State Department Human Rights Report 2000: Colombia, February 26, 2001

Colombia

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices -2000
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
February 2001

Colombia is a constitutional, multiparty democracy in which the Liberal and Conservative parties have long dominated politics. Citizens elected President Andres Pastrana of the Conservative Party and a bicameral legislature controlled by the Liberal Party in generally free, fair, and transparent elections in 1998, despite attempts at intimidation and fraud by paramilitary groups, guerrillas, and narcotics traffickers. Similar attempts at intimidation by illegal armed actors, including killings and kidnapings, threatened to impair local elections scheduled for October; however, the elections were generally peaceful. The civilian judiciary is largely independent of government influence; however, the suborning or intimidation of judges, witnesses, and prosecutors is common.

The Government continued to face serious challenges to its control over the national territory, as longstanding and widespread internal armed conflict and rampant violence--both political and criminal--persisted. The principal participants in the conflict were government security forces, paramilitary groups, guerrillas, and narcotics traffickers. The number of victims of paramilitary attacks during the year increased. In some areas government forces were engaged in combat with guerrillas or narcotics traffickers, while in others paramilitary groups fought guerrillas, and in still others guerrillas attacked demobilized members of rival guerrilla factions. The 2 major guerrilla groups, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN), consist of an estimated 11,000 to 17,000 full-time combatants organized into more than 100 semiautonomous groups. The FARC and the ELN, along with other smaller groups, exercised a significant degree of territorial influence and initiated armed action in nearly 1,000 of the country's 1,085 municipalities during the year, which was approximately the same level as in 1999. Their popular support nationwide remained low, according to polls and numerous other reports. The major guerrilla organizations received a significant part of their revenues (in the hundreds of millions of dollars) from fees levied on narcotics production and trafficking, as well as kidnaping and extortion. Guerrillas and paramilitary groups supplanted absent state institutions in many sparsely populated areas. Peace talks initiated in 1999 between the Government and the FARC continued in a demilitarized zone ("despeje") consisting of 5 southern municipalities, with a total population of approximately 100,000 persons. In the absence of both a state presence and international verification, FARC human rights abuses inside the zone, as well as outside of it, continued. Peace talks were complicated by the September 8 hijacking of a commercial plane by a FARC guerrilla who obtained refuge in the demilitarized zone. On November 14, the FARC unilaterally suspended negotiations and demanded concrete government action against the paramilitary groups. On December 6, President Pastrana extended the term of the demilitarized zone until January 31, 2001, as intense public debate continued over the value of the existing peace process. The killing of congressional peace commission chairman Diego Turbay Cote on December 29 cast further doubt on the future of peace negotiations, although government and FARC negotiators remained in contact.

In April the Government and the ELN agreed in principle on verification within a proposed "encounter zone" in southern Bolivar and northeastern Antioquia departments, in which the ELN's national convention could take place. However, progress stalled when local residents of the proposed zone protested its creation. Two groups--Asocipaz and the "No to the Despeje" Committee--demanded active consultation with the Government on the creation of an encounter zone and on occasion blocked access to the area. Paramilitary groups have attempted to influence these organizations. The Governments of Spain, France, Switzerland, Norway, and Cuba took a progressively more active role in the peace process during the year and committed to provide development assistance when the zone is implemented. However, the September 17 mass kidnaping of over 50 Cali residents by the ELN again slowed the peace process. After negotiation coupled with military pressure, the last of the hostages were released on November 3. ELN leaders participated in a mid-October conference in San Jose, Costa Rica, jointly sponsored by the Government and a group of nongovernmental organizations (NGO's), to explore solutions to the conflict. (The FARC, although invited, did not participate in the conference.) On December 15, five hired killers wounded public employees' union president Wilson Borja, a key member of the civil society facilitating commission in the Government-ELN peace process. Carlos Castano, the head of the United Self-Defense Groups of Colombia (AUC) paramilitary umbrella organization, admitted a role in the attack. The Christmas release of 42 police and military hostages by the ELN paved the way for continued negotiations on the encounter zone at year's end.

In open opposition to the Government, in November the AUC paramilitary group kidnaped seven members of Congress and demanded that the Government grant the AUC a role in the peace negotiations with the FARC. Interior Minister Humberto de la Calle negotiated the hostages' release with Castano, an action that angered the FARC. The Government refused to accord illegal self-defense (paramilitary) groups any political status.

The civilian-led Ministry of Defense is responsible for internal security and oversees both the armed forces (including the army, air force, navy, marines, and coast guard) and the National Police. In the past, civilian management of the armed forces has been limited; however, over the past few years, the professionalism of the armed forces has improved, and respect for civilian authority on the part of the military has increased. In addition to the armed forces and the National Police, the public security forces include armed state law enforcement and investigative authorities, including the Administrative Department of Security (DAS) and the Prosecutor General's Technical Corps of Investigators (CTI). The DAS, which has broad intelligence gathering, law enforcement, and investigative authority, reports directly to the President but is directed by a law enforcement professional. The police are charged formally with maintaining internal order and security, but in practice law enforcement responsibilities often were shared with the army in both rural and urban areas. Many observers maintain that government action to combat paramilitarism has been inadequate, and in the past security forces regularly failed to confront paramilitary groups; however, the security forces improved their efforts to confront and detain members of paramilitary groups during the year. Nevertheless, members of the security forces sometimes illegally collaborated with paramilitary forces. The armed forces and the police committed serious violations of human rights throughout the year.

Despite years of drug- and politically related violence, the economy is diverse and relatively advanced. Crude oil, coal, coffee, and cut flowers are the principal legal exports. In 1999 the country suffered its first recession in over 60 years, with a decrease in gross domestic product (GDP) of 4.5 percent and record unemployment of over 20 percent. Although the economy recovered with 3 percent growth during the year, the level of unemployment remained unchanged and was at 19.7 percent by year's end. The inflation rate at year's end was 8.75 percent. Since September 1999, the Government has adopted fiscally austere budgets and floated the peso. High levels of violence greatly inhibit business confidence. Narcotics traffickers continued to control large tracts of land and other assets and exerted influence throughout society, the economy, and political life. Income distribution is highly skewed; much of the population lives in poverty. Per capita GDP was approximately $2,100.

The Government's human rights record remained poor; there were some improvements in the legal framework and in institutional mechanisms, but implementation lagged, and serious problems remain in many areas. Government security forces continued to commit serious abuses, including extrajudicial killings. Despite some prosecutions and convictions, the authorities rarely brought higher-ranking officers of the security forces and the police charged with human rights offenses to justice, and impunity remains a problem. Members of the security forces collaborated with paramilitary groups that committed abuses, in some instances allowing such groups to pass through roadblocks, sharing information, or providing them with supplies or ammunition. Despite increased government efforts to combat and capture members of paramilitary groups, often security forces failed to take action to prevent paramilitary attacks. Paramilitary forces find a ready support base within the military and police, as well as among local civilian elites in many areas.

On August 12, the revised Military Penal Code went into effect, which provides for an independent military judicial corps and for legal protection for troops if they refuse to carry out illegal orders to commit human rights abuses; the code also precludes unit commanders from judging subordinates. A series of military reform decrees signed by the President on September 14 provided greater facility for the military to remove human rights abusers or paramilitary collaborators from its ranks and provided for the further professionalization of the public security forces. The military judiciary continued to demonstrate an increased willingness to turn cases involving security force officers accused of serious human rights violations over to the civilian judiciary, as required by a 1997 Constitutional Court ruling and the new Military Penal Code; in August a presidential directive reinforced these legal norms.

Police, prison guards, and military forces tortured and mistreated detainees. Conditions in the overcrowded and underfunded prisons are harsh; however, some inmates use bribes or intimidation to obtain more favorable treatment. Arbitrary arrest and detention, as well as prolonged pretrial detention, are fundamental problems. The civilian judiciary is inefficient, severely overburdened by a large case backlog, and undermined by intimidation and the prevailing climate of impunity. This situation remains at the core of the country's human rights problems. The Superior Judicial Council (CSJ) estimated, based on a 1997 survey, that 63 percent of crimes go unreported, and that 40 percent of all reported crimes go unpunished. On April 6, the Constitutional Court overturned much of the 1999 law that had created the specialized jurisdiction (which had replaced the anonymous regional courts system on July 1, 1999).

The authorities sometimes infringed on citizens' privacy rights. Journalists typically work in an atmosphere of threats and intimidation, primarily from paramilitary groups and guerrillas, which appeared to worsen during the year; journalists practice self-censorship to avoid reprisals. There were some restrictions on freedom of movement, generally because of security concerns. Violence and instability in rural areas displaced between 125,000 and 317,000 civilians from their homes during the year. Almost one-fourth of these movements occurred in massive displacements. (Exact numbers of displaced persons are difficult to obtain because some persons were displaced more than once, and many displaced persons do not register with the Government or other entities.) The total number of internally displaced citizens during the last 5 years may exceed 1 million. There were reports that security force members harassed or threatened human rights groups. Violence and extensive societal discrimination against women, abuse of children, and child prostitution are serious problems. Extensive societal discrimination against the indigenous and minorities continued. Child labor is a widespread problem. Trafficking in women and girls for the purpose of forced prostitution is a problem. "Social cleansing" killings of street children, prostitutes, homosexuals, and others deemed socially undesirable by paramilitary groups, guerrillas, and vigilante groups continued to be serious problems.

