This is so sad...
"Scarred bodies, hidden crimes":
Sexual Violence against women in the armed conflict in Columbia
"A stick was pushed into the private parts of an 18-year-old pregnant girl and it appeared through [the abdomen]. She was torn apart. (…) They [army-backed paramilitaries] stripped the women and made them dance in front of their husbands. Several were raped. You could hear the screams coming from a ranch near El Salado [Department of Bolívar]..."(1)
"The girls spend their lives being intimidated and threatened by guerrillas and paramilitaries. They are accused of having relationships with men from the other side. Between February and March [2004] the bodies of three girls who had been raped were found in the area. They mark their territory by leaving scars on the bodies of the women. It is a terror without sound. Sometimes they punish women for wearing low-slung jeans but other times they make them wear low-cut tops and miniskirts so that they can accompany them to their parties".(2) All the armed groups - the security forces, paramilitaries and the guerrilla - have sexually abused or exploited women, both civilians or their own combatants, in the course of Colombia’s 40-year-old conflict, and sought to control the most intimate parts of their lives. By sowing terror and exploiting and manipulating women for military gain, bodies have been turned into a battleground. The serious abuses and violations committed by all the parties to the armed conflict remain hidden behind a wall of silence fuelled by discrimination and impunity. This in turn exacerbates the violence that has been the hallmark of Colombia’s internal armed conflict. It is women and girls who are the hidden victims of that conflict.
Men have also been the victims of sexual violence in the context of the armed conflict. But the sexual abuse and exploitation of women and girls have long been ignored, not only because violence against them has been perceived as belonging to the private sphere, but because fear and shame about sexual abuse have prevented many women from speaking out. Women and girls in Colombia are the victims of domestic violence and community-based violence. But the conflict exacerbates these forms of violence and the gender stereotyping which underpins them.
With their bodies viewed and treated as territory to be fought over by the warring parties, women are targeted for a number of reasons - to sow terror within communities making it easier for military control to be imposed, to force people to flee their homes to assist acquisition of territory, to wreak revenge on adversaries, to accumulate "trophies of war", and to exploit them as sexual slaves. Sexual violence has thus indelibly marked Colombian women’s lives. Men and women have also been targeted for attack because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
In Colombia, as elsewhere, official figures do not reflect the scale of the problem of sexual violence. Rape is thought to be significantly under-reported. Despite the often unequivocal evidence left on victims’ bodies, sexual violence is, for example, rarely recorded in autopsy reports. Few perpetrators are ever brought to justice for any human rights violation - and even fewer for crimes of sexual violence. The terrible fate suffered by the individuals concerned is therefore exacerbated by this double invisibility. As this report shows, violence against women in the context of the armed conflict is widespread.
Last year, over 220 women were killed for socio-political reasons outside combat - in the street, home or workplace - and 20 "disappeared". The security forces were reportedly directly responsible for around 5% of these killings, army-backed paramilitaries for 26% and the guerrilla for 16%. In the rest of cases, those responsible were not identified. According to figures from the 2003 UNDP Human Development Report on Colombia, El Conflicto, Callejón con Salida (Solutions to Escape the Conflict’s Impasse), the number of women killed for conflict-related reasons outside of combat increased by 20% between 2000-2001 and 2001-2002. During this period, women accounted for 6% of all deaths in and out of combat and forced "disappearances, 10% of tortures, 11% of all land mine-related deaths and 18% of kidnappings. Moreover, 17% of the human rights defenders killed were women, as were 16% of all trade unionists and 16% of people from indigenous communities.
The response of the authorities and state institutions, which should be implementing measures to end such abuses, can be as abusive as the violence itself. In Colombia, survivors can find it very difficult to obtain medical assistance, emergency treatment and support measures. The survivors also face serious obstacles in their search for justice. When a state fails in its responsibility to exercise due diligence to prevent, punish and eradicate sexual and gender violence it sends out a message that such behaviour is tolerated or even condoned. By remaining silent and failing to act, the state is tolerating such abuses and encouraging the commission of further offences.
The visit to Colombia of the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
In November 2001, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Radhika Coomaraswamy, conducted an official mission to Colombia to investigate, assess and report on the impact of the conflict on the human rights of women. In the summary of the mission report submitted to the UN Commission on Human Rights at its 58th session(3), the Special Rapporteur highlighted "the widespread and systematic nature of gender-based violence and the various forms of it that are suffered [in Colombia]": "Rarely is there direct confrontation between the different armed groups, rather these armed groups attempt to settle their scores by attacking civilians suspected of supporting the other side. (…), violence against women, particularly sexual violence by armed groups, has become a common practice within the context of a slowly degrading conflict and a lack of respect for international humanitarian law. (…) Women have been abducted by armed men, detained for a time in conditions of sexual slavery, raped and made to perform domestic chores. Women have been targeted for being the female relatives of the "other" side. After being raped some women have been sexually mutilated before being killed. Furthermore, survivors explain how paramilitaries arrive in a village, completely control and terrorize the population, and commit human rights abuses with total impunity. The Special Rapporteur also highlights the particular experience of female combatants in the warring factions who suffer sexual abuse and infringements of their reproductive rights and finally the appalling situation faced by female internally displaced persons".
Survivors of sexual violence also face a further, debilitating battle - with their families and communities, which often ostracize and stigmatize them. Survivors can be subjected to harsh social and cultural norms which blame the victim for the attack. For many women, surviving sexual violence means keeping silent. Cast out by friends and family and under threat from their aggressors, survivors are often forced to move away from their communities but are still unable to escape the fear of further abuse. The case of "Ana María", a survivor of gang rape who lives in Medellín, reflects the experience of those women forced to fend for themselves:
"Two years ago as we were leaving Neiva [department of Huila] the army made us get out [of the bus]. They killed the young man I was with. I was raped by eight or nine soldiers. They left me on the road and I eventually got a ride. When I got to Dabeiba [department of Antioquia], the paramilitaries were there. They said I was a guerrilla. The commander of the paramilitaries raped me. (…) You have to keep quiet… If you talk, people say you were asking for it… I came to Medellín... . When the army comes, I start thinking that it’s going to happen to me all over again. Like a nightmare that never ends…" (4)
The injuries and medical and psychological consequences of such violence, such as becoming infected with sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs), such as HIV/AIDS, or pregnant as the result of rape, are generally ignored by the authorities. Civil society organizations, in particular women’s groups, have tried to fill the gap. However, many women’s organizations have themselves been the target of threats and attacks because of their work in defence of human rights or economic and social alternatives, as well because of their work to expose sexual violence and treat the survivors of sexual violence.
There are considerable difficulties for research in the field of violence against women, particularly in making direct contact with survivors of abuse, many of whom fear retaliation attacks or being shamed by their family and community. Many areas of Colombia are also inaccessible to human rights activists. In other areas of the country, human rights activists are not available to help individual victims because they have been threatened, intimidated, killed or driven out of their communities. Although the cases highlighted in this report cannot be independently verified - because of the lack of judicial investigations - the fact that Amnesty International has received so many similar and consistent reports of sexual violence from around the country leads the organization to believe that these testimonies are accurate and reliable.
With this report Amnesty International hopes to contribute to greater awareness of the extent and seriousness of violence against women in Colombia. However, without the presence of strong local human rights communities to report and channel cases, it is unlikely that the Colombian public or international opinion will ever know the full extent of such abuses.
Gender-Based Violence
The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women states in Article 1:
"the term ‘violence against women’ means any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life."
It states in Article 2:
"Violence against women shall be understood to encompass, but not be limited to, the following:
(a) Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family, including battering, sexual abuse of female children in the household, dowry-related violence, marital rape, female genital mutilation and other traditional practices harmful to women, non-spousal violence and violence related to exploitation;
(b) Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring within the general community, including rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and intimidation at work, in educational institutions and elsewhere, trafficking in women and forced prostitution;
(c) Physical, sexual and psychological violence perpetrated or condoned by the State, wherever it occurs."
General Recommendation 19 of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women states that:
"Gender-based violence is a form of discrimination that seriously inhibits women's ability to enjoy rights and freedoms on a basis of equality with men."
In Article 7, it goes on to state:
"Gender-based violence, which impairs or nullifies the enjoyment by women of human rights and fundamental freedoms under general international law or under human rights conventions, is discrimination within the meaning of article 1 of the Convention."
In addition, women disproportionately suffer from the consequences of fleeing conflicts because they form the majority of the refugee and IDP population.(23)
The definition of discrimination includes gender-based violence. Violence against women is a form of gender-based violence. It is violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately. It includes acts that inflict physical, mental or sexual harm or suffering, threats of such acts, coercion and other deprivations of liberty.
Acts are not necessarily identifiable as gender-based in isolation, but require an assessment of how particular acts affect women in comparison with men. There are also specific acts which are commonly gender-based.
According to the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, violence that is gender-based results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women. It includes threats, coercion, arbitrary deprivation of liberty wherever it takes place. It can occur in public or in private life equally.
Some of the elements that may be examined to determine whether an act of violence is gender-based include:
- cause or motive: for example, distinctly expressed gender insults during violence
- circumstances or context: for example, abuse of women of a certain group within an armed conflict
- the act itself, the form a violation takes: for example, overtly sexual acts, forced nudity, mutilation of sexual parts of the body
- the consequences of a violation: pregnancy; shame and secondary victimization by the survivor’s community because "honour" has been transgressed
- the availability and accessibility of remedies, and difficulties in securing a remedy, for example, difficulties for women in accessing legal remedies because of lack of legal aid, need of male family member support, need to concentrate on care of dependants and lack of appropriate healthcare.
In the course of the research carried out for this report, Amnesty International liaised with and received information from women’s organizations, human rights groups, social organizations, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) groups, representatives of indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, and government authorities and state institutions with responsibility for issues around violence against women and girls. Amnesty International visited Colombia in 2003 and 2004 to carry out research on sexual violence in several areas of the country, and the report forms part of the organization’s International Campaign to Stop Violence against Women, launched in March 2004. During the visits, Amnesty International conducted interviews with government authorities, survivors, witnesses, activists and organizations working on cases of sexual violence and those which provide assistance to victims. This report is based on first-hand accounts by survivors.
Activist demonstrating in Medellín in March 2002 on International Women’s Day protesting about violence against women by armed groups in Colombia. Her banner reads : "Armed actors rape women to humiliate men".
© Jesús Abad Colorado
The fear of witnesses and survivors who agreed to speak to Amnesty International is tangible. And the trauma which affects these women and girls is clearly all too real. Many have only now felt strong enough to tell their stories, sometimes years after the violence has taken place. The organization would like to thank these women and girls for their courage in speaking out. The names of some of the informants have been changed in order to protect their identities.
BACKGROUND: 40 YEARS OF ARMED CONFLICT
Civilians have been the main victims of Colombia’s 40-year-old internal armed conflict. This violence, including sexual violence against women, has been perpetrated by all the warring parties. The statistics are chilling: in 2003, more than 3,000 civilians were killed for political reasons outside combat, over 2,200 were kidnapped, around half for political motives, hundreds of thousands were internally displaced, and hundreds were "disappeared". In the last 20 years, the conflict has cost the lives of at least 70,000 people, the vast majority of them civilians killed out of combat, while more than 3 million people have been internally-displaced. Since 2000, more than 10,000 people have been kidnapped, more than half of these by guerrillas or paramilitaries, while at least 1,500 have "disappeared", mostly at the hands of paramilitary groups often acting in collusion with the security forces.
Sexual and gender-based violence is not a new phenomenon in Colombia; it has been a constant in the country’s history, and a defining part of the conflict. The conflict has pitted the security forces and army-backed paramilitaries against several guerrilla groups, with each group vying for control of territory and economic resources. Rape, used as a method of torture or a means of injuring the "enemy’s honour", has been a common feature of the conflict.
