I. NATIONAL CONTEXT
The Second Chamber of the Constitutional
Court, through decision T 327/04 issued 15 April 2004, ruled in favor of
the members of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó and other persons
related to the Community's members with work contracts. This community
sued to protect its fundamental rights to life, personal integrity and
security, freedom of movement, personal dignity, privacy of the home with
the exception of judicial order and intimacy.
The Constitutional Court ordered the Commander of the XVIIth Army Brigade, or his substitute, to comply with the obligations placed on the Colombian State in his order of jurisdiction, by the Inter-American Court for Human Rights on June 18th, 2002. Via this resolution, the Inter-American Court requested the imposition of provisional measures for the protection of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, as they were the target of serious acts of violence, blockades and multiple killings of community members by paramilitary groups. In addition, the Resolution required the Colombian State to present the Inter-American Court a detailed report of provisional measures every two months.
The Constitutional Court also ordered the State to adopt and maintain all necessary measures to assure that those persons affected can continue to live in their habitual residences within the Community, and also to facilitate the return of IDPs to their homes. At the same time, the Court ordered that the State guarantee free movement to Tierra Amarilla, a center of great importance for the transport and commercialization of food products and other goods.
The Annual Report of the U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR) indicated that Colombia is third on a list of the 10 countries according to number of IDPs. According to the Report, Colombia has 2,273,000 IDPs, placing it immediately behind Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The report also noted that during 2003, the armed conflict obliged 250,000 persons to abandon their homes. In addition, 200,000 Colombian refugees are currently in neighboring countries, and another 34,000 in countries such as Costa Rica (8,300 persons) and the United States (19,400 persons). The report attributes the causes of displacement both to the military offensive of the Government, as well as confrontations between the Armed Forces, the guerrillas and the paramilitaries.
On May 13th, in the town of Santa Fe de Ralito, located in Tierralta municipality (Córdoba), representatives of the national Government and members of the negotiating team of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) paramilitaries signed an agreement designating part of the municipality of Tierralta as a "Zone of Temporary Location". The agreement was signed in the presence of representatives of the Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia of the OAS and the Catholic Church. The purpose of the accord is to contribute to the completion and verification of a cease-fire agreement, to define a timeline for the concentration and demobilization of the AUC, to permit a dialogue table with representation by national and international sectors of society, and the participation and contribution of citizens to the process.
The Zone comprises an area of 368 km2, which includes the corregimientos of Santa Fe de Ralito and El Carmelo. Ten commanders are expected to arrive in the Zone (two of them requested in extradition by the United States) together with another 400 men. The Zone will last for six months, with the possibility of an extension. If the Zone would cease to exist prior to completion of the process, AUC members will have a five day period to evacuate the Zone.
The agreement suspends orders for the capture, extradition and military operations of AUC members in the Zone, as well as the suspension of all commercial and private flights at less than 10,000 feet altitude. At the same time, a Security and Co-existence Committee will be created, along with a Verification Committee, made up of delegates from the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace, the OAS and the AUC.
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