Paramilitary groups and guerrillas were responsible for the vast majority of political and other killings during the year. Throughout the country, paramilitary groups killed, tortured, and threatened civilians suspected of sympathizing with guerrillas in an orchestrated campaign to terrorize them into fleeing their homes, thereby depriving guerrillas of civilian support and allowing paramilitary forces to challenge the FARC and the ELN for control of narcotics cultivations and strategically important territories. Paramilitary forces were responsible for an increasing number of massacres and other politically motivated killings. They also fought guerrillas for control of some lucrative coca-growing regions and engaged directly in narcotics production and trafficking. The AUC paramilitary umbrella organization, whose membership totaled approximately 8,150 armed combatants, exercised increasing influence during the year and fought to extend its presence through violence and intimidation into areas previously under guerrilla control while conducting selective killings of civilians it alleged collaborated with guerrillas. The AUC increasingly tried to depict itself as an autonomous organization with a political agenda, although in practice it remained a mercenary vigilante force, financed by criminal activities and sectors of society that are targeted by guerrillas. Although some paramilitary groups reflect rural residents' desire to organize solely for self-defense, most are vigilante organizations, and still others are actually the paid private armies of narcotics traffickers or large landowners. Popular support for these organizations grew as guerrilla violence increased in the face of a slowly evolving peace process. The Government continued to insist that paramilitary groups, like guerrillas, were an illegal force and increased efforts to apprehend paramilitary members; however, the public security forces' record in dealing with paramilitary groups remained mixed. In some locations the public security forces increasingly attacked and captured members of such groups; in others elements of these entities tolerated or even collaborated with paramilitary groups.

The FARC and the ELN regularly attacked civilian populations, committed massacres and summary executions, and killed medical and religious personnel. The FARC continued its practice of using gas canisters as mortars to destroy small towns, indiscriminately wounding government officials and civilians in the process. Guerrillas were responsible for the majority of cases of forcible recruitment of indigenous people and of hundreds of children; they also were responsible for the majority of kidnapings. Guerrillas held more than 1,000 kidnaped civilians, with ransom payments serving as an important source of revenue. Other kidnap victims were killed. At year's end, the FARC and ELN reportedly held 527 soldiers and police. In many places, guerrillas collected "war taxes," forced members of the citizenry into their ranks, forced small farmers to grow illicit crops, and regulated travel, commerce, and other activities. In March the FARC announced "Law 002," which demanded that anyone with assets of $1 million pay taxes to the FARC or risk kidnaping. The FARC routinely committed abuses against citizens who resided in the despeje zone. Numerous credible sources reported cases of murder, rape, extortion, kidnaping, robbery, threats, detention, and the forced recruitment of adults and children, as well as impediments to free speech and fair trial and interference with religious practices.

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From:

a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing

Political and extrajudicial killings continued to be a serious problem. An estimated 4,000 citizens died in such acts, committed principally by nonstate agents. Members of the security forces continued to commit extrajudicial killings.

An analysis of data from the Center for Investigations and Popular Research (CINEP), published by the Colombian Commission of Jurists (an NGO), indicated that there were 20 reports of extrajudicial killings attributable to state forces in the period from October 1999 to March, including deaths that resulted from police abuse of authority. However, the military claimed that six of the deaths resulted from confrontations with guerrillas; four alleged deaths (of which only one was confirmed) resulted from a panic when the army tear-gassed an indigenous protest (see Sections 2.b. and 5); and five were attributed by other groups to paramilitary forces. CINEP calculated 37 similar cases in 1999, which also included deaths that resulted from police abuse of authority. Most of the incidents cited by the Commission were under investigation by military and civilian authorities at year's end. The number of cases of military personnel accused of human rights violations who were tried in civilian courts increased. There were some reports that police and former security force members committed social cleansing killings.

According to the Human Rights Ombudsman's office, there were 235 massacres (defined as the simultaneous or nearly simultaneous killing of 3 or more persons outside of combat at a single location or at several nearby locations) during the first 6 months of the year. An estimated 1,073 persons were killed in these massacres; the Ministry of Defense attributed none of these deaths during this period to public security forces. The Central Directorate of the Judicial Police reported 1,286 persons killed in 216 massacres (defined as 4 or more persons killed in the same incident) during the year and attributed none of these massacres to security forces. The Ombudsman's office recorded 509 massacres in 1999, in which 2,262 persons were killed, and attributed 20 killings to public security forces.

On August 15, an army unit mistakenly killed 6 children; the Prosecutor General's office determined that the act was unintentional harm caused in the course of duty and referred the case to the military justice system (see Section 1.g.).

The human rights delegate of the Attorney General's office, which oversees the performance of all public sector employees, received 201 complaints and cases during the first 6 months of the year and concluded 26 disciplinary investigations. Among the complaints were 20 complaints of massacres. The Attorney General's office received 78 complaints related to massacres and forced disappearances during the year. Approximately 75 percent of these complaints involved the army (particularly in Putumayo, Antioquia, and southern Bolivar departments); the other 25 percent implicated police or DAS officials. During the year, the Attorney General's office concluded 13 investigations of massacres and forced disappearances attributed to state agents and sanctioned 50 members of the security forces (including 10 members of the National Police, 35 members of the army, and 5 members of the DAS). The office exonerated 20 accused persons. Contrary to previous years, the office referred all cases involving human rights violations to the Prosecutor General for criminal investigation. Five generals were under investigation by the Attorney General during the year for failure to prevent paramilitary massacres in 1998 and 1999.

At year's end, the human rights unit of the Prosecutor General's office reported that it had approximately 918 open investigations of human rights violations, in which 1,379 individuals are under investigation. This number includes 286 members of the military and police, 573 presumed members of paramilitary groups, 353 presumed guerrillas, and 187 other civilians. The unit arrested 302 persons during the first 6 months of the year, and other state entities arrested a further 70 persons against whom the unit had cases. As of November, another 676 arrest warrants for persons against whom the unit had cases remained outstanding, of which 37 are for military personnel, 20 are for police, and 3 are for members of the DAS. The authorities detained 38 members of the army, 41 police, 5 members of the DAS, and 5 members of the CTI during the year.

The Central Directorate of the Judicial Police announced that 25,660 murders occurred during the year, compared with 24,358 murders in 1999. The press reported that on average one person was killed every 20 minutes. The police and the Prosecutor General's office have insufficient resources to investigate most killings adequately. The Superior Judicial Council estimated based on a 1997 survey that 63 percent of crimes go unreported and that 40 percent of all reported crimes go unpunished.

According to a March report by the Ministry of Defense, during the first half of the year, the military judiciary convicted and sentenced 206 members of the National Police, army, and navy for serious offenses that the Ministry identified as violations of human rights: homicide, bodily injuries, rape, attempted murder, illegal detention, and abuse of authority. Of the total of 206 convictions, 66 were for homicide and 113 were for bodily injuries. The average sentences issued in 1998 were 58 months' imprisonment for homicide and 15 months' imprisonment for bodily injuries, although sentences ranged from 2 years to 64 years for homicide, and 2 months to 2 years for bodily injuries. The military judiciary convicted and sentenced 206 persons for serious crimes in 1999. The civilian Criminal Procedure Code authorizes restriction to a military base as an acceptable substitute for imprisonment when military jails or prisons are unavailable.

In August 1997, the Constitutional Court more narrowly defined the constitutional provision that crimes by state agents unrelated to "acts of service" must be tried in civilian courts (see Section 1.e.). Since then the military judiciary has turned 1,307 cases, of which an estimated 41 percent are for possible human rights violations, over to the civilian judiciary for investigation and possible prosecution, including cases involving high-ranking officers. During the year, the military judiciary turned 496 cases over to the civilian judiciary, compared with 79 cases in 1999 and 266 cases in 1998. The new Military Penal Code reiterates that the crimes of forced disappearance, torture, and genocide must be tried in civilian courts. President Pastrana reaffirmed these new legal norms in an August directive sent to the military high command and the commander of the National Police (see Section 1.e.).

Prosecution continued in civilian courts against army Major David Hernandez, Captain Diego Fino Rodriguez, Sergeant Edgardo Varon, and Privates Carlos Escudero, Ferney Cardona, and Raul Gallego, members of the Fourth counterguerrilla battalion (Fourth Brigade), for the March 1999 murder of Antioquia peace commissioner (and former Vice Minister for Youth) Alex Lopera and two other persons. However, in March Captain Fino escaped military detention; four soldiers are under investigation for complicity in his escape. Major Hernandez had escaped in June 1999 and was still at large at year's end. Following Fino's escape, the military announced that all military detainees would be transferred to the military stockade at Tolemaida to prevent further escapes; however, it was not clear that this was implemented in all cases.

On April 1, the Attorney General's office publicly stated that it had found insufficient evidence to bring charges against retired army Colonel Jorge Plazas Acevedo, former chief of intelligence of the army's 13th Brigade, for the October 1998 kidnaping and later murder of Jewish business leader Benjamin Khoudari. The Attorney General's office announced that it was dropping its administrative investigation and publicly asked the Prosecutor General's office to drop its criminal investigation. However, the Prosecutor General's office continued its prosecution of Colonel Plazas and civilians Jhon Alexis Olarte Briceno and Guillermo Lozano Guerrero, who were on trial at year's end. The Prosecutor General's office has 11 other arrest warrants pending in the case; 1 lieutenant was ruled out as a suspect.

During the year, the Attorney General sanctioned eight service members in connection with the May 1998 Barrancabermeja massacre, of which three--army Captain Oswaldo Prada Escobar, Lieutenant Enrique Daza and Second Lieutenant Hector Guzman Santos--were discharged. A police lieutenant colonel, captain, and lieutenant, as well as two DAS agents were suspended. On July 12, Elizabeth Canas Cano, a key eyewitness to the massacre, was killed by two unidentified gunmen. In May the Prosecutor General's office ordered the preventive detention of four paramilitary suspects in the case; the investigation was still in progress at year's end. The Attorney General's office also was conducting an inquiry into the death of Canas.