The armed opposition groups - the guerrillas - began to emerge in the 1950s, during La Violencia, a virtual civil war which pitted Conservatives against Liberals. During this period, armed groups linked to the Liberal and Communist Parties were driven into remote parts of the country. These armed groups were the nucleus of the largest armed opposition movement of the past 50 years which was consolidated in 1966 as the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The FARC has some 20,000 combatants. The other main guerrilla group still in existence is the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), National Liberation Army, with some 4,000 combatants.
The guerrillas created extensive strongholds in many rural areas of the country where they effectively determined local government policies and exercised significant control over the local population. In addition to military targets, the guerrilla frequently attacked the rural estates of wealthy landowners; extortion and kidnapping became common practices. Since the 1990s, the FARC has sought to significantly increase attacks in urban areas, and civilians have increasingly borne the brunt of guerrilla attacks in these areas.
Paramilitaries - who are believed to have 10,000-20,000 fighters - have their origin in legally constituted civilian "self-defence" groups which the army created in the 1970s and 1980s to act as auxiliaries during counter-insurgency operations. Although their legal basis was removed in 1989 no effort was made to disband them, and in the last 10 years the paramilitaries have grown in size and extended their presence throughout the country. Their historic and continued links with the security forces have been well documented by Amnesty International and the United Nations. Criminal and disciplinary investigations continue to implicate high-ranking security force officers in human rights violations committed by paramilitaries. Over the last few decades, paramilitaries have been held responsible for most killings and "disappearances" of civilians.
Following the breakdown of peace negotiations between the government and the FARC on 20 February 2002 clashes between the Colombian state security forces - acting with the collaboration of paramilitary groups - and the guerrilla groups intensified. The armed conflict entered a new critical phase with serious consequences for human rights.
President Álvaro Uribe Vélez took office on 7 August 2002 following his victory in the 26 May 2002 elections. On assuming office, President Uribe introduced a series of hardline security measures encapsulated in the so-called Democratic Security doctrine. This sought to "consolidate" and "recover" territory from guerrilla control. But rather than boost the security of the civilian population the Democratic Security strategy has made it more vulnerable than ever to abuses from illegal armed groups and the security forces. Far from dissuading the guerrillas from committing abuses against civilians, the government’s strategy has exposed them to greater pressure and retaliation. As the distinction between civilians and combatants becomes increasingly blurred - through mechanisms such as the network of informants and the army of peasant soldiers, as well as the increasing use of mass and arbitrary detentions - the armed groups have placed even greater pressure on civilians to participate in some way in the conflict.
Dragging civilians into the conflict
The civilian population has increasingly become a victim in the internal armed conflict, not simply caught in the crossfire but purposefully targeted. This has above all affected those communities most at risk, whose voices are rarely heard: Afro-descendent and indigenous women, peasants, and shantytown dwellers on the outskirts of cities, many of whom are already displaced. Women’s bodies have become marked as military targets, whether because they have not conformed to their "gender role", because they have challenged prohibitions imposed on them by the armed groups, or because they are perceived as the "depositories" of the honour of a particular community and therefore a useful target on which to inflict humiliation on the enemy.
On 1 December 2002 the paramilitary umbrella organization, Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia - set up in 1997 by many of the various disparate paramilitary groups in the country to better coordinate their activities - declared a "unilateral ceasefire". That same month, the government announced its intention to enter into "peace negotiations" with the AUC.(5) However, sexual violence in the context of general attacks on civilian communities, massacres and selective killings have continued. A significant component of their strategy for exercising control over the population is the imposition of rules of conduct in even the most private of spheres: intervention in disputes between family members or neighbours and the use of corporal punishment to punish transgressors. These activities have been carried out with the knowledge, acquiescence and participation of the security forces. This type of control is often preceded or accompanied by what the paramilitary groups call "social cleansing" - the killing of petty criminals, prostitutes, and others perceived as "socially undesirable" - designed to show how efficient they are at establishing "public order". Amnesty International has received testimonies which point to the persecution, disappearance and killing of persons from stigmatized groups, including sex workers, people targeted on account of their sexual orientation and alleged carriers of STDs, such as HIV/AIDS.
The guerrilla have also kept up the pressure on the civilian population. As well as attacks and threats directed at people accused of collaborating with their enemies,(6) they have shown disregard for the rights of children. Amnesty International has received reports that the FARC and the ELN continue to recruit children, including girls, as young as 12. Amnesty International has also received testimonies that show that some female FARC and ELN combatants have been subjected to enforced contraception and abortions by their commanders. Members of the FARC have also carried out sexual assaults on women and girls living in areas where the group has a presence. Breaches of the ban on civilians fraternizing with members of the security forces or paramilitaries has sometimes resulted in rape and killings. In some areas, the FARC have declared women and girls who associate with soldiers and police to be "military targets". Sexual abuse is sometimes the punishment meted out to women and girls who "transgress" in this way.
The problem of impunity
Impunity is the cornerstone of the human rights crisis. Although successive governments have acknowledged the extent of the problem, they have shown themselves unable or unwilling to introduce measures to ensure that those responsible are held accountable before the law, whether they be security force personnel, paramilitaries or guerrillas. Because those responsible for human rights violations are seldom punished public confidence in the administration of justice and the rule of law has been undermined. The knowledge that crimes will go unpunished - and may even be rewarded - has not only contributed to the escalation of human rights violations; it is also a factor behind the spiral of violence in society at large.
The government argues that the rule of law has broken down because of severe deficiencies in the judicial system, citing insufficient resources, lack of training, lack of specialist personnel and pervasive corruption. It has introduced radical judicial reforms to remedy these shortcomings with the help of major international aid programs. Impunity in Colombia, however, goes beyond deficiencies in the judicial system, real though these are. Attempts to redress these deficiencies are unlikely to have any significant impact on the scale of human rights violations unless the government finds the political will to ensure that all human rights violators are held to account.
Even when members of the security forces, their paramilitary allies and the guerrilla are known to be responsible for committing serious sexual abuses against women and girls, virtually all cases are covered up or go unpunished.
Political crimes and crimes of sexual violence are often not even recorded in official statistics. These crimes are often dismissed as "crimes of passion":
"They want to pass off murders as crimes of passion, for example, if people are shot in the buttocks or testicles or in cases where people have been mutilated".(7)
"When women are killed, they usually say they are crimes of passion and even disregard the fact that threats were made beforehand by the paramilitaries".(8)
Doris Botero Vásquez, aged 35 and from Picacho in north-west Medellín, received threats from paramilitary groups warning her to leave the area. On 25 March 2003 she was killed. According to reports, after shooting her several times, her killers, who were allegedly members of the AUC, took her body away. It was later found in the Cabañas neighbourhood of Bello.
Doris Botero had worked as the coordinator of the Family Development Program at Corporación Picacho con Futuro. She also managed a project promoting the rights of female victims of sexual violence. But her killing was recorded in the police database as a criminal offence motivated by "personal vengeance": "While in the eyes of the police Doris died as a victim of common criminals, the press attributed her death to the paramilitaries. Police reports often state that women who die in Medellín are killed as a result of private matters".(9)
Although constitutional provisions on equality and laws to punish gender-based violence, including sexual violence, do exist, such legal protection is not enforced. In practice, there is impunity, discrimination and a lack of protection. As the 2003 report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the human rights situation in Colombia states:
"Of particular concern is the lack of comprehensive policies on women’s rights. This implies a lack of budgetary, administrative and technical independence that hampers any attempt to launch programmes or projects aimed at improving the condition of women and promoting effective enjoyment of their rights. Equally, the Office in Colombia has not observed any effective move by the Government to investigate and punish violations of women’s rights".(10)
THE CONTINUUM OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Existing statistics on sexual abuse are alarming, but probably underestimate the problem significantly. The 2000 UNDP Human Development Report(11) - the latest for which figures are available - estimates that 60-70% of women in Colombia had been the victims of some form of violence (physical, psychological, or sexual). However, less than half seek help and fewer than 9% make an official complaint. The Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses (National Institute of Forensic Medicine and Sciences) - which is responsible for carrying out forensic reports into injuries and deaths in which a crime is suspected of having been committed - told Amnesty International that, between 2000 and 2002, possible sexual offences were referred to in 40,489 forensic reports. However, the data is not disaggregated and it is therefore not possible to examine which cases are a direct consequence of the conflict.
Women and girls in Colombia not only suffer the danger, hardship and suffering inherent in any armed conflict, but have to endure the gender discrimination which is prevalent in many societies around the world, including Colombia. It is this continuum - from domestic- to conflict-related sexual violence - that is particularly corrosive. Everyday gender-based discrimination and sexual abuse, combined with other forms of conflict-related discrimination, has placed women at particular risk. "Isabel" was living in a town in the department of Norte de Santander when at 12 years old she joined the FARC:
"My father [sexually] abused me from the age of five. He didn’t want me to study or talk to anyone. Just work milking the cows. My mother knew nothing. He gave the orders. My father came looking for me but I didn’t go back. The FARC gave me an AK-47 with three ammunition magazines, clothes and boots. He [the father] couldn’t hurt me any more. […] Now that I am no longer fighting, I would like to go somewhere else to study and work. Because I am worth it. I’ve never told anyone about the abuse. Nobody has ever asked me about it before. And anyway you keep quiet about such things. All I knew was that I had to get away".(12)
"Sofía" worked as a maid from the age of 12. At the age of 15 she was raped by her employer, a member of the paramilitaries, and became pregnant as a result. She was forced to act as a guide during patrols in the Montes de María in Bolívar Department, her place of origin. Paramilitaries have carried out several massacres and selective killings in that area:
"(…) when I was seven months pregnant with my daughter, I escaped but because I had no money at all, he found me on the road and took me to a place on the estate where there was nobody and, despite the fact I was seven months pregnant, beat me all over with an iron rod. I ended up all swollen and there in the house he asked me, ‘Did you talk to anybody? Who helped you to escape?’ Nobody helped me and so I told him but he started kicking me on the floor and I started rolling over, afterwards my belly went over to one side and green water started coming out of me. After I had been like that for12 hours, he sent for a doctor from the village and he told me that the baby had done a ‘poo-poo’ in my belly and they took me to the clinic where I gave birth to my daughter but she was very ill".(13)
"Rosa", from Caquetá Department, was reportedly seven years old when she was first raped by her father. When her mother found out she decided to confront the father. Given the outrage in the village, in 1999 the father went off to join the 3 Front of the FARC, which controlled the area. Shortly afterwards, the girl was kidnapped by members of this front. The mother denounced the father’s activities to the authorities and tried everything she could to get her daughter back. The girl tried to escape several times and was subjected to further abuse for doing so:
"They subjected her to what they call ‘self-criticism’: she had to keep repeating ‘I am a cowardly Colombian woman’ while being beaten all over. She was forced to do guard duty both day and night. They told her that if she opened her mouth or tried to escape, her sisters would pay. The girl was in a bad state. She spent 18 months there. She made one suicide attempt".(14)
The persecution against "Rosa", who is now 17, and her mother and the rest of the family continued. In February 2000, her mother was kidnapped by the FARC. "Those who have weapons have power", they told her, and took her into the mountains. There they stripped and tortured her before departing, leaving her buried in a hole which she had been forced to dig herself. She survived with the help of a peasant farmer. During the months the daughter spent in the hands of the guerrillas, FARC members had killed her mother’s new partner.
