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In August 2002, the Colombian government began implementation of the Democratic Defense and Security Policy (DDSP) to revitalize and strengthen institutions and public order, in order to guarantee the exercise of the basic rights of all Colombian citizens.
The goal of the policy is to dismantle all illegal armed groups by means of individual or group demobilizations. In the case of collective demobilizations, a group can enter into conversations and demobilize together in a single event.
Individual demobilization is an option available for people who choose to leave their groups and enter the demobilization process, as long as there are no orders for their arrest for crimes against International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
A person for whom there are outstanding orders for his arrest for crimes against IHL can demobilize, but if convicted he will not have access to ACR (High Council for Reintegration) services. But, in any event, any individual can demobilize from an armed group.
Anyone accused of breaches of IHL can apply for the benefits of Law 975 of 2005, or the Law of Justice and Peace, making it possible for them to have access to judicial benefits in exchange for confessing all their crimes and making a commitment to make reparation to the victims.
This law is applicable to all demobilized persons regardless of the group from which they demobilize. It has generated more than 2,000 arrests and has made it possible to close many cases that had not been resolved. One implication of this is that there are more people in jail in Colombia for human rights violations than are in jail for all other Latin American post-conflict and post-dictatorship situations combined.
Reintegration Program
Before the creation of the ACR in September 2006, the Colombian government offered a reintegration program focused on the individual, seeking to reform and prepare demobilized persons through psychosocial attention, training and education, and access to the national health system, in addition to monthly financial aid. The program was called Program for Reincorporation into Civilian Life (PRVC for the Spanish) and was run by the Ministry of the Interior and of Justice.
In comparison to other reintegration programs focused on the individual, the PRVC was very well conceived and went substantially further in certain aspects than other similar programs across the world, particularly in terms of psychosocial attention to demobilized persons and the services and benefits offered to participants. Little was done, however, to prepare the receiving communities either physically or psychologically for the return of demobilized persons and their families.
At the beginning this was not a problem for the program because there were relatively few demobilized persons, but when the DDSP began to produce results, the rate of group and individual demobilizations grew significantly and the PRVC became backlogged, facing administrative and design difficulties.
From August 2002 to March 31, 2008, 46,913 people from different illegal armed groups expressed their decision to demobilize. There is currently an average of 10 new demobilizations per day. The group demobilizations that took place from 2003 to 2006, after the peace conversations with several paramilitary groups in 2002 and 2003 (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), the Central Bolívar Block, and other smaller groups), included 31,671 men.
All of these people demobilized and entered the reintegration process, except for 2,345 minors who entered the Program for Attention to Victims of Violence – now known as the Program for Specialized Attention (PAE for the Spanish) – run by the Family Welfare Institute, and will remain until they reach the age of 18. As of March 31, 2008, 31,196 adults all over the country remained active in the ACR reintegration process that replaced the PRVC .
As can be seen in the above graph, in the last quarter of 2002 and 2003, the number of demobilized persons entering the reintegration process was relatively low. Due to the fact that they had left their groups and demobilized individually, the great majority were relocated to Bogotá where they felt safer, given that this city is the main urban center and offers them anonymity. The PRVC was centered in Bogotá at that time and was well equipped to manage the target population of less than 4,000 in a concentrated geographic area.
Once group demobilizations from the AUC and other paramilitary groups increased, the PRVC received an influx of more than 38,000 people, the majority from collective demobilizations, who did not have the same concerns about safety as those who had left their groups individually. For that reason, they returned to their places of origin.
This rapid change in the dynamics of demobilization caused the PRVC to be seen as inadequate for managing the challenges of reintegrating the demobilized people of Colombia, putting in evidence the need for a change in the program’s design and implementation.
In September 2006 President Álvaro Uribe created the High Council for Reintegration (ACR for the Spanish) under the Office of the President of the Republic to coordinate government efforts toward reintegration. He named Frank Pearl González as the High Counselor for Reintegration.
1)Source: PAHD (Program for Attention for Demobilized Persons), March 31, 2008. Includes boys and girls who left the armed conflict, as well as those of legal age.
2)Source: OACP (Office of the High Commissioner for Peace), March 31, 2008
3)Source: Ministry of Defense. Minors enter the ICBF’s PAE as stipulated in article 17 of Law 418 of 1997 and according to international laws and treaties signed by the Colombian government.