Colombia's Land Mine Peril Risks Children

by Maria Isabel Garcia

In Colombia, a nation of 40 million inhabitants, 3 million children are directly affected by the decades-long civil war. This year, 58 fell victim to anti-personnel mines, graphically known here as "leg-smashers."

An estimated 100,000 of these weapons of war are buried throughout 10 percent of the country's 150 municipalities, with one exploding every 20 minutes on average, under the feet of some farm worker, often a child.

Meanwhile, the peace negotiations between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country's largest guerrilla group, remain at a standstill, and talks have yet to be scheduled with the National Liberation Army, the second largest rebel force.

"But the construction of peace they are trying to negotiate cannot take place in a minefield," stated Juan Manuel Urrutia, director of the governmental Colombian Institute of Family Welfare.

Urrutia's statements this month coincided with the release of a report by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) about the situation of minors in Colombia and reinforced a local television station's holiday campaign to raise awareness about the involvement of children in the ongoing armed conflict.

"Deyson is 12 years old. A leg-smashing mine has done away with his dreams. Deyson needs a leg and an arm. Rehabilitation will be his best Christmas present," states a recurring television spot that shows images of the boy, who, surprisingly, is smiling.

Deyson's prostheses and treatment cost approximately $25,000, and TV viewers have already contributed more than half that sum to a bank account set up for the purpose.

On Dec. 21, the message concluded with a tug on the heartstrings that a great deal of money was still needed and "there are just four days left before Christmas."

But the boy's psychological recovery has no price tag, nor does that of 17.5 percent of Colombia's children affected by the war, according to the report by UNICEF's Peace and Human Rights program.

UNICEF's call takes on greater significance considering that the rebel groups have at least 6,000 child recruits among their ranks, according to human rights organizations.

The Colombian chapter of the international organization Save the Children reported that 10 percent of the members of guerrilla groups and more than a million of the country's displaced population are children, most under age five.

Minors made up half the 368 members of the FARC Arturo Ruiz column, which 2,000 soldiers of the army's Second Division and Rapid Deployment Force engaged in battle last Nov. 26 in the department of Santander.

According to government reports, the army was able to locate the rebel column thanks to information provided by a boy who had deserted and turned himself in to authorities after a 12-hour hike through the jungle.

In the initial clashes last month, 11 rebels were killed and another six were taken prisoner. In the following days, 26 guerrillas fell and the army captured 67 more.

The ages and origins of the young insurgents who surrendered or were captured generated a great deal of criticism and could carry high political costs for the FARC, which has yet to issue a statement about the matter.

The younger rebels taken into custody range in age from 14 to 17 and most are from the municipalities within the demilitarized zone that the government extended until Jan. 31, 2001, in order to encourage the renewal of dialogue with the FARC.

As part of national and international pressure to sign human rights agreements and contain the progressive degradation of the Colombian conflict, Carel De Rooey, UNICEF representative for Colombia and Venezuela, has convened a global accord.

"The intent is to seek new integral formulas to protect children from all types of violence, but especially from the war, using legal mechanisms covering education, re-socialization, nutrition and stability," De Rooey stated.

According to government data, attacks by the leftist guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary squads against the civilian population this year have killed 71 adults and 12 children, and injured 103, including 22 minors.

Kidnappings, which totalled approximately 3,000 this year, involved 244 child victims since January, compared to 196 the prior year.

Among the factors that favor the recruitment of children into Colombia's illegal armed groups are "intimidation and lack of defence, in addition to the ignorance, lack of education and extreme poverty of these minors and their families," according to "Toys of War," a document by the non-governmental Center for Socio-Political Analysis.

The human rights crisis in Colombia falls particularly heavily on the shoulders of boys and girls, which led constitutional lawyer Fernando Cepeda to stress something as obvious as it is apparently forgotten in this country: "the rights of children prevail over those of all other citizens."