Sexuality and the body
"...sexuality is a characteristic of all human beings. It is a fundamental aspect of an individual's identity. It helps to define who a person is. The Special Rapporteur notes the abiding principles that have shaped international human rights law since 1945, including privacy, equality, and the integrity, autonomy, dignity and well-being of the individual. ...In these circumstances, the Special Rapporteur has no doubt that the correct understanding of fundamental human rights principles, as well as existing human rights norms, leads ineluctably to the recognition of sexual rights as human rights".(15)
In the report ‘It’s in our hands: Stop violence against women,’ published in March 2004,(16) Amnesty International described how the control of sexuality by the family, community, and state leads to violence and discrimination against women all over the world. In Colombia, ideas that deny women autonomy over their sexuality and reproduction persist and a whole host of social, cultural and religious rules which associate women’s sexuality with honour remain entrenched. This report shows that the ways in which gender-based violence against women has been used as weapon by all sides in the conflict violates women’s rights to sexual autonomy and control over their sexuality and reproductive capacity. Women are at risk not only as individuals but as members of social groups - sometimes their sexuality or reproductive capacity is attacked because they are indigenous or Afro-descendant women or from other marginalized communities. At other times they may be controlled by their ‘own’ side. In each case the motive is the same, to control women as reproducers of the nation, community or social group.
The UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women wrote the following in her 1998 report:
"Perhaps more than the honour of the victim, it is the perceived honour of the enemy that is targeted in the perpetration of sexual violence against women; it is seen and often experienced as a means of humiliating the opposition. Sexual violence against women is meant to demonstrate victory over the men of the other group who have failed to protect their women. It is a message of castration and emasculation of the enemy group. It is a battle among men fought over the bodies of women". (17)
The perpetuation of social norms that deprive women of autonomy encourages the notion that their bodies can be appropriated and their behaviour controlled. In armed conflicts, this appropriation and control can take extreme forms such as sexual slavery, sexual assault, and enforced contraception and abortions. The imposition of rules of conduct on civilians - such as dress codes and curfews - which invade their most intimate privacy is a strategy adopted by guerrilla and paramilitary groups to control individuals, and is fomented by sexist and homophobic attitudes.(18) The armed groups therefore compete over who can most effectively eliminate those who are deemed "undesirable" or "strange". The fact that guerrillas and paramilitaries have targeted the same groups - such as sex workers and homosexuals - in an effort to win "legitimacy" from society as a whole, suggests that discrimination against these sectors in Colombia is heavily entrenched.(19)
Women’s ability to reproduce also means that their bodies have become a battleground in which the most brutal violence is committed. This has sometimes reached horrific proportions, such as the tearing open of the bellies of pregnant women in order to rip out the foetus. "Don’t leave even the seed behind" ("No dejar ni la semilla") - an expression that dates back to the atrocities perpetrated during La Violencia in the 1950s but is still used today - is a reflection of the extreme cruelty involved. Many men have also been castrated for similar reasons in the context of massacres and selective killings committed during the armed conflict.
Gender-based discrimination
"A young woman who talks, who can express herself, is seen as subversive. In towns and in the countryside. This happens even when we say that it is our right."
An indigenous woman from Putumayo
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) noted in its 1999 observations on the report submitted to it by Colombia that no systematic work had been carried out to confront discriminatory cultural traditions or to change sexist stereotypes and that the media continued to project stereotypical images of women.(20)
Although the Colombian state has an international obligation to combat gender-based discrimination and prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women, it has instead often helped to perpetuate and strengthen gender stereotypes. In November 2002 a row ensued after it was revealed that leaflets containing pictures of scantily-dressed women had been distributed by the army to "invite" combatants to demobilize. The director of the Programa de Atención al Desmovilizado, an army program to assist demobilized combatants, Colonel Manuel Forero, revealed that 3-5 million copies had been printed and had been distributed in the special security zones, the Zonas de Rehabilitación y Consolidación (Rehabilitation and Consolidation Zones), set up by the government in the departments of Sucre, Bolívar and Arauca. The colonel told the media that "it is just an appetizer in the campaign to tell the guerrillas that they are welcome".(21) The army also distributed leaflets in Medellín with the picture of a woman dressed as a guerrilla and the phrase "Young guerrilla, are you bored?". In response to the hostile reaction from women’s organizations, the Defence Ministry stopped the distribution of the leaflets. Colonel Forero had defended the leaflets by stating that "It’s an aggressive campaign to sell a product". He added that he did not know why the designers had chosen to use the female figure.
Under the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, states are obliged to take all appropriate measures to "modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women (Article 5(a)).
Amnesty International contacted the Consejería Presidencial para la Equidad de la Mujer, Office of the Presidential Adviser on Equality for Women, to ask what steps had been taken to implement Resolution 1325 (2000) of the UN Security Council on Women and Peace and Security.(22) At a meeting in March 2004, no specific information on the subject was provided.
With regard to the serious human rights abuses suffered by women and girls in the context of the armed conflict, the Presidential Adviser rejected the information given to Amnesty International by NGOs working to promote, protect and defend the human rights of women. Despite requests by Amnesty International, the Office did not provide any information on what action the government was taking to prevent and punish serious abuses against women and girls.
At Security Council session 4852 on 29 October 2003 marking the third anniversary of the adoption of Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women and Peace and Security, Colombia’s representative, Luis Guillermo Giraldo, focused on female combatants and their demobilization:
"We also have the tragedy of women combatants in these illegal armed bands, where, in addition to becoming machines of death, they are also the subjects of sexual and psychological discrimination and abuse. In such bands, women lose their very natures and vocation as the bedrock of family, community and social stability. The existence of women combatants makes it impossible to build the peaceful and sustainable society that every country requires".(23)
In his speech, Ambassador Giraldo also stated that the government had "focused special attention on the participation of women in issues related to peace and security". In this respect, he said that the government had "devised a national policy of women as builders of peace and development, a policy geared towards peace, equity and equal opportunity". Ambassador Giraldo continued by stating that such issues had been included in "National Development Plan 2002-2006: Towards a Communitarian State" (Plan Nacional de Desarrollo 2002-2006 Hacia un Estado Comunitario), "a document reflecting the current administration’s priorities". However, according to information received by Amnesty International from Colombia’s Office of the Presidential Adviser on Equality for Women, and with only two years before the official end of Colombia’s National Development Plan, no specific decisions have been taken with regard to the action and mechanisms required to implement a gender-based approach across government bodies, including those responsible for dispensing justice and those state bodies which have direct responsibility for security and defence matters.
Amnesty International acknowledges that procedures have been initiated by some state bodies with regard to providing care for victims of gender-based and sexual violence and that other state bodies are seeking to address gender issues in areas under their jurisdiction (see below). But these are still at an early stage and their sustainability does not appear to be guaranteed. Moreover, none of these procedures are specifically directed towards addressing abuses linked to the armed conflict. There is also concern that bodies responsible for demobilized women are weak in key areas such as health care, including sexual and reproductive health.(24)
State policy to combat violence against women
The Colombian state has signed and ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and is therefore obliged to pursue "without delay" and by "all appropriate means" a policy of eliminating discrimination against women. Although several policy documents have been drawn up and legislation introduced over the last 10 years, there has been a distinct lack of coordination, effectiveness and adequate resources.
Amnesty International welcomes the government’s policy document "Women Builders of Peace and Development 2003-2006" (Mujeres Constructoras de Paz y Desarrollo 2003- 2006) drawn up under the "National Development Plan 2002-2006 Towards a Communitarian State" (25) and past and present efforts by the Colombian state to promote the equality of women. The National Office for Women’s Equality (Dirección Nacional para la Igualdad de la Mujer) was set up in 1995 but was abolished under the government of President Pastrana (1998-2002). The body currently responsible for public policy on equality issues is the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Equality for Women. In contrast to the National Office for Women’s Equality, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Equality for Women does not have budgetary autonomy. Its ability to implement the 2003-2006 policy document on women and to implement programmes and projects largely depends on its ability to obtain resources through international cooperation.
Although Amnesty International welcomes the work carried out by some public bodies, such as the Defensoría del Pueblo (Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman),(26) the Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar (ICBF), Colombian Institute of Family Welfare, the Procuraduría General de la Nacion (Office of the Procurator General),(27) and local authorities, the state has failed to implement a comprehensive policy that complies with its international obligations to promote and protect the human rights of women. In particular, the Colombian state has failed to address the severe impact the conflict is having on specific groups of women which are at particular risk, such as indigenous, Afro-descendant, displaced and rural women.
Progress has been made in certain areas, especially in terms of gender equality. The government has introduced or is debating in Congress a number of measures related to this issue:
· Congress is debating a bill to ratify the Optional Protocol to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
· Law 823 on equal opportunities for women was passed in July 2003.
· The National Agreement on Equality between Women and Men (Acuerdo Nacional por la Equidad entre Mujeres y Hombres) was signed on 14 October 2003 by a number of government ministries and the judiciary.
· The Gender Affairs Observatory (Observatorio de Asuntos de Género, OAG) was launched in May 2004 by the Presidential Adviser’s Office on Equality for Women.
Several laws relating to the issue of sexual violence have also been passed over the last 10 years, such as on sexual freedom (Law 360 of 1997), on persons protected under international humanitarian law (Law 599 of 2000), sexual offences against minors (Law 679 of 2001) and people trafficking (Law 747 of 2002). Although these laws have not to date been effectively implemented, they at least provide an important regulatory framework.
The Constitutional Court has done much to promote the rights of women in Colombia. On a number of occasions, its jurisprudence has helped to affirm the principle of equality, the prohibition of gender-based discrimination and the protection of women’s human rights, including their social and economic rights. The Constitutional Court has played a key role in protecting fundamental rights by ruling on the unconstitutionality of laws and measures relating to the armed conflict and protecting the fundamental rights of displaced persons.(28)
The work of the Human Rights Ombudsman has also been important, especially that of the Ombudsman’s Delegate for the Rights of Children, Women and the Elderly (Defensoría Delegada para los Derechos de la Niñez, la Mujer y el Anciano), which has worked hard to promote issues relating to the situation of women in the armed conflict.
There are also examples of inter-institutional coordination in detecting and indexing cases of domestic violence and sexual offences involving the Office of the Procurator General, the National Institute of Forensic Medicine and Sciences, the ICBF, and other public bodies.
Although Amnesty International welcomes these initiatives, they are in their very early stages and suffer from budgetary and institutional limitations which jeopardize their sustainability and limit their effectiveness and quality of service. It should also be stressed that such schemes have not been developed in response to the needs of the victims of sexual violence under the armed conflict.
Failing to protect women’s health
Health policies in Colombia have failed to protect and support women’s sexual and reproductive health. Reproductive health services in Colombia are provided mainly by Profamilia (Asociación Pro-Bienestar de la Familia Colombiana, Colombian Family Welfare Association), a private institution. However, its services are not free and this therefore restricts access to them, particularly for those from poor communities, such as internally-displaced women. In cases of collective displacement(29), extremely limited emergency aid is provided, which does not include reproductive health care. Individual women who are displaced face even harsher conditions.
The minimum initial services package (MISP) for reproductive health services, considered to be the basic standard of care in emergency situations, is not available to internally-displaced women.(30) Public institutions do not provide the survivors of sexual violence with free services, not even emergency contraception. Internally-displaced women are usually turned away from hospitals and emergency gynaecology and obstetrics clinics because of their inability to pay.
Guerrillas, paramilitaries and the security forces have also failed to respect the work of the medical profession. Health workers, who often work in conflict areas and are forced to provide assistance to all the armed groups regardless of their affiliation, have been targeted because they are often seen as helping "the enemy". The resulting vulnerability of medical staff, as well as the armed groups’ use of blockades to stop the provision of medical supplies in certain areas, can cause serious damage and risk to the general health of the population.