In December the Attorney General's office charged 17 police and 9 army officials with collusion with paramilitary groups in approximately 160 social cleansing murders by members of paramilitary groups in northeastern Antioquia (near the communities of La Ceja, Guarne, and El Penon) during 1995-98. The Attorney General also charged two municipal officials with omission. The Prosecutor General's office pressed criminal charges against 3 of the 26 officials charged by the Attorney General; police Captain Luis Alfredo Castillo Suarez Juan Carlos Valencia Arbalaez and Carlos Mario Tejada Gallego were on trial in Medellin at year's end. Army Lieutenant Colonel Jesus Maria Clavijo Clavijo, Staff Sergeant Javier Gomez Herran, and soldier Carlos Mario Escudero are under investigation in the killings. Clavijo was arrested, suspended from duty, and placed in military detention on March 17. Although the army challenged jurisdiction, arguing Clavijo's actions were related to acts of service, the CSJ ruled that the case should be tried in civilian court.

On March 3, the ongoing civilian prosecution of retired Colonel Bernardo Ruiz Silva, former commander of the army's now disbanded 20th Brigade (military intelligence), for allegedly organizing the November 1995 Bogota killing of Conservative Party opposition leader Alvaro Gomez Hurtado suffered a major setback when key witness Luis Eduardo Rodriguez Cuadrado retracted his previous testimony before a Bogota judge. However, the testimony of another key witness helped the prosecution. The trial continued at year's end. Also on trial are army intelligence agents Henry Berrio Loaiza and Carlos Gaona Ovalle, retired army warrant officers Omar Berrio Loaiza and Franklin Gaona Ovalle, and civilian accused killers Hector Paul Florez Martinez, Manuel Mariano Montero Perez, Gustavo Adolfo Jaramillo Giraldo, and Hermes Ortiz Duran.

In 1999 the human rights unit of the Prosecutor General's office formally indicted marine Colonel Jose Ancizar Molano Padilla, then-commander of the 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion, as well as marine Corporals Javier Fernando Guerra, Eduardo Aristides Alvarez, and Jose Milton Caicedo for the 1995 social cleansing killings of alleged thieves Sifredy and Fredy Arboleda. On May 25, the Prosecutor General ordered the detention of marine Sergeant Francisco Duarte Zuniga, who was still at large at year's end. A disciplinary investigation by the Attorney General was still underway at year's end.

In October 1998, the Attorney General's office severely reprimanded marine Lieutenant Colonel Rodrigo Alfonso Quinones, along with 4 others, for colluding with paramilitary groups in the murders of at least 50 persons in Barrancabermeja, Santander department, in 1992-94, although he was exonerated by a military tribunal in 1994. Quinones appealed the reprimand, but Attorney General Jaime Bernal recused himself from the case, and Congress never appointed anyone else to adjudicate the matter. The statute of limitations on the case expired during the year, leaving the reprimand standing. During the year, Quinones was promoted to brigadier general.

In July 1999, the Prosecutor General's office indicted paramilitary Nicolas Antonio Gomez Zapata for participation in the January 1994 "La Chinita" massacre, which resulted in the deaths of 35 persons. Among the 50 service members sanctioned by the Attorney General during the year were persons accused of involvement in this massacre. No progress has been reported in the Prosecutor General's case.

At year's end, three army noncommissioned officers sought in connection with the April 1991 massacre of bus passengers at Los Uvos remained at large.

In August a civilian court absolved retired army Colonel Hernando Navas of involvement in the November 1988 Nuevo Segovia massacre in which over 100 persons were killed or wounded. The authorities have charged 8 military officials, 1 police officer, and 10 civilians in the case. Among these, Lieutenant Colonel Alejandro Londono Tamayo and Lieutenant Colonel Marco Baez Garzon continued to appeal civilian court convictions related to the massacre. Londono remained in detention, but was still on active duty, although he has been deprived of command responsibilities. Baez Garzon also was deprived of command responsibility and remained in military custody in Bogota.

On June 29, the Constitutional Court instructed the CSJ to reconsider its 1996 decision referring the case of the 1987 forced disappearance, torture, and death of a member of the M-19 guerrilla group, Nydia Bautista, by accused retired General Alvaro Velandia Hurtado to military courts. Upon the stipulated review, the CSJ reversed itself and assigned jurisdiction to the civilian courts at the end of July, pointing out that the acts were not related directly to military service. The Prosecutor General's office continued its investigation.

There was no information available regarding the pending trial of Lieutenant Colonel Jose Vincente Perez Berrocal for the 1987 killing of a Liberal mayor.

No motives or suspects have been identified in the September 1998 killing of Congressman Jorge Humberto Gonzalez. The investigation remained open at year's end.

Credible allegations of cooperation with paramilitary groups, including instances of both silent support and direct collaboration by members of the public security forces, in particular the army, continued. Evidence suggests that there were tacit arrangements between local military commanders and paramilitary groups in some regions, and paramilitary forces operated freely in some areas that were under military control or despite a significant military presence. Individual members of the security forces actively collaborated with members of paramilitary groups--passing them through roadblocks, sharing intelligence, providing them with ammunition, and allegedly even joining their ranks while off-duty.

The military high command, under the leadership of Defense Minister Luis Fernando Ramirez and General Fernando Tapias, stated repeatedly that it would not tolerate collaboration between military personnel and paramilitary groups and that the army would combat paramilitary groups; however, security force actions in the field were not always consistent with the leadership's positions. Credible reports persisted of paramilitary installations and roadblocks near military bases; of contacts between paramilitary and military members; of paramilitary roadblocks unchallenged by military forces; and of military failure to respond to warnings of impending paramilitary massacres or selective killings. Military entities often cited lack of information or resources to explain this situation. Impunity for military personnel who collaborated with members of paramilitary groups remained common.

In September the President signed military decrees that allowed for the dismissal of members of the public security forces who were complicit in paramilitary or other illegal activities; government agencies actively investigated allegations of collaboration or complicity with paramilitary groups by members of the security forces. A total of 388 members of the military were dismissed in October; however, it was not known how many of these were dismissed for collaborating with paramilitary groups in such abuses (see Section 1.e.).

Both the Peasant Self-Defense Groups of Cordoba and Uraba (ACCU), the largest of the seven major paramilitary organizations of the AUC umbrella group, and the army's Fourth Brigade claimed responsibility, but in different circumstances, for the January 23 killings of two long-demobilized guerrillas. The ACCU claimed that it killed Uberney Giraldo and Jose Evelio Gallo, both leaders of the Socialist Renewal Current (CRS), and two others after abducting them from the village of San Antonio, Antioquia department. On January 24, the army's Fourth Brigade announced that it had killed two "ELN guerrillas" in combat, but civilian autopsies identified them as the two missing CRS leaders. On January 26, gunmen stole the bodies from the morgue but left the autopsy reports behind. At year's end, investigations by the Attorney General's office and the Prosecutor General's office were underway.

On February 19-20, a large group of AUC paramilitary attackers killed an estimated 37 persons whom they suspected of being guerrillas or guerrilla sympathizers at El Salado, Bolivar department. The navy reportedly set up a roadblock shortly after the killings began, which prevented human rights and relief groups from entering; some groups accepted the navy's explanation that access was not possible due to fighting in the area. The Ministry of Defense denied charges that the navy blocked NGO's from entering or colluded with paramilitary forces, and an investigation by the Prosecutor General was underway at year's end. A military investigation did not find any substantiation for these charges.

The paramilitary group reportedly had been in the town since February 16, and had a list of names of persons they suspected of being guerrilla supporters. The victims included a 6-year-old girl and an elderly woman, and some victims were tortured or raped. The attackers also burned several homes. On February 19, the paramilitary group flew in a helicopter to rescue an injured member. According to Human Rights Watch, 30 minutes after the paramilitary forces withdrew, government forces entered the town.

On February 22, members of the 3rd Marine Infantry Battalion captured 11 members of the paramilitary group suspected of participating in the El Salado massacre, killed 2 of them, and downed a paramilitary helicopter. According to NGO's and press reports, the massacre at El Salado and a February 15-16 paramilitary massacre at nearby Las Ovejas, Sucre department, displaced approximately 3,000 persons. By year's end, 16 paramilitary suspects were under arrest, and the Prosecutor General's investigation into the paramilitary group's responsibility for the massacre was concluded.

Members of the San Jose de Apartado "peace community" in Uraba region, Antioquia department, as well as NGO's, accused the 17th Brigade of involvement in 2 paramilitary massacres in February and July in which 11 persons were killed. On February 19, unidentified perpetrators widely believed to be members of the ACCU paramilitary group attacked San Jose de Apartado. They selectively killed five persons, and wounded three others. There were reports that the men wore the insignia of the 17th Brigade on their uniforms and that army troops were seen on the outskirts of the city several hours before the massacre. On July 8, approximately 20 paramilitary assailants murdered 6 peasants in La Union, part of San Jose de Apartado. The attackers reportedly gave the citizens 20 days to leave the town. NGO's alleged that the 17th Brigade was complicit in both attacks and that army members were near La Union prior to the July 8 attack. There were allegations that a military helicopter hovered over La Union during the massacre; however, these allegations were never confirmed. The military investigation rebutted the charges. The Prosecutor General was investigating both incidents at year's end. There were at least two visits during the year by joint commissions of inquiry including representatives from the Prosecutor General's office, the Human Rights Ombudsman's office, and international NGO's. Human rights NGO's and members of the peace community of San Jose de Apartado reported 11 additional deaths in separate incidents during the year, half of which they attributed to paramilitary forces. They also reported frequent paramilitary roadblocks, intimidation, theft, and the restriction of incoming food supplies.

