Submitted by crinadmin on
Summary: Translated by CRIN
In her report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/4/45) dated 9 February 2007, the Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict expresses concern about the serious abuses committed against children in the context of Colombia’s internal armed conflict. The Special Representative highlights in particular the murders and mutilations of children (paragraph 8), rape and serious acts of sexual violence committed more and more frequently against women and girls (paragraph 9) and persistent reports of children being abducted (paragraph 10). From October 2006 to July 2007, our organisations recorded numerous human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law which violated children’s right to life, physical safety and freedom in Colombia. Violations of the right to life In spite of the fact that, in the context of negotiations with the government, paramilitary groups promised not to commit more attacks against the civilian population, these groups continue to violate children’s right to life. Murders committed by FARC (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) were also recorded in the departments of Valle, Antioquia and Cauca, including a massacre in the department of Valle. There are reports of extrajudicial executions being carried out by the police force and a number of the victims have been presented as guerrillas. It is particular worrying that, in the department of Caquetá, members of the police force instigated a woman to have a forced abortion during a violent repression of a social protest. Violations of the right to physical safety The majority of injuries to children were caused by the use of arms prohibited under humanitarian law (landmines, weapons whose effects are discriminatory – gas cylinders -, etc). In most cases the alleged perpetrator is the FARC, but one case has been attributed to a paramilitary group. Many violations of the right to physical safety have also been attributed to agents of the State, caused by abuse of authority: beatings, ill-treatment – physical as well as verbal, threats, etc. Violations of the right to freedom It has been observed that members of the police force have violated children’s right to freedom through arbitrary detentions in Bogota and in various departments. Among the victims are one indigenous boy, the son of a community leader, and a number of children from the countryside. In the cases of detention, the children were attacked physically and verbally and on many opportunities, accused of being guerrillas. Hostage-taking by the FARC and by paramilitary groups, who have supposedly demobilised, have also been recorded. Given the above, our organisations call on the State of Colombia to adopt measures to comply with the recommendations of the Special Representative and the Committee on the Rights of the Child from June 2006 to improve the situation of children in the context of internal armed conflict and prevent their further involvement in the conflict (CRC/C/COL/CO/3).