On 20 March 2002, on a road in the rural area of the municipality of San Carlos, department of Antioquia, four people, including a pregnant woman, died when a grenade, apparently thrown by the FARC, exploded against the ambulance that the woman was travelling in. On 20 February of the same year, four other people, including a newborn baby, died when the ambulance in which they were travelling fell into Las Playas reservoir in between the municipalities of San Carlos and San Rafael (Antioquia) after the FARC had dynamited La Dantica bridge.
Unplanned pregnancies and gynaecological and obstetric emergencies have serious repercussions for women and girls and can result in an increase in maternal mortality, an issue that affects the fundamental right to life of women and female adolescents.(31) In areas under military dispute by the parties to the conflict, it has become increasingly difficult for women to gain access to sexual and reproductive health care services. Many are forced to travel long distances to obtain help. This often involves dangerous land travel. In the department of Putumayo, a 35-year-old woman in an advanced stage of pregnancy travelling towards the border with Ecuador to get help with the birth, was stopped at a paramilitary roadblock and ordered to go and get her husband before they would let her pass: "She was in a terrible state. She just wanted help with the birth and they ended up killing her husband".(32)
States must ensure that their citizens have the means to preserve and recuperate their health and that the right to achieve the highest possible level of physical and mental health is respected. Women are discriminated against if the state fails to protect their sexual and reproductive health. In Colombia, this failure has become particularly serious in the case of those sections of society most at risk of attack - those which live in areas where the conflict is most acute: the internally-displaced and women from indigenous, Afro-descendant and rural communities.
International protection against sexual violence
The rights of women to live free from sexual violence is codified in international treaties such as the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Rome Statute, and implicitly in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the American Convention on Human Rights, the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture.
The Inter-American Convention states that "Every woman has the right to be free from violence in both the public and private spheres" (Article 3). Non-discrimination should also be regarded as a fundamental right which should not be suspended in times of conflict. It is particularly relevant as gender-based violence against women has been recognized as a form of discrimination which leads to and reinforces other forms of discrimination. Women frequently face discrimination on several grounds simultaneously - as women but also as members of marginalized groups, such as indigenous and Afro-descendant women and because of their sexual orientation.
States have a duty to respect and protect the rights enshrined in such treaties. A state fails to fulfil its obligations with respect to these rights not only when it violates them but when it fails to exercise due diligence in preventing, investigating, prosecuting and punishing sexual and gender-based violence, whether perpetrated by a state or non-state actor, and when it fails in its duty to protect the rights of the victims by refusing to provide them with help and fair and timely reparation. Several treaties - such as the 1979 UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the 1994 OAS Inter-American Convention to Prevent, Eradicate and Eliminate Violence Against Women (1994), better known as the Belem do Pará Convention, both of which have been ratified by Colombia - stipulate that the state has a duty to provide appropriate assistance to those who suffer sexual abuse. Specific measures and means by which states can comply with their obligations in this area have gradually been established by international human rights protection bodies.
International bodies have also taken a position on laws which impact on the rights of women, especially on those women who have been subjected to sexual violence. The UN Human Rights Committee and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women have both expressed concern about the criminalization of the voluntary termination of pregnancy even in cases of rape and have asked the Colombian authorities to review such legislation.
The provision of certain types of services and assistance can have a dramatic impact on the survivors of rape. These include provision of emergency contraception or post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). However, the Colombian health authorities do not make these available.
As far as international humanitarian law is concerned, rape and other forms of sexual abuse are prohibited under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions which applies to both international and non-international armed conflicts: "To this end the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever (…) (a) violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; (…) (c) outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment; (…)". Additional Protocol II - which Colombia acceded to on 14 August 1995 - and which applies to non-international armed conflicts prohibits: "violence to life, health and physical or mental well-being of persons, in particular murder as well as cruel treatment such as torture, mutilation or any form of corporal punishment; collective punishments; taking of hostages; acts of terrorism; outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment, rape, enforced prostitution and any form of indecent assault; slavery and the slave trade in all its forms; pillage; [and] threats to commit any of the foregoing acts" (Article 4). The Colombian security forces and illegal armed groups have a responsibility to ensure that they comply with all aspects of international humanitarian law, including those related to sexual violence.
Under article 7 (1) (g) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity - are defined as crimes against humanity when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against any civilian population. When committed in the context of an international or non-international armed conflict, these offences also constitute war crimes. The ICC has specific jurisdiction over crimes against humanity and war crimes when they are committed as part of a plan or policy or as part of a large-scale commission of such crimes. Under Article 8 of the Statute, the ICC has jurisdiction over individual acts of "rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, as defined in article 7, paragraph 2 (f), enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence also constituting a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions", when committed in armed conflicts of an international or non-international nature. Colombia ratified the Rome Statute by means of Law Nº 742 of 2002. However, by invoking article 124 of the Statute, it has refused to recognize the ICC’s competence with regard to war crimes for a period of seven years. As a result, cases of war crimes committed in Colombia cannot be investigated by the ICC.
The fact that women and girls are particularly exposed to sexual violence in peacetime as well as in wartime has also given rise to several specialist instruments and mechanisms.(33) However, such protective legislation is meaningless without the will to implement and enforce it.
Several international human rights protection bodies have condemned persecution and violence that is inflicted on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity. As the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health recently stated: "Sexual rights include the right of all persons to express their sexual orientation, with due regard for the well-being and rights of others, without fear of persecution, denial of liberty or social interference".(34)
Discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity is implicitly or explicitly considered to be an unlawful form of discrimination in many countries’ constitutions. In Colombia, the Constitutional Court has ruled that the state is required to respect and protect the rights of individuals who suffer discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation.(35)
Colombian criminal law was recently amended in order to increase the sentences applicable in cases of criminal acts that are motivated by intolerance or discrimination on grounds of sex or sexual orientation or as a result of illness or disability.(36) Amnesty International is not aware of any case in which the law in question has been applied.
SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN THE CONTEXT OF ARMED CONFLICT
Attacks against civilian communities, massacres and killings
Attacks on civilians by all the armed groups in Colombia have included rape, sexual abuse and sexual mutilation. The testimonies of survivors indicate that most such atrocities are committed by paramilitary groups. Over the past ten years, there has been an increase in the number of reported attacks on civilians involving sexual violence in order to punish them for their perceived collaboration with the guerrillas, to generate terror, or to force whole communities to flee a particular area of military or economic interest.
Between 1 and 7 May 2003, soldiers from the army’s Navas Pardo Battalion of the Brigade XVIII, and wearing AUC armbands, reportedly entered the indigenous reserves (resguardos) of Betoyes - Julieros, Velasqueros, Roqueros, Genareros and Parreros - in Tame Municipality, Arauca Department.(37) According to reports, on 5 May in Parreros armed men raped and killed 16-year-old Omaira Fernández, who was pregnant, before ripping open her belly. According to one source "They opened her up in front of everyone. The bodies of the girl and the baby were thrown in the river,". During this incident, three members of the indigenous community were killed. In Velasqueros, three young girls were raped. According to witnesses, a contingent of men had been parachuted into Parreros from helicopters. One source told Amnesty International "they were paramilitaries who live in the battalion [Navas Pardo] with the soldiers". These killings, and other attacks allegedly carried out by the army and paramilitaries in the surrounding area, led to the displacement of over 500 people from Flor Amarillo, Santo Domingo and the indigenous communities of Betoyes to Saravena in Arauca Department.(38)
Between 18 and 21 February 2000, over 300 paramilitaries from the Autodefensas Campesinas de Córdoba y Urabá (ACCU), Córdoba and Urabá Peasant Self-Defence Groups, attacked the village of El Salado in the department of Bolivar, where they killed around 49 people. They reportedly spent three days torturing, strangling, stabbing, decapitating, beating and shooting the local inhabitants. Women were sexually humiliated, forced to strip naked and dance in front of their husbands. Several were raped and subjected to various forms of torture. Testimonies from inhabitants gathered by Amnesty International also alleged that a pregnant woman was subjected to gang rape before having her sexual organs mutilated. She was subsequently impaled. The paramilitaries accused their victims of collaborating with the guerrilla.
Although the authorities were warned by social organizations that there was likely to be an attack on the people of El Salado, no action was taken by them to prevent the attack. According to testimonies, the paramilitary operation had the support of troops from the Batallón de Fusileros de Infantería de Marina, Bafim N° 5, Fifth Battalion of Naval Infantry Fusiliers. Over the three days of the massacre, helicopters with military markings allegedly flew over the area and machine-gunned the village; bullet holes were found in the roofs of people’s houses.
Several days after the massacre, the bodies, which the inhabitants themselves had buried in the cemetery or in mass graves, were exhumed by officials from the Office of the Attorney General (Fiscalía General de La Nación). (39) The investigators identified 28 bodies. Although they were told that some of the victims had been abused sexually, the investigators did not collect evidence to prove that sexual abuse had taken place or to help identify the perpetrators.
The massacre led to the displacement of 600 families(40) towards the municipalities of El Carmen de Bolívar, Turbaco, Arjona and Ovejas and nearby cities such as Cartagena, Sincelejo and Barranquilla. Other families fled to other departments and some sought refuge in Venezuela.
There is strong evidence that sexual violence was routinely employed in other recent massacres carried out by paramilitary forces, often reportedly in collusion with the security forces:
· Between 10 and 13 April 2001, paramilitaries allegedly entered the region of Alto Naya, in the municipalities of Buenos Aires and Miravalle, between the departments of Cauca and Valle del Cauca, passing a checkpoint of the army’s Brigade III along the way. The area is home to indigenous and Afro-descendant communities. The paramilitaries used chain saws to torture, mutilate and kill the inhabitants. At least 20 people accused of collaborating with the guerrillas were killed. Some 1,000 people fled to Buenaventura and other points along the Naya river. Another paramilitary incursion into the municipality of Buenos Aires in 2000 had left several people dead. According to witnesses from the area, during both incidents the attackers raped some of the women before killing them and tortured young people in front of the local population.
· On 17 January 2001, 70-100 paramilitaries entered the village of Chengue in Ovejas Municipality, Sucre Department. They killed 34 people and set fire to 30 homes, causing 900 people to flee. Those killed were tortured and several were subjected to sexual violence. On 6 October 2000, members from the community of Ovejas and the villages of Don Gabriel, Salitral and Chengue had signed a petition and sent it to the Colombian President asking for protection because of the threat of a paramilitary massacre in the area. According to reports, for several hours before and during the massacre, military helicopters flew over the area. In August 2001, the prosecutor in charge of the investigation, Yolanda Paternina, was killed. On 6 February 2002, Oswaldo Borja, the investigator from the Attorney General’s Cuerpo Técnico de Investigaciones (CTI), Technical Investigations Unit, who had collected evidence about the case, was also killed. The investigations had implicated senior armed forces’ personnel in the massacre.
· On 9 January 1999, in the village of El Tigre in the municipality of La Hormiga, department of Putumayo, a paramilitary incursion took place, reportedly with the collaboration of the Brigade XXIV and police officers. At least 26 people were killed and 14 "disappeared". Some of those killed had allegedly been tortured and sexually mutilated. The victims included children, adolescents, pregnant women and elderly women. The massacre marked the beginning of a paramilitary offensive in Putumayo, an area which had previously been under the control of the FARC. The events resulted in the displacement of 700 people from that village and other neighbouring villages to other areas throughout the region, with some fleeing to neighbouring Ecuador.
