Colombia

Background

Jesuit Conference and JRS Position Statement

Links

Colombia is arguably our hemisphere’s most troubled country, beset by widespread violence and terror. Three armed groups, leftist guerrillas, rightist paramilitaries, and the Colombian military itself struggle for power, often financed by drug trafficking. An estimated 3.6 million people have been internally displaced; hundreds of thousands of other Colombians live in refugee-like situations in surrounding countries, with one in ten Colombians living abroad. Churches have often been particular targets with many Catholic, Protestant and other congregations forced to flee conflict zones. Dozens of priests and nuns, including the Archbishop of Cali, Isaias Duarte Cancino, have been assassinated.  

In 1997, the Colombian Province of the Society of Jesus appealed to the Jesuit Provinces in the United States to make Colombia an international priority issue. The U.S. Jesuit Conference and the Jesuit Refugee Service/USA responded by raising consciousness of the Colombian situation and its implications for U.S. policy through advocacy, education and direct support. In 2000, the Jesuit Provinces of Colombia and Oregon entered into a twinning agreement designed to build bridges and solidarity between both cultures.

Colombia’s current President, Alvaro Uribe, has aggressively increased military action, ostensibly in an effort to end the armed conflict in the country.  While cities and major roads in Colombia are now more secure, violence continues, and indeed has escalated among the most vulnerable, resource-rich areas of the countryside. Human rights advocates, including religious leaders and pastors of peace communities, continue to be harassed, threatened and assassinated.  A program to demobilize the Paramilitaries has been put in place, but there are many signs of impunity for perpetrators of human rights violations, and rearmament of paramilitary groups under new names.   One of the most disturbing progeny of the paramilitary demobilization effort is that several of the paramilitary units have formed private security companies, giving them the opportunity to legally “police,” harass, “tax” and terrorize local populations.  Not surprisingly for those familiar with the conflict, there have been increased accusations of government collaboration with paramilitary leaders.  President Uribe’s political history while he was governor of the Antioquia province of Colombia - where he openly supplied arms in his convivencia program to members of the citizenry who subsequently established paramilitary squads - has fueled the impression of cooperation between the federal government and paramilitary groups.  Attacks on rural villages by the Colombian armed forces in the past year, framed by the government as the actions of rogue brigades, increases the tension between those working for human rights and the personnel of government entities.  In November of 2006 the Supreme Court of Justice indicted several Colombian senators when evidence was established of direct ties between five powerful political figures and AUC paramilitaries.  Following the indictment two of the senators absconded.  Recently, dialogue regarding the possibility of peace negotiations between the government and the FARC, the major guerilla group, was broken off, suggesting a future of escalating violence.  

Given the massive amount of aid (roughly $700 million annually) and other support Colombia receives from the U.S. government, the United States has a great deal of influence in Colombia. The U.S. Jesuit Conference stands with Colombian Jesuits and their lay colleagues in search of ways to protect and foster human rights, curb violence, assist displaced people and refugees, and promote social and economic development and education.

We believe that:

• Respect for human life is fundamental.

• An intensification of the war is not the answer to Colombia’s woes.

• Lasting peace should be achieved through a politically negotiated solution that is flexible, clear and realistic. Indeed, the primary work of Jesuits is to build a culture of peace. The involvement of civil society is crucial in this, as every Colombian must have a voice in the search for peace.

• International participation in the peace process is vital. The international community can help to facilitate peace negotiations and assist with the necessary rebuilding of Colombian society.

• The U.S. should take a leadership role in facilitating a politically negotiated end to the violent conflict.

• U.S. aid should not contribute to the escalation of war and violence in Colombia and any further military aid should be predicated on the Colombian government passing the human rights certification process following a complete and thorough investigation of whether it Colombia has honored its obligations under internationally accepted standards of human rights.

• U.S. financial and technical assistance to Colombia should focus on strengthening government and judicial integrity, helping the internally displaced, protecting the civilian population, and addressing economic and social inequities.

• Serious questions exist regarding the health and environmental consequences of drug fumigation policies. Instead of undertaking fumigation-geared projects, the U. S. should encourage drug eradication strategies that promote alternative development opportunities and enable poor farmers to forgo cultivation of coca and poppies should be implemented.

• The U.S. should press neighboring countries that receive Colombian refugees to meet their protection obligations under international law.  Likewise, the U.S. should revitalize its own resettlement program for Colombian refugees, fulfilling its commitment to share the burden placed on Colombia’s neighbors by large refugee flows.

Currently the Jesuit Conference and the Jesuit Refugee Service USA are focusing on three specific changes in U.S. government policy:

•    Changing the proportion of aid so that more is given for effective sustainable development projects instead of military hardware;

•    Urging improvements in human rights by demanding clearer scrutiny for State Department certification of U.S. aid to Colombia;

•    Changing the material support provisions of current refugee law which make it impossible for Colombians to seek asylum and resettlement in the United States.

We invite your collaboration in this important area of U.S. policy.

For more, please see:
In All Things: Colombia 2002
James R. Stormes, SJ, “Colombian Dreams,” America Magazine

Colombia Projects and Resources