In February Human Rights Watch issued a report that stated that the army maintains close operational ties to paramilitary groups. The report highlighted incidents of collaboration by officers of the army's Third, Fourth, and 13th Brigades. It stated that according to evidence from government investigators, the army's Third Brigade based in Cali provided weapons and intelligence to the paramilitary "Calima Front." The report also detailed ties between the army's Fourth Brigade and paramilitary groups and ties between the 13th Brigade (intelligence) and paramilitary groups. The report also detailed threats received by various government agents while they investigated these ties.

Vice President Gustavo Bell responded to the Human Rights Watch report and said that while the Government has never denied residual ties between individual members of the public security forces and paramilitary groups, it has moved to break those ties and punish those responsible. Bell said that the suggestion that there was a "deliberate, institutional will to help and support" paramilitary groups was untrue. Bell noted that much of the information in the report came from the Prosecutor General's office, demonstrating that the Government was investigating military crimes.

In March the Attorney General's office ordered that Vice First Sergeant Jose Maria Cifuentes Tovar, of the 45th Battalion, be removed from the army for having failed to obey orders to install a roadblock to prevent the escape of members of paramilitary groups from Barrancabermeja following a February 1999 massacre that left nine persons dead. On March 18, 1999, police arrested paramilitary leader Mario James Mejia ("el Panadero") for killing a taxi driver; he then was charged in Bogota with leading the February 1999 Barrancabermeja massacre and was still under investigation at year's end. Pedro Mateo Hurtado Moreno and three other paramilitary suspects in the massacre remained at large at year's end. Politically motivated killings and related unrest continued in Barrancabermeja at a very high rate throughout the year.

In March the human rights unit of the Prosecutor General's office ordered the detention of army Captain Luis Fernando Campusano Vasquez and sought the capture of 15 other civilians, including Carlos Castano, who remained at large. They are suspected of being affiliated with area units that collaborated with a 300-person paramilitary group based at Vetas, Norte de Santander department, which committed 15 massacres in and around the towns of La Gabarra and Tibu between May 29 and September 1, 1999. More than 145 persons whom the attackers claimed were guerrillas or guerrilla supporters were killed. Nearby elements of the army's 46th counterguerrilla battalion (Tibu) and Fifth mechanized group (Cucuta), as well as police, did not intervene.

In July the Attorney General announced an investigation into retired army Brigadier General Alberto Bravo Silva, Colonel Roque Sanchez, and three other army officers for failing to prevent a paramilitary massacre of 27 persons in August 1999 in La Gabarra. The investigation was still in progress at year's end. Bravo retired in August 1999 on the orders of President Pastrana. Two of the three army officers are still members of the public security forces. Colonel Sanchez, the regional police commander at the time of the killings, was on trial at year's end. In October the Attorney General's office also charged Colonel Sanchez. On May 3, the Prosecutor General's office formally charged AUC paramilitary chief Carlos Castano with masterminding the May 29 and August 21 La Gabarra massacres in 1999.

In March the Prosecutor General issued formal indictments against eight security force members, including Tibu military base Commander Mauricio Llorente Chavez, for complicity in a paramilitary massacre that took place in Tibu in July 1999. Five members of the police were charged in May and subsequently were arrested. On June 20, the Prosecutor General's office arrested six members of the National Police--Arturo Velandia, Luis Toloza, Miguel Hernandez, Alfonso Ortiz, Gustavo Lobo, and Jose Ordonez.

In April 1999, President Pastrana formally retired from service Brigadier Generals Fernando Millan Perez and Rito Alejo del Rio; both had links to paramilitary groups. The Government stated only that it "was no longer convenient" for them to continue their military service. The military judiciary announced no new developments during the year in its ongoing investigation of General Millan regarding allegations that he armed and equipped a paramilitary group in Lebrija, Santander department, in 1997. The group was believed responsible for at least 11 killings. In October 1998, the Superior Judicial Council had determined that Millan's alleged actions constituted an act of service and turned the case over to the military judiciary for prosecution, effectively cutting off the prosecutor's investigation. Millan had denied the charges. In June 1999, the Attorney General's office opened a disciplinary investigation of Millan, which still was in progress at year's end.

At year's end, General del Rio, former commander of the 13th Brigade, remained under preliminary investigation by the human rights unit of the Prosecutor General's office for allegedly establishing illegal paramilitary groups in Medellin in 1987, and in Uraba in 1996. General Del Rio is also under preliminary investigation by the Attorney General's office.

On July 27, the Attorney General's office formally charged five army officers, including four generals, for failing to protect the residents of Puerto Alvira, Meta department, when paramilitary forces killed 19 persons in May 1998, despite repeated requests by the Human Rights Ombudsman. The five charged are former commanders of the army's Fourth Division, retired General Augustin Ardila Uribe and General Jaime Humberto Cortes Parada (the army's Inspector General); former commander of the 7th Brigade, retired Brigadier General Jaime Humberto Uscategui; commander of the 2nd Brigade, General Fredy Padilla de Leon (former head of the Seventh Brigade); and commander of the "Joaquin Paris" battalion, Colonel Gustavo Sanchez Gutierrez. Those involved denied the charges. The Attorney General's investigation was still in progress at year's end. In June a first instance military court recommended closing the investigation of the case; the Superior Military Tribunal was considering this recommendation at year's end. At year's end, the human rights unit of the Prosecutor General's office had detained three members of paramilitary groups and had outstanding arrest warrants for five more, including brothers Carlos and Fidel Castano.

In August air force Commander Hector Fabio Velasco called for the renewed detention and a first instance hearing of Brigadier General Jaime Uscategui and Lieutenant Colonel Hernan Orozco in connection with the July 1997 AUC paramilitary massacre of dozens of persons at Mapiripan, Meta department. Army Commander General Jorge Mora had recused himself from Uscategui's case due to personal ties and was replaced by Velasco. A military tribunal was still considering the issue at year's end. In May 1999, Uscategui was arrested on civilian charges connected with the case, but in August 1999, the CSJ had ruled that the case should be tried in the military courts. Uscategui was released after 180 days when the military investigation produced no action, although the investigation continued. Early in 1999, Uscategui sought to retire from the military effective in January; however, his effort was thwarted by the Attorney General, who ordered Uscategui dismissed from the military in November 1999 for dereliction of duty in the October 1997 judicial convoy massacre in San Juan de Arama, Meta department. A military trial of Brigadier General Uscategui and Lieutenant Colonel Orozco still was in progress at year's end.

In August 1999, the CSJ had sent the cases of all other defendants in the Mapiripan case to the civilian courts for action, including charges against Lieutenant Colonel Lino Hernando Sanchez Prada for facilitating the massacre, which was determined not to be an act of service. As of February 29, the Prosecutor General's human rights unit had completed its investigations of Lieutenant Colonel Sanchez and the five other defendants (two noncommissioned officers and three commercial pilots) in the civilian judiciary. In November the Prosecutor General indicted in a separate process Lieutenant Colonel Sanchez, two army sergeants, and eight members of paramilitary groups (including two civilian pilots). All the cases were on trial by year's end. In addition to Sanchez, and the five other defendants, two more presumed paramilitary group members (who also were still in detention) were indicted in December.

In May the Attorney General's office, which in 1999 formally had accused five officers, three noncommissioned officers, and five civilian officials of possible complicity or participation in the July 1997 Mapiripan massacre, dropped the charges against and closed the investigation of Lieutenant Colonel Lino Sanchez Prada. The other cases remained under investigation at mid-year.

The case of retired army Colonel Jose Ancizar Hincapie Betancurt for collaboration in 1993-94 with a paramilitary group that killed 10 persons remained pending before civilian courts at year's end.

In July Ivan Cepeda, the son of murdered Senator Manuel Cepeda Vargas, was forced to flee the country due to death threats that he suspected were a reaction to his activism in pursuing justice for his father's 1994 death. In testimony before the Senate, the Attorney General had stated that the Senator had been killed as the result of a joint operation between some senior army officers and members of paramilitary groups. In 1999 the Attorney General's office severely reprimanded army First Sergeant Justo Gil Zuniga Labrador and Vice First Sergeant Hernando Medina Camacho, then members of the army's 20th Brigade, for the killing of Senator Cepeda, who was the leader of the Patriotic Union (UP) party. The army discharged both men from service, and in December 1999 they each were sentenced to 43 years' imprisonment for their roles in Cepeda's murder.

Paramilitary groups committed numerous extrajudicial killings, primarily in areas where they competed with guerrilla forces for control, and often in the absence of a strong government security force presence. The frequency of paramilitary massacres continued to increase significantly. Several major paramilitary campaigns during the year involved a series of orchestrated massacres in Uraba, Norte de Santander, and Barrancabermeja. At mid-year the Human Rights Ombudsman attributed 93 massacres, which claimed 512 victims, to paramilitary groups. In 1999 the office received 1,467 complaints against members of paramilitary groups. The Ministry of Defense attributed 52 percent of the estimated 1,073 deaths that occurred in the 235 massacres reported by the Human Rights Ombudsman's office during the first 6 months of the year. In December the Ministry of Defense reported that paramilitary forces killed 983 civilians in massacres during the year. The Colombian Commission of Jurists attributed 657 killings and 118 social cleansing killings to paramilitary groups in the period from October 1999 through March. Paramilitary activities also included kidnaping, intimidation, and the forced displacement of persons not directly involved in hostilities (see Sections 1.b. and 1.g.). Paramilitary groups targeted teachers (see Section 2.a.), human rights activists (see Section 4), labor leaders (see Section 6.a.), community activists, national and local politicians (including President Pastrana), peasants, and other persons whom they accused of supporting or failing to confront guerrillas. Paramilitary forces killed members of indigenous groups (see Section 5).