There is strong evidence to support the view of the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences that "[r]ape during warfare has also been used to terrorize populations and induce civilians to flee their homes and villages":(41
Sexual Violence against women in the armed conflict in Columbia
"A stick was pushed into the private parts of an 18-year-old pregnant girl and it appeared through [the abdomen]. She was torn apart. (…) They [army-backed paramilitaries] stripped the women and made them dance in front of their husbands. Several were raped. You could hear the screams coming from a ranch near El Salado [Department of Bolívar]..."(1)
"The girls spend their lives being intimidated and threatened by guerrillas and paramilitaries. They are accused of having relationships with men from the other side. Between February and March [2004] the bodies of three girls who had been raped were found in the area. They mark their territory by leaving scars on the bodies of the women. It is a terror without sound. Sometimes they punish women for wearing low-slung jeans but other times they make them wear low-cut tops and miniskirts so that they can accompany them to their parties".(2) All the armed groups - the security forces, paramilitaries and the guerrilla - have sexually abused or exploited women, both civilians or their own combatants, in the course of Colombia’s 40-year-old conflict, and sought to control the most intimate parts of their lives. By sowing terror and exploiting and manipulating women for military gain, bodies have been turned into a battleground. The serious abuses and violations committed by all the parties to the armed conflict remain hidden behind a wall of silence fuelled by discrimination and impunity. This in turn exacerbates the violence that has been the hallmark of Colombia’s internal armed conflict. It is women and girls who are the hidden victims of that conflict.
Men have also been the victims of sexual violence in the context of the armed conflict. But the sexual abuse and exploitation of women and girls have long been ignored, not only because violence against them has been perceived as belonging to the private sphere, but because fear and shame about sexual abuse have prevented many women from speaking out. Women and girls in Colombia are the victims of domestic violence and community-based violence. But the conflict exacerbates these forms of violence and the gender stereotyping which underpins them.
With their bodies viewed and treated as territory to be fought over by the warring parties, women are targeted for a number of reasons - to sow terror within communities making it easier for military control to be imposed, to force people to flee their homes to assist acquisition of territory, to wreak revenge on adversaries, to accumulate "trophies of war", and to exploit them as sexual slaves. Sexual violence has thus indelibly marked Colombian women’s lives. Men and women have also been targeted for attack because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
In Colombia, as elsewhere, official figures do not reflect the scale of the problem of sexual violence. Rape is thought to be significantly under-reported. Despite the often unequivocal evidence left on victims’ bodies, sexual violence is, for example, rarely recorded in autopsy reports. Few perpetrators are ever brought to justice for any human rights violation - and even fewer for crimes of sexual violence. The terrible fate suffered by the individuals concerned is therefore exacerbated by this double invisibility. As this report shows, violence against women in the context of the armed conflict is widespread.
Last year, over 220 women were killed for socio-political reasons outside combat - in the street, home or workplace - and 20 "disappeared". The security forces were reportedly directly responsible for around 5% of these killings, army-backed paramilitaries for 26% and the guerrilla for 16%. In the rest of cases, those responsible were not identified. According to figures from the 2003 UNDP Human Development Report on Colombia, El Conflicto, Callejón con Salida (Solutions to Escape the Conflict’s Impasse), the number of women killed for conflict-related reasons outside of combat increased by 20% between 2000-2001 and 2001-2002. During this period, women accounted for 6% of all deaths in and out of combat and forced "disappearances, 10% of tortures, 11% of all land mine-related deaths and 18% of kidnappings. Moreover, 17% of the human rights defenders killed were women, as were 16% of all trade unionists and 16% of people from indigenous communities.
The response of the authorities and state institutions, which should be implementing measures to end such abuses, can be as abusive as the violence itself. In Colombia, survivors can find it very difficult to obtain medical assistance, emergency treatment and support measures. The survivors also face serious obstacles in their search for justice. When a state fails in its responsibility to exercise due diligence to prevent, punish and eradicate sexual and gender violence it sends out a message that such behaviour is tolerated or even condoned. By remaining silent and failing to act, the state is tolerating such abuses and encouraging the commission of further offences.
The visit to Colombia of the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
In November 2001, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Radhika Coomaraswamy, conducted an official mission to Colombia to investigate, assess and report on the impact of the conflict on the human rights of women. In the summary of the mission report submitted to the UN Commission on Human Rights at its 58th session(3), the Special Rapporteur highlighted "the widespread and systematic nature of gender-based violence and the various forms of it that are suffered [in Colombia]": "Rarely is there direct confrontation between the different armed groups, rather these armed groups attempt to settle their scores by attacking civilians suspected of supporting the other side. (…), violence against women, particularly sexual violence by armed groups, has become a common practice within the context of a slowly degrading conflict and a lack of respect for international humanitarian law. (…) Women have been abducted by armed men, detained for a time in conditions of sexual slavery, raped and made to perform domestic chores. Women have been targeted for being the female relatives of the "other" side. After being raped some women have been sexually mutilated before being killed. Furthermore, survivors explain how paramilitaries arrive in a village, completely control and terrorize the population, and commit human rights abuses with total impunity. The Special Rapporteur also highlights the particular experience of female combatants in the warring factions who suffer sexual abuse and infringements of their reproductive rights and finally the appalling situation faced by female internally displaced persons".
Survivors of sexual violence also face a further, debilitating battle - with their families and communities, which often ostracize and stigmatize them. Survivors can be subjected to harsh social and cultural norms which blame the victim for the attack. For many women, surviving sexual violence means keeping silent. Cast out by friends and family and under threat from their aggressors, survivors are often forced to move away from their communities but are still unable to escape the fear of further abuse. The case of "Ana María", a survivor of gang rape who lives in Medellín, reflects the experience of those women forced to fend for themselves:
"Two years ago as we were leaving Neiva [department of Huila] the army made us get out [of the bus]. They killed the young man I was with. I was raped by eight or nine soldiers. They left me on the road and I eventually got a ride. When I got to Dabeiba [department of Antioquia], the paramilitaries were there. They said I was a guerrilla. The commander of the paramilitaries raped me. (…) You have to keep quiet… If you talk, people say you were asking for it… I came to Medellín... . When the army comes, I start thinking that it’s going to happen to me all over again. Like a nightmare that never ends…" (4)
The injuries and medical and psychological consequences of such violence, such as becoming infected with sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs), such as HIV/AIDS, or pregnant as the result of rape, are generally ignored by the authorities. Civil society organizations, in particular women’s groups, have tried to fill the gap. However, many women’s organizations have themselves been the target of threats and attacks because of their work in defence of human rights or economic and social alternatives, as well because of their work to expose sexual violence and treat the survivors of sexual violence.
There are considerable difficulties for research in the field of violence against women, particularly in making direct contact with survivors of abuse, many of whom fear retaliation attacks or being shamed by their family and community. Many areas of Colombia are also inaccessible to human rights activists. In other areas of the country, human rights activists are not available to help individual victims because they have been threatened, intimidated, killed or driven out of their communities. Although the cases highlighted in this report cannot be independently verified - because of the lack of judicial investigations - the fact that Amnesty International has received so many similar and consistent reports of sexual violence from around the country leads the organization to believe that these testimonies are accurate and reliable.
With this report Amnesty International hopes to contribute to greater awareness of the extent and seriousness of violence against women in Colombia. However, without the presence of strong local human rights communities to report and channel cases, it is unlikely that the Colombian public or international opinion will ever know the full extent of such abuses.
Gender-Based Violence
The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women states in Article 1:
"the term ‘violence against women’ means any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life."
It states in Article 2:
"Violence against women shall be understood to encompass, but not be limited to, the following:
(a) Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family, including battering, sexual abuse of female children in the household, dowry-related violence, marital rape, female genital mutilation and other traditional practices harmful to women, non-spousal violence and violence related to exploitation;
(b) Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring within the general community, including rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and intimidation at work, in educational institutions and elsewhere, trafficking in women and forced prostitution;
(c) Physical, sexual and psychological violence perpetrated or condoned by the State, wherever it occurs."
General Recommendation 19 of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women states that:
"Gender-based violence is a form of discrimination that seriously inhibits women's ability to enjoy rights and freedoms on a basis of equality with men."
In Article 7, it goes on to state:
"Gender-based violence, which impairs or nullifies the enjoyment by women of human rights and fundamental freedoms under general international law or under human rights conventions, is discrimination within the meaning of article 1 of the Convention."
In addition, women disproportionately suffer from the consequences of fleeing conflicts because they form the majority of the refugee and IDP population.(23)
The definition of discrimination includes gender-based violence. Violence against women is a form of gender-based violence. It is violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately. It includes acts that inflict physical, mental or sexual harm or suffering, threats of such acts, coercion and other deprivations of liberty.
Acts are not necessarily identifiable as gender-based in isolation, but require an assessment of how particular acts affect women in comparison with men. There are also specific acts which are commonly gender-based.
According to the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, violence that is gender-based results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women. It includes threats, coercion, arbitrary deprivation of liberty wherever it takes place. It can occur in public or in private life equally.
Some of the elements that may be examined to determine whether an act of violence is gender-based include:
- cause or motive: for example, distinctly expressed gender insults during violence
- circumstances or context: for example, abuse of women of a certain group within an armed conflict
- the act itself, the form a violation takes: for example, overtly sexual acts, forced nudity, mutilation of sexual parts of the body
- the consequences of a violation: pregnancy; shame and secondary victimization by the survivor’s community because "honour" has been transgressed
- the availability and accessibility of remedies, and difficulties in securing a remedy, for example, difficulties for women in accessing legal remedies because of lack of legal aid, need of male family member support, need to concentrate on care of dependants and lack of appropriate healthcare.
In the course of the research carried out for this report, Amnesty International liaised with and received information from women’s organizations, human rights groups, social organizations, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) groups, representatives of indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, and government authorities and state institutions with responsibility for issues around violence against women and girls. Amnesty International visited Colombia in 2003 and 2004 to carry out research on sexual violence in several areas of the country, and the report forms part of the organization’s International Campaign to Stop Violence against Women, launched in March 2004. During the visits, Amnesty International conducted interviews with government authorities, survivors, witnesses, activists and organizations working on cases of sexual violence and those which provide assistance to victims. This report is based on first-hand accounts by survivors.
Activist demonstrating in Medellín in March 2002 on International Women’s Day protesting about violence against women by armed groups in Colombia. Her banner reads : "Armed actors rape women to humiliate men".
© Jesús Abad Colorado
The fear of witnesses and survivors who agreed to speak to Amnesty International is tangible. And the trauma which affects these women and girls is clearly all too real. Many have only now felt strong enough to tell their stories, sometimes years after the violence has taken place. The organization would like to thank these women and girls for their courage in speaking out. The names of some of the informants have been changed in order to protect their identities.
BACKGROUND: 40 YEARS OF ARMED CONFLICT
Civilians have been the main victims of Colombia’s 40-year-old internal armed conflict. This violence, including sexual violence against women, has been perpetrated by all the warring parties. The statistics are chilling: in 2003, more than 3,000 civilians were killed for political reasons outside combat, over 2,200 were kidnapped, around half for political motives, hundreds of thousands were internally displaced, and hundreds were "disappeared". In the last 20 years, the conflict has cost the lives of at least 70,000 people, the vast majority of them civilians killed out of combat, while more than 3 million people have been internally-displaced. Since 2000, more than 10,000 people have been kidnapped, more than half of these by guerrillas or paramilitaries, while at least 1,500 have "disappeared", mostly at the hands of paramilitary groups often acting in collusion with the security forces.
Sexual and gender-based violence is not a new phenomenon in Colombia; it has been a constant in the country’s history, and a defining part of the conflict. The conflict has pitted the security forces and army-backed paramilitaries against several guerrilla groups, with each group vying for control of territory and economic resources. Rape, used as a method of torture or a means of injuring the "enemy’s honour", has been a common feature of the conflict.
