the armed groups are burying mines in rural areas, as the FARC did in their day. Since 2017, four people have died and 65 have been injured by landmines in Catatumbo. A teacher quoted in the report, who lost a foot in the explosion of a mine a few meters from the school, said: " Those who participate in this conflict do not suffer as we, the people of the countryside ... It is we who bear the brunt of a conflict that they triggered . "
Another testimony among those produced by the HRW, that of Beatriz, raped in mid-2017: " That day, she was at work, cooking for agricultural workers. Her husband was employed on the same farm. Around 17h, a group of men in uniform, their faces hidden by hoods, arrived, asking shout why "devil" the couple had not left since he had been "warned". They asked if there were other people on the farm. Beatriz's husband replied that no, to protect other workers. The guerrillas sent men to check. Four of them, who wore the ELN logo on their clothes, stayed behind. Two of them assaulted Beatriz sexually while the other two forced her husband to watch. Beatriz lost consciousness and woke up two hours later in her husband's arms. They then fled to a nearby town and, according to her, did not report the incident until several months later because of the feeling of shame and psychological trauma they felt . "
According to government statistics, since 2017, more than 40,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Catatumbo. As the report explains, " Some have been forcibly displaced. People fled after being threatened by armed groups for allegedly cooperating with competing armed groups or with the government. Others fled after being threatened for refusing to join an armed group . "
Venezuelans trapped
Many Venezuelans seek refuge in Colombia and come to the border region of Catatumbo where immigration controls are limited, hoping to find work and better living conditions. But they find themselves trapped in local conflicts, particularly vulnerable, because often in an irregular situation, they are victims, like Colombians, forced displacement, assassinations, rape and their children are often recruited as a soldier. As summarized by José Miguel Vivanco, of HRW, " Venezuelans fleeing the humanitarian disaster in their own country are caught in this vicious circle of desperate flight and war ."
The report gives the example of Enrique Pérez, a 14-year-old who arrived with his mother in Catatumbo in February 2019: " They had left the state of Trujillo in Venezuela, because, he said, his parents could no longer feed the family properly. Some days he only had one meal and sometimes it was even every other day. He had gone to school in Venezuela, but he had stopped to work in the coca fields under a blazing sun. Sometimes Venezuelans work just for a plate of food, he said. He added that he worked with Colombian and Venezuelan children as young as 8, and that he would very much like to go back to school but was forced to work . "
According to the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 25,000 Venezuelans live in the Catatumbo region. In total, nearly 500 victims of armed conflict-related abuses have been registered by the authorities, but as HRW explains in its report, " it is very likely that the total number of abuse cases will be higher than the number recorded by the authorities. government authorities, as victims fear reprisals from armed groups if they denounce abuses and Venezuelan victims are afraid of being deported to their country . "
Weaknesses of justice and the state
With regard to homicides in the region, OCHA reports that 109 people, whom they consider civilians, were killed by armed groups in 2018 alone. Investigations by the Colombian Prosecutor's Office and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reports that 9 human rights defenders and community leaders have been murdered by armed groups. But for José Miguel Vivanco " Community leaders play a fundamental role in giving voice to victims of abuse and in helping to restore the rule of law in remote areas of Colombia ... the Colombian government should redouble its efforts to protect and ensure that the individuals responsible for these killings are brought to justice . "
For HRW, the Colombian government has failed in its human rights obligations to protect civilians and provide reparations to victims. The report notes that in April 2019 more than 770 cases involving killings in the Catatumbo area since 2017 were ongoing. 61 cases have been convicted. According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, only two members of armed groups were prosecuted for homicide and the latter did not issue any indictment for threats, recruitment of children as soldiers or for enforced disappearances on 480 cases. in the course of judgment.
In addition, the authorities have repeatedly refrained from responding to threats reported to them by the Office of the Ombudsman for Human Rights. Shortcomings to which should be added the slow and inadequate assistance to displaced persons, yet provided for by Colombian law.
In response, the Colombian government in October 2018 created a Rapid Deployment Force and deployed it in the region, increasing the number of military personnel operating in the field by 5,600. But this support has also become a source of problems. Civilians, aid workers and human rights defenders have reported " abusive behavior by military members of civilians " which they accuse of complicity with armed groups and endangering civilians in the process. subjecting them to interrogations exposing them to reprisals. For José Miguel Vivanco " The government's efforts to increase its presence in the Catatumbo region by deploying the army must go hand in hand with other broader efforts, such as support for criminal investigations and humanitarian assistance aimed at to protect the rights of Venezuelan farmers and exiles in this region ".
HRW concludes its report by asking the Colombian government, under international law and Colombian law, to put in place human rights-based strategies to ensure that the army and police protect civilians, that an effort be is doing more to support prosecutors investigating abuses by armed groups and seeking international support to help IDPs and refugees.