About Seven Children Killed Daily In Colombia Civil War

by Thalif Deen

(IPS) UNITED NATIONS -- Colombian children caught up in Latin America's longest running military conflict are dying violently at a rate of about seven per day, according to a report released Wednesday by the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict.

"We are outraged that the international community is standing by so silently," said Watchlist Coordinator Julia Freedson.

"Countless children are losing their families, their homes, their communities, and even their lives to the ongoing conflict," she added.

In an interview with IPS on Wednesday, Freedson said her network of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is urging the 15-member UN Security Council to include the Colombian conflict on its agenda.

The network includes Care International, the Norwegian Refugee Council, Save the Children Alliance, World Vision and the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers.

"It is an urgent matter of international peace and security," Freedson said, "based on the severe, life-threatening impact of the conflict on children."

She said she hoped the Security Council would look at the issue of Colombia --"given the commitment of the council to recognize the impact of armed conflict on children."

The 45-page study points out that guerrilla groups, paramilitaries, government forces and national police all perpetrate violence and abuses against civilians, including children and adolescents.

"These are infractions of international humanitarian law and human rights, yet these crimes are often committed with a high level of impunity," the report said.

The current war, which began in 1964 between the government and a leftist guerrilla movement, also involves illegal drug trafficking and proliferation of small arms.

"Young people have been killed and maimed, victimized by sexual violence, lured and forced into the ranks of combatants, used as informants, marked as targets and driven from their homes," says the study, 'Colombia's War on Children'.

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the number of child soldiers in Colombia is estimated at 11,000 to 14,000, in a total population of 43.7 million people, of which 16.5 million are under the age of 18.

The country has the world's second highest population of internally displaced persons (IDPs) numbering at least 2.5 million. Up to 55 percent of these IDPs are children.

Many children, especially the IDPs, and those from indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, lack basic health services, education and access to humanitarian assistance, the study said.

The insurgency is led by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP), the largest armed group in the country, with approximately 18,000 members. The group has drug-related income ranging from $100 million to about one billion dollars per year, according to the report.

The second largest guerrilla group is the National Liberation Army, which has focused on disrupting Colombia's vast oil industry, relies heavily on extortions from kidnappings and from oil companies.

But HRW says the group responsible for the lion's share of gross human rights abuses, like mass killings and targeted murders, is the paramilitary United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), made up of an estimated 12,000 combatants, and closely connected with the U.S.-advised army.

The AUC is currently involved in peace talks with the government, and parts of the umbrella group have reportedly agreed to disband in exchange for an amnesty-like arrangement.

In Bogota, six human rights groups reported that of 6,038 people arrested in the context of the armed conflict since President Alvaro Uribe took office in August 2002, 112 were minors, many of whom were picked up in security sweeps along with their parents, although some were detained after being identified as "guerrilla collaborators."

Most of the minors are boys between the ages of 15 and 17.

Human rights lawyer Agust’n Jimenez, with the Committee of Solidarity with Political Prisoners, told IPS that "many of them have been separated from their parents, charged with 'revolt', and sent to reinsertion centres" -- the facilities set up to hold guerrillas or paramilitary fighters who have been captured or have surrendered.

There the captured minors receive the same treatment given those who voluntarily joined an armed group, which amounts to a "violation of the presumption of innocence" of the minors, he added.

The study adds that the growth of Colombia's illegal drug industry in the 1980s enriched both the guerrilla and paramilitary forces, allowing them to step up the pace and scope of combat.

The drug trade, in turn, has spawned a corps of young men who see their only hope for a future in working for narcotics lords. Other young men are pressured into linking up with drug traffickers, who vie to consolidate power and influence, says the report.

Freedson also appealed to donor countries such as the United States -- which provides over $100 million of military aid to Colombia annually -- to uphold U.S. legal standards. Washington's military aid should be contingent upon Colombia's compliance with human rights standards, she added.

Freedson said her group is scheduled to address a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives on the issue in March.

"We will try to push some of the specific recommendations relating to the United States," she added.

In its 2005 budget request, the State Department says that U.S. interests in Colombia focus on "supporting counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism efforts; regional stability and democracy; protecting human rights; providing humanitarian assistance; and fostering mutual economic prosperity."

U.S. military grants to Colombia will rise from $17.1 million in 2003 to $109.3 million in 2004 and a projected $108 million in 2005.

Washington is also increasing grants under the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program: from $1.1 million in 2003 to $1.8 million in 2004, with a projected $1.7 million in 2005.

According to the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), Colombia is now the third- largest recipient of U.S. aid, behind Israel and Egypt.