The armed opposition groups - the guerrillas - began to emerge in the 1950s, during La Violencia, a virtual civil war which pitted Conservatives against Liberals. During this period, armed groups linked to the Liberal and Communist Parties were driven into remote parts of the country. These armed groups were the nucleus of the largest armed opposition movement of the past 50 years which was consolidated in 1966 as the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The FARC has some 20,000 combatants. The other main guerrilla group still in existence is the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), National Liberation Army, with some 4,000 combatants.
The guerrillas created extensive strongholds in many rural areas of the country where they effectively determined local government policies and exercised significant control over the local population. In addition to military targets, the guerrilla frequently attacked the rural estates of wealthy landowners; extortion and kidnapping became common practices. Since the 1990s, the FARC has sought to significantly increase attacks in urban areas, and civilians have increasingly borne the brunt of guerrilla attacks in these areas.
Paramilitaries - who are believed to have 10,000-20,000 fighters - have their origin in legally constituted civilian "self-defence" groups which the army created in the 1970s and 1980s to act as auxiliaries during counter-insurgency operations. Although their legal basis was removed in 1989 no effort was made to disband them, and in the last 10 years the paramilitaries have grown in size and extended their presence throughout the country. Their historic and continued links with the security forces have been well documented by Amnesty International and the United Nations. Criminal and disciplinary investigations continue to implicate high-ranking security force officers in human rights violations committed by paramilitaries. Over the last few decades, paramilitaries have been held responsible for most killings and "disappearances" of civilians.
Following the breakdown of peace negotiations between the government and the FARC on 20 February 2002 clashes between the Colombian state security forces - acting with the collaboration of paramilitary groups - and the guerrilla groups intensified. The armed conflict entered a new critical phase with serious consequences for human rights.
President Álvaro Uribe Vélez took office on 7 August 2002 following his victory in the 26 May 2002 elections. On assuming office, President Uribe introduced a series of hardline security measures encapsulated in the so-called Democratic Security doctrine. This sought to "consolidate" and "recover" territory from guerrilla control. But rather than boost the security of the civilian population the Democratic Security strategy has made it more vulnerable than ever to abuses from illegal armed groups and the security forces. Far from dissuading the guerrillas from committing abuses against civilians, the government’s strategy has exposed them to greater pressure and retaliation. As the distinction between civilians and combatants becomes increasingly blurred - through mechanisms such as the network of informants and the army of peasant soldiers, as well as the increasing use of mass and arbitrary detentions - the armed groups have placed even greater pressure on civilians to participate in some way in the conflict.
Dragging civilians into the conflict
The civilian population has increasingly become a victim in the internal armed conflict, not simply caught in the crossfire but purposefully targeted. This has above all affected those communities most at risk, whose voices are rarely heard: Afro-descendent and indigenous women, peasants, and shantytown dwellers on the outskirts of cities, many of whom are already displaced. Women’s bodies have become marked as military targets, whether because they have not conformed to their "gender role", because they have challenged prohibitions imposed on them by the armed groups, or because they are perceived as the "depositories" of the honour of a particular community and therefore a useful target on which to inflict humiliation on the enemy.
On 1 December 2002 the paramilitary umbrella organization, Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia - set up in 1997 by many of the various disparate paramilitary groups in the country to better coordinate their activities - declared a "unilateral ceasefire". That same month, the government announced its intention to enter into "peace negotiations" with the AUC.(5) However, sexual violence in the context of general attacks on civilian communities, massacres and selective killings have continued. A significant component of their strategy for exercising control over the population is the imposition of rules of conduct in even the most private of spheres: intervention in disputes between family members or neighbours and the use of corporal punishment to punish transgressors. These activities have been carried out with the knowledge, acquiescence and participation of the security forces. This type of control is often preceded or accompanied by what the paramilitary groups call "social cleansing" - the killing of petty criminals, prostitutes, and others perceived as "socially undesirable" - designed to show how efficient they are at establishing "public order". Amnesty International has received testimonies which point to the persecution, disappearance and killing of persons from stigmatized groups, including sex workers, people targeted on account of their sexual orientation and alleged carriers of STDs, such as HIV/AIDS.
The guerrilla have also kept up the pressure on the civilian population. As well as attacks and threats directed at people accused of collaborating with their enemies,(6) they have shown disregard for the rights of children. Amnesty International has received reports that the FARC and the ELN continue to recruit children, including girls, as young as 12. Amnesty International has also received testimonies that show that some female FARC and ELN combatants have been subjected to enforced contraception and abortions by their commanders. Members of the FARC have also carried out sexual assaults on women and girls living in areas where the group has a presence. Breaches of the ban on civilians fraternizing with members of the security forces or paramilitaries has sometimes resulted in rape and killings. In some areas, the FARC have declared women and girls who associate with soldiers and police to be "military targets". Sexual abuse is sometimes the punishment meted out to women and girls who "transgress" in this way.
The problem of impunity
Impunity is the cornerstone of the human rights crisis. Although successive governments have acknowledged the extent of the problem, they have shown themselves unable or unwilling to introduce measures to ensure that those responsible are held accountable before the law, whether they be security force personnel, paramilitaries or guerrillas. Because those responsible for human rights violations are seldom punished public confidence in the administration of justice and the rule of law has been undermined. The knowledge that crimes will go unpunished - and may even be rewarded - has not only contributed to the escalation of human rights violations; it is also a factor behind the spiral of violence in society at large.
The government argues that the rule of law has broken down because of severe deficiencies in the judicial system, citing insufficient resources, lack of training, lack of specialist personnel and pervasive corruption. It has introduced radical judicial reforms to remedy these shortcomings with the help of major international aid programs. Impunity in Colombia, however, goes beyond deficiencies in the judicial system, real though these are. Attempts to redress these deficiencies are unlikely to have any significant impact on the scale of human rights violations unless the government finds the political will to ensure that all human rights violators are held to account.
Even when members of the security forces, their paramilitary allies and the guerrilla are known to be responsible for committing serious sexual abuses against women and girls, virtually all cases are covered up or go unpunished.
Political crimes and crimes of sexual violence are often not even recorded in official statistics. These crimes are often dismissed as "crimes of passion":
"They want to pass off murders as crimes of passion, for example, if people are shot in the buttocks or testicles or in cases where people have been mutilated".(7)
"When women are killed, they usually say they are crimes of passion and even disregard the fact that threats were made beforehand by the paramilitaries".(8)
Doris Botero Vásquez, aged 35 and from Picacho in north-west Medellín, received threats from paramilitary groups warning her to leave the area. On 25 March 2003 she was killed. According to reports, after shooting her several times, her killers, who were allegedly members of the AUC, took her body away. It was later found in the Cabañas neighbourhood of Bello.
Doris Botero had worked as the coordinator of the Family Development Program at Corporación Picacho con Futuro. She also managed a project promoting the rights of female victims of sexual violence. But her killing was recorded in the police database as a criminal offence motivated by "personal vengeance": "While in the eyes of the police Doris died as a victim of common criminals, the press attributed her death to the paramilitaries. Police reports often state that women who die in Medellín are killed as a result of private matters".(9)
Although constitutional provisions on equality and laws to punish gender-based violence, including sexual violence, do exist, such legal protection is not enforced. In practice, there is impunity, discrimination and a lack of protection. As the 2003 report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the human rights situation in Colombia states:
"Of particular concern is the lack of comprehensive policies on women’s rights. This implies a lack of budgetary, administrative and technical independence that hampers any attempt to launch programmes or projects aimed at improving the condition of women and promoting effective enjoyment of their rights. Equally, the Office in Colombia has not observed any effective move by the Government to investigate and punish violations of women’s rights".(10)
THE CONTINUUM OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Existing statistics on sexual abuse are alarming, but probably underestimate the problem significantly. The 2000 UNDP Human Development Report(11) - the latest for which figures are available - estimates that 60-70% of women in Colombia had been the victims of some form of violence (physical, psychological, or sexual). However, less than half seek help and fewer than 9% make an official complaint. The Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses (National Institute of Forensic Medicine and Sciences) - which is responsible for carrying out forensic reports into injuries and deaths in which a crime is suspected of having been committed - told Amnesty International that, between 2000 and 2002, possible sexual offences were referred to in 40,489 forensic reports. However, the data is not disaggregated and it is therefore not possible to examine which cases are a direct consequence of the conflict.
Women and girls in Colombia not only suffer the danger, hardship and suffering inherent in any armed conflict, but have to endure the gender discrimination which is prevalent in many societies around the world, including Colombia. It is this continuum - from domestic- to conflict-related sexual violence - that is particularly corrosive. Everyday gender-based discrimination and sexual abuse, combined with other forms of conflict-related discrimination, has placed women at particular risk. "Isabel" was living in a town in the department of Norte de Santander when at 12 years old she joined the FARC:
"My father [sexually] abused me from the age of five. He didn’t want me to study or talk to anyone. Just work milking the cows. My mother knew nothing. He gave the orders. My father came looking for me but I didn’t go back. The FARC gave me an AK-47 with three ammunition magazines, clothes and boots. He [the father] couldn’t hurt me any more. […] Now that I am no longer fighting, I would like to go somewhere else to study and work. Because I am worth it. I’ve never told anyone about the abuse. Nobody has ever asked me about it before. And anyway you keep quiet about such things. All I knew was that I had to get away".(12)
"Sofía" worked as a maid from the age of 12. At the age of 15 she was raped by her employer, a member of the paramilitaries, and became pregnant as a result. She was forced to act as a guide during patrols in the Montes de María in Bolívar Department, her place of origin. Paramilitaries have carried out several massacres and selective killings in that area:
"(…) when I was seven months pregnant with my daughter, I escaped but because I had no money at all, he found me on the road and took me to a place on the estate where there was nobody and, despite the fact I was seven months pregnant, beat me all over with an iron rod. I ended up all swollen and there in the house he asked me, ‘Did you talk to anybody? Who helped you to escape?’ Nobody helped me and so I told him but he started kicking me on the floor and I started rolling over, afterwards my belly went over to one side and green water started coming out of me. After I had been like that for12 hours, he sent for a doctor from the village and he told me that the baby had done a ‘poo-poo’ in my belly and they took me to the clinic where I gave birth to my daughter but she was very ill".(13)
"Rosa", from Caquetá Department, was reportedly seven years old when she was first raped by her father. When her mother found out she decided to confront the father. Given the outrage in the village, in 1999 the father went off to join the 3 Front of the FARC, which controlled the area. Shortly afterwards, the girl was kidnapped by members of this front. The mother denounced the father’s activities to the authorities and tried everything she could to get her daughter back. The girl tried to escape several times and was subjected to further abuse for doing so:
"They subjected her to what they call ‘self-criticism’: she had to keep repeating ‘I am a cowardly Colombian woman’ while being beaten all over. She was forced to do guard duty both day and night. They told her that if she opened her mouth or tried to escape, her sisters would pay. The girl was in a bad state. She spent 18 months there. She made one suicide attempt".(14)
The persecution against "Rosa", who is now 17, and her mother and the rest of the family continued. In February 2000, her mother was kidnapped by the FARC. "Those who have weapons have power", they told her, and took her into the mountains. There they stripped and tortured her before departing, leaving her buried in a hole which she had been forced to dig herself. She survived with the help of a peasant farmer. During the months the daughter spent in the hands of the guerrillas, FARC members had killed her mother’s new partner.