AUC paramilitary groups were suspected of hundreds of selective killings throughout the country, especially in Choco, Santander, Valle del Cauca, and Antioquia departments. The FARC, the ELN, or both, had a strong presence in these areas as paramilitary forces vied with them for control of territory or resources, including coca cultivation. Paramilitary groups continued to kill political leaders and peace activists, including peace community leader Freddy Gallego, former Aguachica mayor and peace activist Luis Fernando Rincon, and former Cucuta mayor (and current mayoral candidate at the time of his death) Pauselino Camarga. Fourteen members of the CTI were killed during the year in various parts of the country. Both paramilitary forces and guerrillas were suspected of responsibility in these killings.

Paramilitary massacres at Las Ovejas, Sucre department, and El Salado, Bolivar department, were part of an ongoing paramilitary effort to wrest control of the Montes de Maria region from guerrillas. On February 15-16, approximately 150 ACCU members staged attacks in 5 neighborhoods of Las Ovejas. They killed at least 20 persons whom they suspected of being guerrillas or guerrilla sympathizers, burned dozens of homes, and displaced a large number of persons.

On April 6, approximately 50 paramilitary attackers massacred 21 men whom they suspected of being guerrillas or guerrilla collaborators at Tibu, Catatumbo region, Norte de Santander department, in a continuation of a series of 15 massacres in the region in 1999.

On May 11, a paramilitary group that identified itself as the "Calima Front" claimed responsibility for the killings of 12 civilians in the village of Sabaletas, just outside Buenaventura, Valle del Cauca department. The group also claimed to have killed 14 other persons it suspected of being guerrillas in the same area. According to Human Rights Watch, the army's Third Brigade created and supports the Calima Front, which Human Rights Watch believes is responsible for at least 200 killings between July 1999 and July 2000, as well as the displacement of over 10,000 persons.

In August the AUC paramilitary movement claimed that it had killed the leader and six members of the "la Terraza" gang of hired killers based in Medellin. The AUC was known to have contracted the gang to conduct killings.

In a series of attacks on the night of November 22, paramilitary forces killed 15 fishermen in Nueva Venecia, in the region of La Cienaga de Santa Marta, Magdalena department, and kidnaped another 22 persons whose bodies later were discovered. Human Rights Ombudsman Eduardo Cifuentes issued a December 14 resolution that reported that 45 persons were killed and that 25 had disappeared, criticized slow government action to assist those displaced as a result of the incident, and called for immediate investigation of reports of a paramilitary base in the area. The Prosecutor General's office was investigating the 37 confirmed deaths at year's end.

Other examples of paramilitary massacres included the killing of 7 persons in Estados Unidos in January, the November killings of 15 persons in Granada in the western part of the country, and the killing in November of 7 persons in Barrancabermeja.

Investigations of past killings and massacres proceeded slowly. In many cases there was no progress in ongoing investigations. Progress during the year included the issuance of warrants of arrest for five suspects involved in murder and extortion as members of the El Corral Convivir (self-defense group) in 1991 in Arauca department. Other members of paramilitary groups investigated and indicted included Luis Arnulfo Tuberquias, who was linked to kidnaping and theft on behalf of such groups; among those captured were Jose Luis Hernandez and Ruben Isaza, nephew and son respectively of paramilitary leader Ramon Isaza, and Dario Zapata Hernandez, allegedly the second in command of the AUC in the Puerto Boyaca area, Caldas department.

On May 3, the Prosecutor General's office formally charged AUC paramilitary leader Carlos Castano with the August 1999 killing of renowned journalist, political comedian, and peace and human rights activist Jaime Garzon Forero in Bogota. On January 13, members of the CTI captured La Terraza gang member Juan Pablo Ortiz Agudelo in Medellin on suspicion of having been the gunman in the attack against Garzon. Ortiz remained in detention in Bogota at year's end. In December a group of men claiming to represent the "La Terraza" criminal organization said publicly that they were hired by Castano to kill Jaime Garzon and human rights activists Elsa Alvarado, Mario Calderon, Jesus Maria Valle, and Eduardo Umana Mendoza. They offered to turn themselves in and provide proof of Castano's involvement in return for security guarantees from the Government. There was no public response from the authorities by year's end.

In December 1999, Spain complied with a government request and extradited paramilitary Lubin de Jesus Morales Orozco, who was arrested in Madrid in June 1999 on unrelated charges, for the April 1998 killing of Eduardo Umana Mendoza, perhaps the country's best-known and most controversial human rights lawyer. Five persons, including Morales, remained in detention and were on trial in a civilian court at year's end.

On June 14, the trial of 10 persons suspected of the February 1998 killing of human rights activist Jesus Maria Valle began in Medellin. Valle was the president of the Antioquia Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights. Charges were brought against suspected killers Jorge Eliecer Rodriguez Guzman, Alvaro Goez Meza, Gilma Patricia Gaviria Palacios, Elkin Dario Granada Lopez, Alexander Vallejo Echeverry, and Carlos Alberto Bedoya Marulanda for direct participation in the crime. In August 1999, the Prosecutor General's office issued arrest warrants for AUC paramilitary leader Carlos Castano and Juan Carlos Gonzalez Jaramillo for planning the crime. Castano was indicted in September 1998 for the killing. According to press reports, the first police agent on the case was killed soon afterward; the prosecutor fled the country; and another investigator was killed in September 1999.

On November 22, a Bogota judge convicted paramilitary Juan Carlos Gonzalez Jaramillo (alias "El Colorado") and Walter Jose Alvarez Rivera in the May 1997 murders of two CINEP workers, Mario Calderon and Elsa Alvarado, as well as Alvarado's father, Carlos Alvarado. Jaramillo was sentenced to 60 years in prison, and Alvarez Rivera was sentenced to 45 years. The judge determined that soccer magnate Gustavo Adolfo Upegui Lopez was not implicated in the murders but ordered a review of evidence presented during the CINEP trial that connected Upegui with paramilitary groups. Upegui remained under arrest in Medellin on separate charges at year's end. The judge also convicted two other men connected to the case for the illegal use of telecommunications equipment and exonerated two other men accused of organizing the murders. An arrest warrant for paramilitary leader Carlos Castano in connection with this case remains outstanding.

Accused paramilitary Ivan Urdinola Grajales remained detained in connection with the 1989-90 "Trujillo I" massacres in Valle department, and also is implicated in the 1994 "Trujillo II" massacre. Prosecutors also have an outstanding warrant for the detention of one other paramilitary member in the Trujillo I case. In May a court upheld charges against paramilitary Norberto Morales Ledesma for involvement in the Trujillo II massacre. Paramilitary member Reynel Gomez Correa, detained in 1999 in connection with Trujillo II, was murdered in prison in December, before he could be brought to trial. Two other members of paramilitary groups implicated in both Trujillo I and Trujillo II remain at large. One such person has been detained, and another is being sought in the Trujillo I massacre. One paramilitary member has been convicted and another detained for the 1994 Trujillo II massacre. Investigations continue in both cases.

In July the superior court of Cundinamarca department exonerated Jose Tellez and his wife Nancy Lozano, who were accused of participating in the 1989 killing of Liberal presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galan. Another suspect, Alberto Hubiz Hazbun, who was accused of planning the crime, was absolved in 1993. The only person to have been convicted of the crime is John Jairo Velazquez Vasquez, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 1997.

No suspects have been identified in the September 1999 killing of academic and peace activist Jesus Bejarano.

There was no information available on the investigation into the May 1998 killing of former Defense Minister General Fernando Landazabal Reyes.

While an estimated 507 members of paramilitary groups were believed to be in jail at year's end, known paramilitary leaders largely remained beyond the reach of the law. Government figures indicated that from 1997 through October 2000, 934 members of paramilitary groups have been captured, and 150 members have been killed. The Ministry of Defense reported that during the year the security forces killed 89 members of paramilitary groups and captured 315 members. In 1999 the army reported that it killed 26 members of paramilitary groups and captured 102 during that year.

Paramilitary forces killed members of indigenous groups (see Section 5) and members of trade unions (see Section 6.a.).

The guerrillas of the FARC, the ELN, and the People's Liberation Army (EPL) continued to commit killings, often targeting noncombatants in a manner similar to that of paramilitary groups. The Colombian Commission of Jurists reported that guerrillas were responsible for 236 political killings in the period of October 1999 through March. The Ministry of Defense attributed 880 civilian deaths in massacres to guerrillas during the year. The Human Rights Ombudsman attributed 22 massacres to the FARC during the first 6 months of the year and 9 massacres to the ELN. The Ombudsman also attributed 89 killings to the FARC and 31 killings to the ELN during the first 6 months of the year. Local elected officials and candidates for public office, teachers, civic leaders, business owners, and peasants opposed to their political or military activities were common targets. The Federation of Colombian Municipalities reported that 17 mayors were killed during the year; guerrillas were the principal suspects (see Section 3). For example, in November unknown gunmen killed Carlos Julio Rosas, mayor of Orito, Putumayo department. In addition, in the run-up to the October municipal elections, 19 mayoral candidates were killed. Police and military personnel were targeted for selective and combat killings (see Section 1.g.). Guerrilla groups also killed religious leaders (see Section 2.c.), members of indigenous groups (see Section 5), and labor leaders (see Section 6.a.). Some communities controlled by guerrillas also experienced social cleansing killings of criminal or other "undesirable" elements. Guerrilla campaigns around the demilitarized area, in the Norte de Santander, Antioquia, and southern departments often involved significant civilian casualties and prompted significant displacements (see Section 1.g.).

