B4-1108, 1125, 1135, 1160 and 1184/96

Resolution on the situation in Colombia

The European Parliament,

- recalling its previous resolutions on Colombia,

- having regard to the UN Declaration of Human Rights,

- having regard to the recent European Parliament Delegation to Colombia on 24-26 September 1996,

- having regard to the report on Colombia published by Amnesty International in September 1996,

A. shocked by the violence that has been escalating in Colombia since August 1996, the biggest offensive in 30 years, which threatens to develop into full-scale civil war,

B. whereas, in spite of the undertakings given by President Samper, on assuming office in August 1994, to fight against human rights abuses in Colombia, the human rights situation continues to deteriorate,

C. whereas guerilla forces in Colombia have been responsible for numerous violations of human rights, including the taking and holding of hostages and the deliberate and arbitrary killings of civilians,

D. whereas the Colombian security forces have implemented a counter-insurgency strategy characterized by the use of paramilitary groups, extrajudicial executions, disappearances, torture, political killings and other forms of human rights abuses,

E. particularly shocked to learn of the murder on 13 October 1996 of Mr Josué Giraldo, chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the department of Meta, who had testified at a conference on human rights held at the European Parliament,

F. concerned about attempts to limit the role of the Attorney-General's office by depriving it of its disciplinary investigative functions and transferring these to military jurisdiction,

G. whereas the Colombian Government is expected to present a bill reforming the military penal code to the Colombian Congress during its current session,

H. having regard to the government's plans to restrict press freedom in Colombia, and to other measures suggesting a 'constitutional counter-reform',

I. whereas the UN High Commission's Office in Colombia, financed by the EU, has not yet been opened because of the constraints imposed by the Colombian authorities,

J. noting that the Colombian Vice-President, Humberto de la Calle, resigned on 5 September 1996, saying that he was totally convinced that drug money financed the election campaign of President Ernesto Samper, and called on Samper to resign in turn,

K. stressing the position of peasant farmers and indigenous communities who are innocent victims of the violence and of the drugs trade, but who are increasingly forced into participating against their will,

L. outraged to learn that, in Colombia on 28 September 1996, Eliseo and Eder Narvaez, members of one of the peasant families engaged in a land dispute with the Bellacruz estate, were murdered, which brings to eight the number of murders and to five the number of 'disappearances' carried out this year by paramilitary groups in this conflict,

M. recalling the EU's position with regard to cooperation with the Andean countries, and with Colombia in particular, concerning action against the drugs trade, based on the principle of the joint responsibility of consumer and producer countries, as set out in the Cochabamba declaration and expressed in the Generalized System of Preferences, of which the Andean countries, including Colombia, are prime beneficiaries;

1. Condemns unreservedly all human rights abuses committed in Colombia, whether by security forces, paramilitary groups or guerilla groups;

2. Calls on the Colombian Government to stop the use by the army of extrajudicial and arbitrary killings, the practice of torture, and any other human rights violations;

3. Urges the Government, the Congress, other public bodies, the political parties and civil society to persevere in their endeavours to strengthen democracy and the rule of law in Colombia;

4. Urges the leaders of the guerilla forces to stop exerting pressure on the population;

5. Welcomes the efforts of the Office of the Colombian Attorney-General to arrest military and paramilitary members involved in extrajudicial killings, despite lack of cooperation from the army and government authorities;

6. Calls on the Colombian Government not to limit the role of the Attorney-General and to ensure that human rights violations committed by members of the security forces are not dealt with by the military justice system;

7. Welcomes the fact that, following the appeal by its delegation, dialogue has started between the Colombian Government and the landless farmers evicted from Bellacruz and reaffirms its call that land be provided for them with full security protection in order that they may resume normal lives;

8. Calls on the UN and the Colombian Government to ensure that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Bogotá begins its work immediately;

9. Calls for full guarantees concerning press freedom in Colombia;

10. Calls on the Colombian President to publish in full his own Human Rights Commission report on the activities of British Petroleum in Casanare, and calls on all European oil companies to observe the highest standards of respect for human rights and environmental protection, especially given the conditions of conflict in which they are working;

11. Calls for a new dialogue to be established between the oil companies and the community in Casanare to broker support for a new social and sustainable economic development plan for that region, with the assistance of European NGO human rights observers if possible;

12. Urges continued efforts to counter drug-trafficking in Colombia, recognizing that only strong and concerted international action against all stages of the drugs trade can be effective in this task;

13. Notes, further, that a strategy of coca destruction alone risks displacing the problem and causing maximum environmental damage and therefore supports programmes to encourage alternative crops;

14. Calls on the Commission and the Council to maintain adequate levels of cooperation with Colombia to support action on the challenges facing the country in its struggle against the drugs trade and endemic violence and its endeavours to ensure respect for human rights and economic development;

15. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Government of Colombia.