Sexuality and the body
"...sexuality is a characteristic of all human beings. It is a fundamental aspect of an individual's identity. It helps to define who a person is. The Special Rapporteur notes the abiding principles that have shaped international human rights law since 1945, including privacy, equality, and the integrity, autonomy, dignity and well-being of the individual. ...In these circumstances, the Special Rapporteur has no doubt that the correct understanding of fundamental human rights principles, as well as existing human rights norms, leads ineluctably to the recognition of sexual rights as human rights".(15)
In the report ‘It’s in our hands: Stop violence against women,’ published in March 2004,(16) Amnesty International described how the control of sexuality by the family, community, and state leads to violence and discrimination against women all over the world. In Colombia, ideas that deny women autonomy over their sexuality and reproduction persist and a whole host of social, cultural and religious rules which associate women’s sexuality with honour remain entrenched. This report shows that the ways in which gender-based violence against women has been used as weapon by all sides in the conflict violates women’s rights to sexual autonomy and control over their sexuality and reproductive capacity. Women are at risk not only as individuals but as members of social groups - sometimes their sexuality or reproductive capacity is attacked because they are indigenous or Afro-descendant women or from other marginalized communities. At other times they may be controlled by their ‘own’ side. In each case the motive is the same, to control women as reproducers of the nation, community or social group.
The UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women wrote the following in her 1998 report:
"Perhaps more than the honour of the victim, it is the perceived honour of the enemy that is targeted in the perpetration of sexual violence against women; it is seen and often experienced as a means of humiliating the opposition. Sexual violence against women is meant to demonstrate victory over the men of the other group who have failed to protect their women. It is a message of castration and emasculation of the enemy group. It is a battle among men fought over the bodies of women". (17)
The perpetuation of social norms that deprive women of autonomy encourages the notion that their bodies can be appropriated and their behaviour controlled. In armed conflicts, this appropriation and control can take extreme forms such as sexual slavery, sexual assault, and enforced contraception and abortions. The imposition of rules of conduct on civilians - such as dress codes and curfews - which invade their most intimate privacy is a strategy adopted by guerrilla and paramilitary groups to control individuals, and is fomented by sexist and homophobic attitudes.(18) The armed groups therefore compete over who can most effectively eliminate those who are deemed "undesirable" or "strange". The fact that guerrillas and paramilitaries have targeted the same groups - such as sex workers and homosexuals - in an effort to win "legitimacy" from society as a whole, suggests that discrimination against these sectors in Colombia is heavily entrenched.(19)
Women’s ability to reproduce also means that their bodies have become a battleground in which the most brutal violence is committed. This has sometimes reached horrific proportions, such as the tearing open of the bellies of pregnant women in order to rip out the foetus. "Don’t leave even the seed behind" ("No dejar ni la semilla") - an expression that dates back to the atrocities perpetrated during La Violencia in the 1950s but is still used today - is a reflection of the extreme cruelty involved. Many men have also been castrated for similar reasons in the context of massacres and selective killings committed during the armed conflict.
Gender-based discrimination
"A young woman who talks, who can express herself, is seen as subversive. In towns and in the countryside. This happens even when we say that it is our right."
An indigenous woman from Putumayo
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) noted in its 1999 observations on the report submitted to it by Colombia that no systematic work had been carried out to confront discriminatory cultural traditions or to change sexist stereotypes and that the media continued to project stereotypical images of women.(20)
Although the Colombian state has an international obligation to combat gender-based discrimination and prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women, it has instead often helped to perpetuate and strengthen gender stereotypes. In November 2002 a row ensued after it was revealed that leaflets containing pictures of scantily-dressed women had been distributed by the army to "invite" combatants to demobilize. The director of the Programa de Atención al Desmovilizado, an army program to assist demobilized combatants, Colonel Manuel Forero, revealed that 3-5 million copies had been printed and had been distributed in the special security zones, the Zonas de Rehabilitación y Consolidación (Rehabilitation and Consolidation Zones), set up by the government in the departments of Sucre, Bolívar and Arauca. The colonel told the media that "it is just an appetizer in the campaign to tell the guerrillas that they are welcome".(21) The army also distributed leaflets in Medellín with the picture of a woman dressed as a guerrilla and the phrase "Young guerrilla, are you bored?". In response to the hostile reaction from women’s organizations, the Defence Ministry stopped the distribution of the leaflets. Colonel Forero had defended the leaflets by stating that "It’s an aggressive campaign to sell a product". He added that he did not know why the designers had chosen to use the female figure.
Under the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, states are obliged to take all appropriate measures to "modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women (Article 5(a)).
Amnesty International contacted the Consejería Presidencial para la Equidad de la Mujer, Office of the Presidential Adviser on Equality for Women, to ask what steps had been taken to implement Resolution 1325 (2000) of the UN Security Council on Women and Peace and Security.(22) At a meeting in March 2004, no specific information on the subject was provided.
With regard to the serious human rights abuses suffered by women and girls in the context of the armed conflict, the Presidential Adviser rejected the information given to Amnesty International by NGOs working to promote, protect and defend the human rights of women. Despite requests by Amnesty International, the Office did not provide any information on what action the government was taking to prevent and punish serious abuses against women and girls.
At Security Council session 4852 on 29 October 2003 marking the third anniversary of the adoption of Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women and Peace and Security, Colombia’s representative, Luis Guillermo Giraldo, focused on female combatants and their demobilization:
"We also have the tragedy of women combatants in these illegal armed bands, where, in addition to becoming machines of death, they are also the subjects of sexual and psychological discrimination and abuse. In such bands, women lose their very natures and vocation as the bedrock of family, community and social stability. The existence of women combatants makes it impossible to build the peaceful and sustainable society that every country requires".(23)
In his speech, Ambassador Giraldo also stated that the government had "focused special attention on the participation of women in issues related to peace and security". In this respect, he said that the government had "devised a national policy of women as builders of peace and development, a policy geared towards peace, equity and equal opportunity". Ambassador Giraldo continued by stating that such issues had been included in "National Development Plan 2002-2006: Towards a Communitarian State" (Plan Nacional de Desarrollo 2002-2006 Hacia un Estado Comunitario), "a document reflecting the current administration’s priorities". However, according to information received by Amnesty International from Colombia’s Office of the Presidential Adviser on Equality for Women, and with only two years before the official end of Colombia’s National Development Plan, no specific decisions have been taken with regard to the action and mechanisms required to implement a gender-based approach across government bodies, including those responsible for dispensing justice and those state bodies which have direct responsibility for security and defence matters.
Amnesty International acknowledges that procedures have been initiated by some state bodies with regard to providing care for victims of gender-based and sexual violence and that other state bodies are seeking to address gender issues in areas under their jurisdiction (see below). But these are still at an early stage and their sustainability does not appear to be guaranteed. Moreover, none of these procedures are specifically directed towards addressing abuses linked to the armed conflict. There is also concern that bodies responsible for demobilized women are weak in key areas such as health care, including sexual and reproductive health.(24)
State policy to combat violence against women
The Colombian state has signed and ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and is therefore obliged to pursue "without delay" and by "all appropriate means" a policy of eliminating discrimination against women. Although several policy documents have been drawn up and legislation introduced over the last 10 years, there has been a distinct lack of coordination, effectiveness and adequate resources.
Amnesty International welcomes the government’s policy document "Women Builders of Peace and Development 2003-2006" (Mujeres Constructoras de Paz y Desarrollo 2003- 2006) drawn up under the "National Development Plan 2002-2006 Towards a Communitarian State" (25) and past and present efforts by the Colombian state to promote the equality of women. The National Office for Women’s Equality (Dirección Nacional para la Igualdad de la Mujer) was set up in 1995 but was abolished under the government of President Pastrana (1998-2002). The body currently responsible for public policy on equality issues is the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Equality for Women. In contrast to the National Office for Women’s Equality, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Equality for Women does not have budgetary autonomy. Its ability to implement the 2003-2006 policy document on women and to implement programmes and projects largely depends on its ability to obtain resources through international cooperation.
Although Amnesty International welcomes the work carried out by some public bodies, such as the Defensoría del Pueblo (Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman),(26) the Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar (ICBF), Colombian Institute of Family Welfare, the Procuraduría General de la Nacion (Office of the Procurator General),(27) and local authorities, the state has failed to implement a comprehensive policy that complies with its international obligations to promote and protect the human rights of women. In particular, the Colombian state has failed to address the severe impact the conflict is having on specific groups of women which are at particular risk, such as indigenous, Afro-descendant, displaced and rural women.
Progress has been made in certain areas, especially in terms of gender equality. The government has introduced or is debating in Congress a number of measures related to this issue:
· Congress is debating a bill to ratify the Optional Protocol to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
· Law 823 on equal opportunities for women was passed in July 2003.
· The National Agreement on Equality between Women and Men (Acuerdo Nacional por la Equidad entre Mujeres y Hombres) was signed on 14 October 2003 by a number of government ministries and the judiciary.
· The Gender Affairs Observatory (Observatorio de Asuntos de Género, OAG) was launched in May 2004 by the Presidential Adviser’s Office on Equality for Women.
Several laws relating to the issue of sexual violence have also been passed over the last 10 years, such as on sexual freedom (Law 360 of 1997), on persons protected under international humanitarian law (Law 599 of 2000), sexual offences against minors (Law 679 of 2001) and people trafficking (Law 747 of 2002). Although these laws have not to date been effectively implemented, they at least provide an important regulatory framework.
The Constitutional Court has done much to promote the rights of women in Colombia. On a number of occasions, its jurisprudence has helped to affirm the principle of equality, the prohibition of gender-based discrimination and the protection of women’s human rights, including their social and economic rights. The Constitutional Court has played a key role in protecting fundamental rights by ruling on the unconstitutionality of laws and measures relating to the armed conflict and protecting the fundamental rights of displaced persons.(28)
The work of the Human Rights Ombudsman has also been important, especially that of the Ombudsman’s Delegate for the Rights of Children, Women and the Elderly (Defensoría Delegada para los Derechos de la Niñez, la Mujer y el Anciano), which has worked hard to promote issues relating to the situation of women in the armed conflict.
There are also examples of inter-institutional coordination in detecting and indexing cases of domestic violence and sexual offences involving the Office of the Procurator General, the National Institute of Forensic Medicine and Sciences, the ICBF, and other public bodies.
Although Amnesty International welcomes these initiatives, they are in their very early stages and suffer from budgetary and institutional limitations which jeopardize their sustainability and limit their effectiveness and quality of service. It should also be stressed that such schemes have not been developed in response to the needs of the victims of sexual violence under the armed conflict.
Failing to protect women’s health
Health policies in Colombia have failed to protect and support women’s sexual and reproductive health. Reproductive health services in Colombia are provided mainly by Profamilia (Asociación Pro-Bienestar de la Familia Colombiana, Colombian Family Welfare Association), a private institution. However, its services are not free and this therefore restricts access to them, particularly for those from poor communities, such as internally-displaced women. In cases of collective displacement(29), extremely limited emergency aid is provided, which does not include reproductive health care. Individual women who are displaced face even harsher conditions.
The minimum initial services package (MISP) for reproductive health services, considered to be the basic standard of care in emergency situations, is not available to internally-displaced women.(30) Public institutions do not provide the survivors of sexual violence with free services, not even emergency contraception. Internally-displaced women are usually turned away from hospitals and emergency gynaecology and obstetrics clinics because of their inability to pay.
Guerrillas, paramilitaries and the security forces have also failed to respect the work of the medical profession. Health workers, who often work in conflict areas and are forced to provide assistance to all the armed groups regardless of their affiliation, have been targeted because they are often seen as helping "the enemy". The resulting vulnerability of medical staff, as well as the armed groups’ use of blockades to stop the provision of medical supplies in certain areas, can cause serious damage and risk to the general health of the population.