According to military statistics, FARC and ELN guerrillas killed as many as 200 children during the year (see Sections 1.g. and 5).

The human rights unit of the Prosecutor General's office reported in November that it is conducting ongoing investigations into the detention, disappearance, and deaths of 92 off-duty army personnel. Police suspected 22nd FARC front commander "Geovanni" of ordering the February 27 killing of retired army General Crispiniano Quinones (a former commander of the 13th Brigade) by unidentified gunmen at La Vega, Cundinamarca department. According to the press, Geovanni and two other FARC members were killed shortly thereafter in a confrontation with police.

On March 25 and 26, at least 21 police officers and 8 civilians (including the mayor of Vigia del Fuerte and 2 children) were killed when the FARC overran the twin towns of Vigia del Fuerte, Antioquia department, and Bellavista, Choco department. The FARC held captive at least seven more police officers. The FARC tortured many of the policemen before killing them outside of combat. In April the authorities issued an arrest warrant for FARC member Luis Fernando Zapata Hinestroza.

In May six men who participated in roadblocks protesting a possible demilitarized zone for the ELN in southern Bolivar and Antioquia departments were killed in the Magdalena Medio region. The ELN was suspected of the killings.

On May 7, FARC guerrillas attacked a public bus in Gigante, Huila department, with an explosive device; the driver lost control and hit a tree. FARC members shot at the occupants of the bus and burned the vehicle; four occupants were still inside when the bus was set on fire and are presumed dead.

In June the FARC massacred at least 11 civilians at Nutibara, Antioquia department, and injured 15 other persons. The army's 14th Brigade responded to this and other FARC attacks, reportedly killing 14 guerrillas.

On July 10, in Huila department, two unidentified gunmen killed General Saulo Gil Ramirez, former Director of the National Police from 1958-65. The press speculated that guerrillas were responsible for the killing.

On July 1, 1 person was killed and approximately 40 were wounded when several explosive devices exploded at the El Valle police command in Cali. Authorities attributed the explosion to subversive groups. On the same day, ELN guerrillas attacked the police's Simon Bolivar Carabineer Academy in southwestern Cali.

On July 14, the FARC entered the town of Roncesvalles in Tolima department and killed 13 policemen (see Section 1.g.).

An August offensive by the FARC resulted in the deaths of more than 20 civilians and military personnel.

In August FARC guerrillas killed secretary general of Rio Blanco Milciades Luis Garabito after accusing him of paramilitary ties.

According to press reports, also in August an ELN guerrilla squad tortured and killed eight residents of Sardinita, including one child and one teacher.

In early October, the FARC attacked the remote village of Ortega and killed eight persons, including two women and two children. The guerrillas also burned 20 homes, a school, and a church.

On October 18, guerrillas attacked Bagado and Dabeiba in the Choco department, killing 1 police officer; 17 were missing. Much of Bagado was destroyed.

On November 23, suspected guerrillas killed 12 persons in Santander de Quilichao, Cauca department. At least some of the victims reportedly were linked to paramilitary groups. Two women were injured. Also on November 23, FARC guerrillas killed nine peasants suspected of collaborating with paramilitary groups in Antioquia department.

Investigations into reported killings by FARC members within and on the periphery of the demilitarized zone continued. On December 29, congressional peace commission chairman Diego Turbay Cote, his mother councilwoman Ines Cote, and five other persons were killed in Caqueta department (near the FARC demilitarized zone). The killings placed the future of the peace process in doubt as the Prosecutor General, army, and police alleged that the FARC were responsible. There was no reported progress in the Prosecutor General's investigation into the May 1999 killings in Vereda Perlas Altas, Puerto Rico, Caqueta department. According to press reports, the FARC have executed approximately 20 residents in the despeje zone.

Guerrillas killed citizens using bombs and artillery and continued their practice of using gas canisters to attack small towns, thereby killing civilians indiscriminately (see Section 1.g.).

On May 1, FARC spokesman Raul Reyes said that a FARC "revolutionary tribunal" exonerated FARC eastern bloc commander German Briceno Suarez ("Grannobles") of involvement in the March 1999 killings of kidnaped American citizen indigenous activists Terence Freitas, Lahe'ena'e Gay, and Ingrid Washinawatok near Saravena, Arauca department. In July 1999, the Prosecutor General's office ordered the arrest of Briceno; army efforts to apprehend him and other FARC members accused of the crime had not been successful at year's end. Reyes said that investigations of other FARC members suspected of the killings would continue. In September the Prosecutor General's office sought to question Nelson Vargas Ruedas, a FARC guerrilla imprisoned in Bogota, for information about the crime. U'wa tribe member Gustavo Bocota Aguablanca, who also was indicted for the crime in December 1999, was still at large at year's end. The investigation of the case continued at year's end.

In December a Medellin court ruled that Wilson Eusebio Garcia Ramirez, commander of the ELN's "Carlos Alirio Buitrago" front, should be tried in absentia for the September 1998 killings of CTI members Edilbrando Roa Lopez and John Morales Patino at Mesopotamia, Antioquia. The two had been investigating a 1998 massacre of nine persons at the nearby town of Sonson.

At year's end, the authorities had not yet captured two members of the FARC's 32nd Front, including Arley Leal and Milton de Jesus Tonal Redondo ("Joaquin Gomez" or "Usurriaga"), head of the FARC's southern bloc, in connection with the September 1998 murder of Father Alcides Jimenez in Putumayo.

The Ministry of Defense reported that security forces killed 970 guerrillas and captured 1,556 guerrillas during the year. The Prosecutor General's office reported that at year's end, it had open investigations of 353 guerrillas, had 53 guerrillas in custody, and had 252 warrants for the arrest of guerrilla leaders.

Approximately 80 cases regarding Colombia were before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) at year's end. The great majority involved violations of the right to life. At year's end, the IACHR was expected to make a decision about whether to move a case involving paramilitary and military involvement in the 1996 killing of 19 merchants to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

The IACHR continued the process of trying to reach an amicable settlement of the Patriotic Union's 1996 complaint charging the Government with "action or omission" in what the UP termed "political genocide" of the UP and the Communist Party. As part of the process, since June the Government has provided protection through the Interior Ministry to surviving UP and Communist Party members. Despite these efforts, at least two UP members reportedly were killed during the year.

There continued to be incidents of social cleansing--including attacks and killings--directed against individuals deemed socially undesirable, such as drug addicts, prostitutes, transvestites, homosexuals, beggars, and street children. The Colombian Commission of Jurists did not attribute any social cleansing killings to security forces during the period from October 1999 through March; it attributed 118 social cleansing killings to paramilitary groups and 2 such killings during this period to the guerrillas.

b. Disappearance

The 1991 Constitution and the law explicitly prohibit "forced disappearance;" however, it continued to be a problem. On May 30, Congress codified forced disappearance, genocide, torture, and forced displacement as crimes, permitting such cases to be tried in the civilian judiciary. On July 6, President Pastrana signed the law, and it entered into effect immediately. Human rights activists noted that the final law did not include a draft article stipulating that the four crimes, as serious human rights violations, must be tried in the civilian, rather than the military judiciary, when military defendants are involved, according to a 1997 Constitutional Court decision. However, advocates of the bill noted that the reformed Military Penal Code, which entered into effect August 12, did include such a stipulation. More than 3,000 cases of forced disappearance have been reported formally to the authorities since 1977; very few have ever been resolved. Many of the victims disappeared in the course of various confrontations between armed groups or with the State. The great majority of victims of forced disappearance were never seen or heard from again.

The Attorney General's office, which oversees the performance of all public sector employees, received 78 complaints related to massacres and forced disappearances during the year; approximately 75 percent of these complaints involved the army (particularly in Putumayo, Antioquia and southern Bolivar departments); the other 25 percent implicated police or DAS officials. A report of three persons who allegedly disappeared due to actions by the army has not been confirmed.

There were no reported results from the trial in a civilian court of police Major Manuel de Jesus Lozada Plazas, the former deputy commander of the Government's elite antikidnaping squads known as the GAULA, at year's end. The authorities had suspended him from duty and placed him on half-pay following his arrest in March 1997. There also have been no results reported in the investigation into cooperation between these squads and illegal paramilitary groups.

In May the Prosecutor General indicted retired Colonel Gonzalo Gil Rojas, former commander of the 20th Brigade, for responsibility in the 1989 kidnaping of Amparo Tordecillo Trujillo, a former EPL member; in December the charges were dismissed. The Prosecutor General also indicted in absentia former 20th Brigade members retired Captain Mario Raul Rodriguez Reynoso and three noncommissioned officers; they remained at large at year's end.

The law prohibits kidnaping; however, it remained an extremely serious problem. Reforms to the Penal Code enacted in June increased the minimum sentence for simple kidnaping from 6 to 8 years; the maximum is 20 years. Police figures for the year, corroborated by Free Country Foundation (Fundacion Pais Libre), registered 3,706 kidnapings during the year, compared with 3,201 in 1999. Paramilitary groups kidnaped 280 persons, while criminals kidnaped 371 persons and another 944 persons were kidnaped by unknown persons or groups. Guerrilla groups were responsible for 2,104 cases. An estimated 164 minors were in captivity at year's end. GAULA members and other units of the security forces freed 507 persons during the year (including at least 48 children); 285 of the rescued victims were held by the ELN, 82 by the FARC, 44 by the EPL (Popular Liberation Army), and the remaining 96 by either paramilitary groups or common criminals. The GAULA reported that 173 people died in captivity during the year, a 33 percent increase over 1999. Arrests or prosecutions in any kidnaping cases were rare.

