This monthly review, produced by IOM, provides a summary of news related to the implementation of the Peace Accord in Colombia, including disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) processes. Also included are statistics on people in the process of reintegration and former child soldiers, with information provided by the Agency for Reincorporation and Normalization (ARN), and the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF).
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
Attacks against social leaders continue
There was a peak in attacks against social leaders after the presidential elections, and the total of assassinations reached 80 for this year, prompting President Santos to call a meeting of the Security Guarantees Committee for 10 July, during which a decision to create a single on-going registry for assassinated social leaders was reached. Social and victims’ organizations also delivered their first report to the Truth Commission on 5 July, in which they detailed ten cases of violence against human rights defenders, drawing attention to sociopolitical violence as well as the armed conflict. The Ombudsperson’s Office also reported that almost 18,000 Colombians were displaced during the first half of 2018, mostly from the Pacific and Venezuelan border regions. This number is significantly higher than the 12,841 who were displaced in 2017.
“False positive” cases brought to the JEP
The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) opened the investigation and procedural stage for Case 003:
Deaths unlawfully presented as combat casualties by State agents. The Attorney General’s Report identifies 2,248 victims, known as “false positives,” between 1988 and 2014, of which 48% were young men between the ages of 18 and 30. The International Criminal Court identified the involvement of 10 brigades from four divisions of the National Army.