On 20 March 2002, on a road in the rural area of the municipality of San Carlos, department of Antioquia, four people, including a pregnant woman, died when a grenade, apparently thrown by the FARC, exploded against the ambulance that the woman was travelling in. On 20 February of the same year, four other people, including a newborn baby, died when the ambulance in which they were travelling fell into Las Playas reservoir in between the municipalities of San Carlos and San Rafael (Antioquia) after the FARC had dynamited La Dantica bridge.
Unplanned pregnancies and gynaecological and obstetric emergencies have serious repercussions for women and girls and can result in an increase in maternal mortality, an issue that affects the fundamental right to life of women and female adolescents.(31) In areas under military dispute by the parties to the conflict, it has become increasingly difficult for women to gain access to sexual and reproductive health care services. Many are forced to travel long distances to obtain help. This often involves dangerous land travel. In the department of Putumayo, a 35-year-old woman in an advanced stage of pregnancy travelling towards the border with Ecuador to get help with the birth, was stopped at a paramilitary roadblock and ordered to go and get her husband before they would let her pass: "She was in a terrible state. She just wanted help with the birth and they ended up killing her husband".(32)
States must ensure that their citizens have the means to preserve and recuperate their health and that the right to achieve the highest possible level of physical and mental health is respected. Women are discriminated against if the state fails to protect their sexual and reproductive health. In Colombia, this failure has become particularly serious in the case of those sections of society most at risk of attack - those which live in areas where the conflict is most acute: the internally-displaced and women from indigenous, Afro-descendant and rural communities.
International protection against sexual violence
The rights of women to live free from sexual violence is codified in international treaties such as the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Rome Statute, and implicitly in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the American Convention on Human Rights, the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture.
The Inter-American Convention states that "Every woman has the right to be free from violence in both the public and private spheres" (Article 3). Non-discrimination should also be regarded as a fundamental right which should not be suspended in times of conflict. It is particularly relevant as gender-based violence against women has been recognized as a form of discrimination which leads to and reinforces other forms of discrimination. Women frequently face discrimination on several grounds simultaneously - as women but also as members of marginalized groups, such as indigenous and Afro-descendant women and because of their sexual orientation.
States have a duty to respect and protect the rights enshrined in such treaties. A state fails to fulfil its obligations with respect to these rights not only when it violates them but when it fails to exercise due diligence in preventing, investigating, prosecuting and punishing sexual and gender-based violence, whether perpetrated by a state or non-state actor, and when it fails in its duty to protect the rights of the victims by refusing to provide them with help and fair and timely reparation. Several treaties - such as the 1979 UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the 1994 OAS Inter-American Convention to Prevent, Eradicate and Eliminate Violence Against Women (1994), better known as the Belem do Pará Convention, both of which have been ratified by Colombia - stipulate that the state has a duty to provide appropriate assistance to those who suffer sexual abuse. Specific measures and means by which states can comply with their obligations in this area have gradually been established by international human rights protection bodies.
International bodies have also taken a position on laws which impact on the rights of women, especially on those women who have been subjected to sexual violence. The UN Human Rights Committee and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women have both expressed concern about the criminalization of the voluntary termination of pregnancy even in cases of rape and have asked the Colombian authorities to review such legislation.
The provision of certain types of services and assistance can have a dramatic impact on the survivors of rape. These include provision of emergency contraception or post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). However, the Colombian health authorities do not make these available.
As far as international humanitarian law is concerned, rape and other forms of sexual abuse are prohibited under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions which applies to both international and non-international armed conflicts: "To this end the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever (…) (a) violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; (…) (c) outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment; (…)". Additional Protocol II - which Colombia acceded to on 14 August 1995 - and which applies to non-international armed conflicts prohibits: "violence to life, health and physical or mental well-being of persons, in particular murder as well as cruel treatment such as torture, mutilation or any form of corporal punishment; collective punishments; taking of hostages; acts of terrorism; outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment, rape, enforced prostitution and any form of indecent assault; slavery and the slave trade in all its forms; pillage; [and] threats to commit any of the foregoing acts" (Article 4). The Colombian security forces and illegal armed groups have a responsibility to ensure that they comply with all aspects of international humanitarian law, including those related to sexual violence.
Under article 7 (1) (g) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity - are defined as crimes against humanity when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against any civilian population. When committed in the context of an international or non-international armed conflict, these offences also constitute war crimes. The ICC has specific jurisdiction over crimes against humanity and war crimes when they are committed as part of a plan or policy or as part of a large-scale commission of such crimes. Under Article 8 of the Statute, the ICC has jurisdiction over individual acts of "rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, as defined in article 7, paragraph 2 (f), enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence also constituting a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions", when committed in armed conflicts of an international or non-international nature. Colombia ratified the Rome Statute by means of Law Nº 742 of 2002. However, by invoking article 124 of the Statute, it has refused to recognize the ICC’s competence with regard to war crimes for a period of seven years. As a result, cases of war crimes committed in Colombia cannot be investigated by the ICC.
The fact that women and girls are particularly exposed to sexual violence in peacetime as well as in wartime has also given rise to several specialist instruments and mechanisms.(33) However, such protective legislation is meaningless without the will to implement and enforce it.
Several international human rights protection bodies have condemned persecution and violence that is inflicted on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity. As the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health recently stated: "Sexual rights include the right of all persons to express their sexual orientation, with due regard for the well-being and rights of others, without fear of persecution, denial of liberty or social interference".(34)
Discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity is implicitly or explicitly considered to be an unlawful form of discrimination in many countries’ constitutions. In Colombia, the Constitutional Court has ruled that the state is required to respect and protect the rights of individuals who suffer discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation.(35)
Colombian criminal law was recently amended in order to increase the sentences applicable in cases of criminal acts that are motivated by intolerance or discrimination on grounds of sex or sexual orientation or as a result of illness or disability.(36) Amnesty International is not aware of any case in which the law in question has been applied.
SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN THE CONTEXT OF ARMED CONFLICT
Attacks against civilian communities, massacres and killings
Attacks on civilians by all the armed groups in Colombia have included rape, sexual abuse and sexual mutilation. The testimonies of survivors indicate that most such atrocities are committed by paramilitary groups. Over the past ten years, there has been an increase in the number of reported attacks on civilians involving sexual violence in order to punish them for their perceived collaboration with the guerrillas, to generate terror, or to force whole communities to flee a particular area of military or economic interest.
Between 1 and 7 May 2003, soldiers from the army’s Navas Pardo Battalion of the Brigade XVIII, and wearing AUC armbands, reportedly entered the indigenous reserves (resguardos) of Betoyes - Julieros, Velasqueros, Roqueros, Genareros and Parreros - in Tame Municipality, Arauca Department.(37) According to reports, on 5 May in Parreros armed men raped and killed 16-year-old Omaira Fernández, who was pregnant, before ripping open her belly. According to one source "They opened her up in front of everyone. The bodies of the girl and the baby were thrown in the river,". During this incident, three members of the indigenous community were killed. In Velasqueros, three young girls were raped. According to witnesses, a contingent of men had been parachuted into Parreros from helicopters. One source told Amnesty International "they were paramilitaries who live in the battalion [Navas Pardo] with the soldiers". These killings, and other attacks allegedly carried out by the army and paramilitaries in the surrounding area, led to the displacement of over 500 people from Flor Amarillo, Santo Domingo and the indigenous communities of Betoyes to Saravena in Arauca Department.(38)
Between 18 and 21 February 2000, over 300 paramilitaries from the Autodefensas Campesinas de Córdoba y Urabá (ACCU), Córdoba and Urabá Peasant Self-Defence Groups, attacked the village of El Salado in the department of Bolivar, where they killed around 49 people. They reportedly spent three days torturing, strangling, stabbing, decapitating, beating and shooting the local inhabitants. Women were sexually humiliated, forced to strip naked and dance in front of their husbands. Several were raped and subjected to various forms of torture. Testimonies from inhabitants gathered by Amnesty International also alleged that a pregnant woman was subjected to gang rape before having her sexual organs mutilated. She was subsequently impaled. The paramilitaries accused their victims of collaborating with the guerrilla.
Although the authorities were warned by social organizations that there was likely to be an attack on the people of El Salado, no action was taken by them to prevent the attack. According to testimonies, the paramilitary operation had the support of troops from the Batallón de Fusileros de Infantería de Marina, Bafim N° 5, Fifth Battalion of Naval Infantry Fusiliers. Over the three days of the massacre, helicopters with military markings allegedly flew over the area and machine-gunned the village; bullet holes were found in the roofs of people’s houses.
Several days after the massacre, the bodies, which the inhabitants themselves had buried in the cemetery or in mass graves, were exhumed by officials from the Office of the Attorney General (Fiscalía General de La Nación). (39) The investigators identified 28 bodies. Although they were told that some of the victims had been abused sexually, the investigators did not collect evidence to prove that sexual abuse had taken place or to help identify the perpetrators.
The massacre led to the displacement of 600 families(40) towards the municipalities of El Carmen de Bolívar, Turbaco, Arjona and Ovejas and nearby cities such as Cartagena, Sincelejo and Barranquilla. Other families fled to other departments and some sought refuge in Venezuela.
There is strong evidence that sexual violence was routinely employed in other recent massacres carried out by paramilitary forces, often reportedly in collusion with the security forces:
· Between 10 and 13 April 2001, paramilitaries allegedly entered the region of Alto Naya, in the municipalities of Buenos Aires and Miravalle, between the departments of Cauca and Valle del Cauca, passing a checkpoint of the army’s Brigade III along the way. The area is home to indigenous and Afro-descendant communities. The paramilitaries used chain saws to torture, mutilate and kill the inhabitants. At least 20 people accused of collaborating with the guerrillas were killed. Some 1,000 people fled to Buenaventura and other points along the Naya river. Another paramilitary incursion into the municipality of Buenos Aires in 2000 had left several people dead. According to witnesses from the area, during both incidents the attackers raped some of the women before killing them and tortured young people in front of the local population.
· On 17 January 2001, 70-100 paramilitaries entered the village of Chengue in Ovejas Municipality, Sucre Department. They killed 34 people and set fire to 30 homes, causing 900 people to flee. Those killed were tortured and several were subjected to sexual violence. On 6 October 2000, members from the community of Ovejas and the villages of Don Gabriel, Salitral and Chengue had signed a petition and sent it to the Colombian President asking for protection because of the threat of a paramilitary massacre in the area. According to reports, for several hours before and during the massacre, military helicopters flew over the area. In August 2001, the prosecutor in charge of the investigation, Yolanda Paternina, was killed. On 6 February 2002, Oswaldo Borja, the investigator from the Attorney General’s Cuerpo Técnico de Investigaciones (CTI), Technical Investigations Unit, who had collected evidence about the case, was also killed. The investigations had implicated senior armed forces’ personnel in the massacre.
· On 9 January 1999, in the village of El Tigre in the municipality of La Hormiga, department of Putumayo, a paramilitary incursion took place, reportedly with the collaboration of the Brigade XXIV and police officers. At least 26 people were killed and 14 "disappeared". Some of those killed had allegedly been tortured and sexually mutilated. The victims included children, adolescents, pregnant women and elderly women. The massacre marked the beginning of a paramilitary offensive in Putumayo, an area which had previously been under the control of the FARC. The events resulted in the displacement of 700 people from that village and other neighbouring villages to other areas throughout the region, with some fleeing to neighbouring Ecuador.
There is strong evidence to support the view of the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences that "[r]ape during warfare has also been used to terrorize populations and induce civilians to flee their homes and villages":(41