The Colombian Commission of Jurists attributed 145 forced disappearances to paramilitaries in the period from October 1999 through March. In many instances persons kidnaped by paramilitary groups later were found dead.

On March 9, a paramilitary group led by Jhon Jairo Esquivel Cuadrado kidnaped seven members of the CTI at Minguillo, Cesar department. Esquivel was captured in July and remained detained pending formal charges at year's end. There were no indications that the abducted investigators were still alive.

In May paramilitary forces kidnaped and raped journalist Jineth Bedoya (see Section 2.a.).

On June 19, Carlos Castano's AUC paramilitary group kidnaped Antioquia Deputy Guillermo Leon Valencia Cossio, brother of the Government's negotiator in the peace process with the FARC, Fabio Valencia Cossio, but released him on June 23.

In October the AUC paramilitary group kidnaped seven members of Congress, including former Senate President Miguel Pineda and Zulema Jattin, a member of a congressional peace commission, and demanded that the AUC be consulted in the peace process. The Government refused to open discussions with the AUC, but Interior Minister Humberto de la Calle negotiated the hostages' release with Castano.

Kidnaping continued to be an unambiguous, standing policy and major source of revenue for both the FARC and ELN. In April the FARC announced "Law 002," which required persons with more than $1 million in assets to volunteer payment to the FARC or risk detention. According to Pais Libre, politicians, cattlemen, children, and businessmen were guerrillas' preferred victims. The FARC often purchased victims kidnaped by common criminals; the FARC then negotiated ransom payments with the family.

On March 22, the FARC kidnaped 9-year-old Clara Oliva Pantoja and did not release her until December 19. On April 7, the FARC kidnaped 3-year-old Andres Felipe Navas; he had not been released by year's end. Both children reportedly were held in the FARC demilitarized zone. Several released kidnaped victims claim that the FARC is holding more than 200 persons in the despeje zone.

In March the ELN kidnaped 25 electrical company workers at Guatape, Antioquia. The kidnapings were part of the ELN's campaign against the country's civilian electrical infrastructure.

On September 17, the ELN kidnaped over 50 patrons of Cali restaurants. Roughly a dozen were released within a few days. After combined negotiation and military pressure, the remaining survivors were released by November, although three had died while in captivity due to illness after lengthy forced marches while the kidnapers attempted to evade the army. Over the objections of the army commander in charge of rescue, the Government allowed the captors to remain free in return for release of the remaining hostages. Brigadier General Jaime Canal Alban, commander of the 3rd Brigade, resigned to express his disagreement with the Government's decision.

On November 28, unknown assailants kidnaped 18-year-old Juliana Villegas, daughter of the head of the National Association of Industrialists, a strong supporter of the peace process; guerrillas were suspected.

Guerrillas continued to kidnap political leaders. For example, in October the FARC kidnaped a gubernatorial candidate in northern Choco department, Senator Juan Mesa, and Antioquia assemblyman Alvaro Velasquez. The Federation of Colombian Municipalities reported that at least 20 mayors were kidnaped during the year, nearly all by guerrilla groups. Many more unreported kidnapings of short duration may have been carried out. In response to this situation, some rural mayors fled to major cities, where they continued to conduct municipal business via telephone and facsimile. Guerrillas also kidnaped journalists (see Section 2.a.).

The FARC, the ELN, and other guerrilla groups regularly kidnaped foreign citizens throughout the year; some were released after weeks or months of captivity. For example, in July a representative of Doctors without Borders was kidnaped by a fringe guerrilla group and had not been heard from at year's end. In August the ELN captured and held 26 university professors and students, including several foreigners, for several days before releasing the group.

On April 8, the DAS captured ELN leader Ovidio Antonio Parra Cortes, who had been sought for his role in directing the May 1999 kidnaping of 174 persons from Cali's La Maria Catholic Church. The army's Third Brigade also arrested seven men believed to have helped carry out the La Maria hostage-taking.

By year's end, all of the 41 occupants of an airplane hijacked by the ELN in April 1999 had been released; 1 died in captivity in 1999 due to a lack of needed medications.

Despite government search efforts and continued pressure by the Government on the FARC to account for three American missionaries kidnaped by FARC guerrillas in January 1993, their whereabouts and condition remained unknown.

c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

The Constitution and criminal law explicitly prohibit torture, as well as cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; however, police and military torture and mistreatment of detainees continued. On May 30, Congress codified torture as a crime (see Section 1.b.), and the reformed Military Penal Code directed that cases of torture involving military and police defendants be tried in the civilian, rather than the military, courts. The Attorney General's office, which only can sanction administratively or refer to the Prosecutor General's office those it finds guilty, did not sanction any security force members for torture during the year. Contrary to previous years, the Attorney General's office, which received 119 complaints of torture in 1998, did not receive any complaints of torture by state agents during the year. The Colombian Commission of Jurists reported one case in the period from October 1999 to March. During the first 9 months of the year, CINEP reported that 79 persons were injured by state forces. During the year, the Military High Court convicted 52 service members for causing injuries.

The Colombian Commission of Jurists reported that from October 1999 through March, 136 corpses of persons presumed killed by paramilitary forces showed signs of torture; there were 14 similar cases attributed to guerrillas; one case attributed to an unidentified unarmed group; and none by the State. Of victims who survived torture, the Commission attributed one case to public security forces and four cases to paramilitary groups. In March the Ministry of Defense reported that the Superior Military Tribunal convicted 53 service members for inflicting bodily injuries.

On March 10, a Bogota prosecutor issued an arrest warrant for four policemen for allegedly beating detainees Jorge Amilkar Murcia, Juan Antonio Rodriguez Ochoa, and a third unnamed victim, taking them to a bridge, and forcing them to jump. Rodriguez survived and reported the crime to the authorities; Murcia's body was never found.

According to Human Rights Watch, on June 18, troops from the Rebeiz Pizarro Battalion fired upon a car carrying six adults and two children; all occupants were wounded.

In December the Prosecutor General's human rights office indicted Colonel Jose Ancizar Molano Padilla (then-commander of the 2nd Marine infantry battalion), Captain Alvaro Hernando Moreno, Captain Rafael Garcia, Lieutenant Carlos Eduardo Jaramillo, and four noncommissioned officers for torturing 12 marines with asphyxiation and electric shocks in December 1995. The victims were tortured to determine the whereabouts of two lost assault rifles. Colonel Molano and his accused subordinates remained in detention and are expected to be tried in a civilian court. In December the Attorney General's office concluded its investigation of the same incident and ordered a 3-month suspension from duty for Colonel Molano. It also suspended Captain Moreno, Lieutenant Jaramillo, seven noncommissioned officers, and one private.

Four Venezuelans arrested in May 1999 in the course of a military antiguerrilla operation who subsequently claimed that the 3rd army Special Forces Battalion tortured and inflicted other cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment against them were remanded to the custody of the Venezuelan Embassy and finally allowed to return to Venezuela. The Venezuelan Government also asked for an investigation in relation to five other persons who were with these four men at the time of their capture. The bodies of two of these five persons subsequently were found in a river; the other three allegedly disappeared following the operation.

Paramilitary groups increasingly used threats both to intimidate opponents and to raise money. Letters demanding payment of a war tax and a threat to mark victims as a military target if they failed to pay were typical. In 1999 CINEP reported that nearly half of those threatened were public school teachers and that approximately half of all threat recipients were residents of Antioquia department.

Guerrilla groups also tortured and abused persons. The bodies of many persons detained and subsequently killed by guerrillas showed signs of torture and disfigurement. For example, one soldier captured by the FARC was subjected to several machete blows to the head until the entire left side of his head was destroyed. While he was still alive, his genitalia were cut off and acid was poured on his face. The military reported that another soldier and his brother were captured by the FARC while on a bus, subsequently were tortured and decapitated, and their heads were sent to their father inside a box. The Colombian Commission of Jurists reported 17 cases of torture by guerrillas during the period from October 1999 to March.

Guerrillas also routinely used threats, both to intimidate opponents and to raise money, and--like the paramilitary groups--sent letters demanding payments of a war tax, along with threats to make persons military targets. Guerrillas also killed, kidnaped, and threatened mayoral candidates (see Section 3).

According to press reports, in July explosive devices damaged three businesses in downtown Barrancabermeja, Santander department. The authorities stated that the ELN demanded that local businessmen attend a mandatory meeting and that the bombs were punishment against those who failed to attend. In April the FARC announced "Law 002," which required persons with more than $1 million in assets to volunteer payment to the FARC or risk detention. In August the FARC bombed as many as 13 businesses in Medellin in retaliation for nonpayment of a FARC-imposed "war tax."

Prison conditions are harsh, especially for those prisoners without significant outside support. Severe overcrowding and dangerous sanitary and health conditions remained serious problems. In December 1997, a visiting IACHR mission declared that the living conditions in Bogota's La Picota prison constituted "cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of the inmates," and these problems continue. Prison guards from the INPEC report to the Ministry of Justice. There are approximately 7,000 prison guards. Guards and prison staff frequently are untrained or corrupt. In response to what was called a "disciplinary emergency," INPEC's disciplinary office reported in September that it had removed 159 prison guards and was investigating 651 INPEC officials for irregularities in performing their duties. Prisoners are suspected of killing or ordering the killing of 22 guards in 1999.

