COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE EXAMINES REPORT OF COLOMBIA
Press Release
HR/4236
COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE EXAMINES REPORT OF COLOMBIA
19951122 GENEVA, 21 November (UN Information Service) -- The Committee against Torture started its examination this morning of the second periodic report of Colombia regarding its implementation of the provisions of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.Carlos Vicente de Roux, Presidential Advisor for Human Rights, presented the report of Colombia, and declared that while about 150 cases of torture in the struggle against insurgents had been enumerated by non-governmental organizations, State statistics showed much higher figures, owing to legislation defining torture as being committed not only by State officials but by individuals as well. Some 1,200 cases per year had been counted, a great number of which took place within the framework of armed conflicts.
The Colombian representative recognized that the gap between the number of exposed cases and the number of condemnations showed that "military penal justice has not been a sound instrument for fighting torture". Aware of that deficiency, the Government has set up a commission to examine a reform project of the Military Penal Code. That commission was composed of representatives of the armed forces, the Government, and a non-governmental organization dealing with human rights. It was also envisaged that trials be placed under the surveillance of the State Prosecutor. An arrangement by which offences that come under international instruments on human rights ratified by Colombia would not be submitted to military courts but to ordinary tribunals was also envisaged.
Concerning the grave cases of violence committed in certain regions of the country, notably the massacre in Trujillo in 1990, Mr. de Roux said the Government recognized the State's responsibility, and had set up a commission to investigate the numerous atrocities committed by State agents. The Government was determined to fight against the activities of paramilitary groups implicated in the "dirty war" often linked to public forces and responsible for the majority of torture cases.
Colombia had been living in a culture of violence for many years, he continued. Between 200,000 and 250,000 homicides had been committed in the past eight years, the majority of which constituted "social violence", while the rest -- 8 to 10 per cent -- could be classified as political assassinations. An annual total of some 28,000 homicides did not seem to be decreasing. An estimated 30,000 to 40,000 persons were active in an
- 2 - Press Release HR/4236 22 November 1995
anti-Government struggle by guerillas who claimed they sought a fairer social order. Those groups were responsible for half the kidnappings that occurred, committed murders, imposed a "war-tax", trafficked in drugs, and committed extortion against both large landowners and small farmers.
Those acts, on the part of insurgent groups, sparked a reaction by landowners, who sometimes set up self-defence groups. Moreover, drug dealers sought land in the country's richest farming areas, allying themselves with the guerrillas on some occasions, or violently attacking such forces by allying themselves with the local police on others. Contrary to certain declarations, "paramilitarism" was not a State strategy, Mr. de Roux affirmed, adding that those groups were a threat to State unity, and the Government was determined to fight them. Some measures had been taken, notably extending the powers of the Public Prosecutor to eliminate those groups. Thus, three of them had been dismantled recently, one of which had the support of a Senator of the republic.
The expert members of the Committee assessed that conditions had worsened since the Government's first report, in particular because of a situation in which violence was widespread. Committee members noticed an assertion in the report stressing that the scope of Colombian legislation was beyond the Convention's definition of torture. An expert stated that the Convention's scope was limited to torture exercised by the State or its officials, that being the most serious case of torture. On the other hand, Colombian legislation provided a milder sentence for a military official responsible for torture than for an individual. Members of the Committee requested more accuracy on the question of obedience to a superior, and on the value of testimony obtained under torture. Concerning the activities of paramilitary groups, they drew attention to a decree authorizing the creation of armed civil protection groups.
As to elements of the Convention allowing persons wanted for acts of torture to be extradited or prosecuted by the national judicial authorities, some experts declared that Colombia's decision to provide asylum to the Haitian General Prosper Avril constituted a breach of that provision. Some Committee members speculated that the main obstacle to application of the Convention could be found in the area of military jurisdiction.
Other Committee members asked whether the Colombian legislation on torture only applied to an act by which physical suffering was inflicted, or did it also apply to psychological suffering. They requested information on the extent to which the Convention was reflected in Colombian legislation, and measures for implementing it. They wanted to know what appeals were provided to the victims of bad treatment, and what compensatory measures were planned. Noting that training programmes for military and police forces were provided, they asked for information on materials used for teaching, or for informing doctors, health personnel, lawyers and others confronted with cases of torture about measures for preventing torture. Some members asked for explanations of the numerous cases of police brutality which had been drawn to their attention.
* *** *