According to the Committee for Solidarity with Political Prisoners, a majority of prisoners' food was provided by outside, private sources. In 1999 INPEC reported that the daily food allowance for each prisoner was $1.44 (2,700 pesos). According to INPEC, the country's prisons and jails held approximately 50,702 inmates at year's end, significantly more than their capacity of 31,000 persons. The addition of a new prison in Valledupar, Cesar department, and the renovation of other facilities added 3,000 spaces over the past 3 years but was offset by an increase of approximately 10,000 prisoners over the same period. According to the Ministry of Defense, 20 percent of the country's inmates are in the 10 most crowded prisons, which have an average occupancy rate of 200 percent. In a number of the largest prisons, overcrowding was severe. Medellin's Bellavista prison, the country's largest, was built to house 1,800 inmates; at year's end, it housed 6,575 inmates. Bogota's La Modelo prison had a 169 percent occupancy rate, and the Palmira prison outside Cali held 192 percent above its planned capacity.

In February the Justice Ministry announced a plan to renovate prisons and build 11 other new prisons over the next 3 years, expanding prison capacity by 18,000 persons. In July Congress approved the financing of the remaining announced facilities. Only 8,000 prisoner accommodations met international standards. A total of 17.8 percent of the country's prisons were between 40 and 80 years old, 3.5 percent were between 80 and 201 years old, and 2.4 percent were more than 201 years old.

In November approximately 12,000 women and children, who were visitors to the prisons, protested prison conditions by spending 72 hours inside 7 prisons, including Bogota's La Modelo. The Government negotiated with inmate representatives and human rights NGO's to ensure the peaceful exit of the protesters by agreeing to convoke the National Roundtable on Penitentiary Work, an intersectoral commission that includes inmate representatives, in December.

An estimated 42 percent of all prison inmates are pretrial detainees. The remaining 58 percent are split roughly between those appealing their convictions and those who have exhausted their appeals and are serving out their terms. There are no separate facilities for pretrial detainees and convicted prisoners. According to the Ministry of Defense, 4,145 persons (8 percent of inmates) are in pretrial detention in police stations. Despite an August 1999 Constitutional Court ruling which obligated the transfer of detainees from overcrowded police station holding cells to prisons, Bogota's 21 police stations still hold 1,657 prisoners awaiting transfer to prisons.

Local or regional military and jail commanders did not always prepare mandatory detention registers or follow notification procedures; as a result, precise accounting for every detainee was not always possible.

There are separate prison facilities for women, and in some parts of the country, separate women's prisons exist. Conditions at women's prisons are similar to those at men's prisons but are far less violent. According to the Criminal Procedures Code, no one under the age of 18 may be held in a prison. Juveniles are held in separate facilities operated by the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare (ICBF).

The reformed Penal Code requires sentences of 3 to 6 years for prison escapes. Escapes from prison continued to be a problem. There were six major riots in prisons. On February 3, six prisoners were killed and two were wounded during a confrontation between members of paramilitary groups and guerrillas at Bogota's La Picota Prison.

In April members of paramilitary groups and guerrillas engaged in a 12-hour battle inside Bogota's La Modelo prison, ending a 2-month truce, and employed a wide variety of firearms and other weapons. Thirty-two inmates were killed, and 35 were wounded. In response, 1,200 members of the National Police entered La Modelo prison to retake control. Among prohibited items found were cellular telephones, handguns, shotguns, assault rifles, hand grenades, explosives, dogs trained to attack, illicit drugs, and alcohol. Police found a sauna and gym in a FARC commander's cell and also discovered a working brothel. Authorities brought a variety of charges, including homicide and rape, against 20 prisoners. In July Jorge Ospina Trujillo, reportedly a member of a paramilitary group, escaped from the Bellavista prison in Medellin, Antioquia department. According to the authorities, Ospina was one of the prisoners responsible for the April massacre in La Modelo prison in Bogota.

Guerrillas launched several attacks against prisons holding guerrilla prisoners, facilitating numerous escapes. For example, during its April 2-3 offensive, the ELN attacked a prison at Cucuta, Norte de Santander department, initiating the attack with a car bomb. Some 75 prisoners, including approximately 50 ELN and FARC guerrillas, escaped. Four prisoners were killed and four prisoners were wounded in the fighting.

Key narcotics traffickers and some guerrilla leaders obtain cells with many comforts, some of which--such as access to two-way radios, cellular telephones, and computers--allowed them to continue their illegal activities from inside jail. In July the authorities dismantled a sophisticated telecommunications center in the district and Picalena prisons in Ibague, Tolima, department. Forty-six prisoners between the 2 prisons used cellular telephones to extort money or negotiate ransom. To prevent this type of activity, on July 27, President Pastrana announced that he would issue a resolution making it mandatory for telephone companies to provide caller identification service to all customers.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) continued to have routine access to most prisons and police and military detention centers.

The ICRC continues to have ad hoc access to civilians held by paramilitary groups and guerrilla forces. However, it has not been granted access to members of the police or military who are held by guerrilla groups.

d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile

The Constitution includes several provisions designed to prevent illegal detention; however, there continued to be instances in which the authorities arrested or detained citizens arbitrarily.

The law prohibits incommunicado detention. Anyone held in preventive detention must be brought before a prosecutor within 36 hours to determine the legality of the detention. The prosecutor must then act upon that petition within 36 hours of its submission. Despite these legal protections, instances of arbitrary detention continued.

Conditional pretrial release is available under certain circumstances, for example, in connection with minor offenses or after unduly lengthy amounts of time in preventive detention. It is not available in cases of serious crimes, such as homicide or terrorism.

Guerrillas, particularly the FARC, pressed the Government and Congress to adopt a permanent prisoner exchange law. Initiating regular prisoner exchanges remained a top guerrilla priority and featured prominently in the FARC's negotiating points at the peace talks. Neither the Congress nor the Government attempted to pass such legislation, and there was minimal popular support for it during much of the year. On September 27, the Attorney General proposed the implementation of an existing law that allows for the exchange of prisoners during armed conflict. In October the public debate on prisoner exchange revived when photographs emerged of 261 police and military hostages being held in outdoor fenced enclosures. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) expressed deep concern for the well-being of the hostages and called on the FARC to permit ICRC access. At year's end, 527 soldiers and police are presumed held by the FARC and ELN, and the ICRC had not been permitted access to them.

The Constitution prohibits exile, and forced exile is not practiced by the State. However, there were repeated instances of individuals pressured into self-exile for their personal safety. Such cases included persons from all walks of life, including politicians, human rights workers, slum-dwellers, business executives, farmers, and others. The threats came from various quarters: some individual members of the security forces, paramilitary groups, guerrilla groups, narcotics traffickers, other criminal elements, or combinations of the above.

e. Denial of Fair Public Trial

The civilian judicial system, reorganized under the 1991 Constitution, is independent of the executive and legislative branches both in theory and in practice; however, the suborning or intimidation of judges, witnesses, and prosecutors by those indicted or involved is common. The Human Rights Ombudsman's office reported receipt of 773 complaints of denial of the right to due legal process during 1999, the most recent year for which statistics were available. The office received 1,353 complaints in 1998.

The judiciary includes the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court of Justice, and the Council of State, the Superior Judicial Council, and lower courts. The Prosecutor General's office is an independent prosecutorial body that brings criminal cases before the courts. Article 234 of the new Military Penal Code states that the Supreme Court (not the Superior Military Tribunal) has first instance jurisdiction in cases involving criminal acts by generals, admirals, major generals, vice-admirals, brigadier generals, rear admirals, and magistrates and prosecutors of the Superior Military Tribunal. Cases that already were in their trial phase by August 12, 1999, must continue under the old military penal code; however, this article applies to all cases brought to trial after that date, regardless of when the crime was committed. Article 234 also states the Supreme Court is the court of second instance review of rulings by the Superior Military Tribunal, effectively asserting the authority of the Supreme Court--a body composed entirely of civilian magistrates--over the military judiciary. The Council of State is the appellate court for civil cases. The Constitutional Court adjudicates cases of constitutionality, reviews all decisions regarding writs of protection of fundamental rights ("tutelas"), and reviews all decisions regarding motions for cessation of judicial proceedings. Jurisdictional clashes among the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court of Justice, the Council of State, and the Superior Judicial Council were common, due to the lack of a single supreme judicial authority capable of deciding issues of jurisdiction or constitutional interpretation.

The CSJ, which oversees the administration of the judiciary, also has the responsibility of determining whether individual cases involving members of the security forces are to be tried in civilian or military courts. On August 17, President Pastrana issued a directive to the armed forces and the police that stated that the new Military Penal Code "excludes from military criminal jurisdiction the crimes of genocide, torture, and forced disappearance" and that "acts against humanity do not fall under the jurisdiction of the military courts." The directive also "raises to the category of law" a 1997 Constitutional Court decision that serious human rights violations and other crimes not directly related to acts of service must be tried by civilian courts.

On April 6, the Constitutional Court overturned much of the 1999 law that had created the specialized jurisdiction (which had replaced the anonymous ("faceless") regional courts system on July 1, 1999). The Constitutional Court found that defendants have the right to know the identity of their accusers and that elements of the law that permitted some prosecutors and witnesses to remain anonymous under exceptionally dangerous circumstances were unconstitutional. The Court ruled that specialized jurisdiction judges and prosecutors no longer could transfer cases to other colleagues when they believed their own security to be at risk. The Court also ruled that persons detained for any of the crimes designated in the legislation may request to be confined in their homes and may request special permission to go to work, as is the case in the regular civilian judiciary. The Court permanently closed the appeals court for the specialized jurisdiction. The remaining first instance specialized jurisdiction c