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Colombia: The situation of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC), including their areas of influence and operation; their targets and the electronic sharing of information (2006 - February 2008)

According to the February 2008 statement by Amnesty International (AI) to the 7th session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC) continue to violate human rights and international humanitarian law (AI 21 Feb. 2008). AI noted as examples the killing of civilians and the taking of hostages (ibid.). According to the 29 February 2008 report of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the situation in Colombia, FARC members were reportedly responsible for two "massacres" in May and August 2007, killing 10 people in Turbo in the department of Antioquia and 11 assemblymen in the department of Valle del Causa (UN 29 Feb. 2008, Para. 44). Municipal officials from Caquetá and Chocó were also reportedly killed (ibid.).

The Free Country Foundation (Fundación País Libre), a Colombian organization that provides support for kidnapping victims and their families, noted 456 kidnappings in 2007 (Le Monde 25 Feb. 2008). It did not identify any of the perpetrators, but stated that the victim profiles have changed: the middle class is now being targeted, whereas the elite were targeted in the past (ibid.).

The Foundation for Security and Democracy (Fundación Seguridad y Democracia, FSD) in Bogotá noted 687 kidnappings in 2006 (2007b, 25). The FSD does not provide numbers for 2007 but notes in a 2007 report a steady decline in the number of kidnappings between 2002 and 2006 (FSD 2007b, 25; see also Libération 30 May 2006). The FSD also reports that FARC was responsible for 122 kidnappings (18 percent of all kidnappings) in 2006 (2007b, 31). According to the FSD, that is an 88 percent decrease from the 998 kidnappings for which FARC claimed responsibility in 2002 (ibid.). However, FARC is still holding more than 700 hostages (AFP/AP 12 Jan. 2008). The Free Country Foundation reports that FARC is responsible for a third of all kidnappings (Le Monde 25 Feb. 2008), and according to Colombia's Ministry of Defence, FARC is the main perpetrator and is responsible for 29 percent of all reported kidnappings (L'Express 22 Feb. 2007).

According to the Free Country Foundation, [translation] "'the kidnappings have decreased, but not as much as the government maintains.. Guala, a specialized unit made up of police officers, soldiers and public prosecutors, has had some success, but the group benefits from almost full impunity because of the ineffective justice system'" (Le Monde 25 Feb. 2008). Although the number of kidnappings has decreased, the High Commissioner for Human Rights stated in her 29 February 2008 report on the situation in Colombia that the systematic kidnapping [by FARC] and the prolonged captivity of hostages are a matter of grave concern" (UN 29 Feb. 2008, Para. 45).

Most of the sources consulted by the Research Directorate do not distinguish the various types of kidnapping in their statistics. However, Colombia's Congress adopted a law, Ley 40 de 1993, that sets out categories of kidnappings, including kidnappings for extortion (secuestro extorsivo) committed for economic or political purposes (Colombia 20 Jan. 1993, Art. 1-2; see also FSD 2007b, 25).

The only source consulted that identifies the purpose of the kidnappings claimed by FARC is the Columbian online weekly Cambio, which states in a 28 November 2007 article that no ransom was demanded in four out of eleven kidnappings attributed to FARC in 2006. Instead, the kidnappers wanted to use the victim's business or bank accounts to launder money (Cambio 28 Nov. 2007).

FARC's areas of influence

FARC's presence is felt primarily in the coca plantation regions in southeast Colombia (France2.fr 13 Dec. 2007). According to Cambio, the rebel group has withdrawn to the areas along the borders with Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama and its best fighters defend the territories where FARC is traditionally present – Guaviare and Caquetá departments, the southern part of Meta department, and Putumayo and Nariño departments (28 Nov. 2007).

According to the FSD report, even in cases in which FARC played a key role in the violence surrounding the local and regional elections on 28 October 2007 in the municipalities where the group is active, it was unable to sabotage the electoral process, which ended up being the least violent electoral process of the last 10 years (FSD 2007a, 5).

As of February 2008, "[f]ighting continues between [FARC] and ELN in the departments of Arauca, Cauca and Nariño, and this has led to an increase in the number of murders" (UN 29 Feb. 2008, Para. 48). According to the International Crisis Group, "the ELN and the FARC cohabit in the higher regions of Serranía de San Lucas in southern Bolivar, the Serranía de Perija in Cesar and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Magdalena" (11 Oct. 2007, 5). The same is true in the departments of Chocó, Valle del Cauca and Cauca, where the ELN works with FARC and other armed groups to facilitate drug trafficking (International Crisis Group 11 Oct. 2007, 5). According to the daily Libération, fighting resumed between FARC and ELN in January 2008 in the department of Arauca (13 Feb. 2008). Reuters reports that there was also violence in Cali and in the port of Buenaventura, a strategic location for the transportation of drugs, and that in those two cities, 103 FARC members surrendered to authorities in February 2007 (7 Feb. 2007). According to Cambio, FARC no longer operates in the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá (Cambio 28 Nov.2007).

According to the director of the Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement (Consultoría para los Derechos Humanos y el Desplazamiento, CODHES), a Colombian non-governmental organization (CODHES n.d.), FARC has moved into the departments of Amazonas, Guainía, Vichada and Vaupés in order to expand their territory in the Orinoquía region (Cambio 28 Nov. 2007).

According to Cambio, the active FARC fronts have been [translation] "hard hit" (ibid.). Twenty of those fronts have reportedly disappeared completely, and the Teófilo Forero mobile column, described as the best elite force in the history of FARC, has been almost entirely dismantled (ibid.). Cambio also reports that [translation] "the 19th and 35th Fronts, which operate in the regions of Montes de María and Sierra Nevada de Santa María, have completely disappeared, because their members have either deserted or died" and that [translation] "the dismantling of troops has forced FARC to withdraw to the south of the country" (ibid.).

According to the International Crisis Group, "FARC has been forced to retreat . to a more traditional guerrilla war" (20 Oct. 2006, 1). In addition, an article in the Panamanian newspaper La Prensa, translated into French and republished in Courrier international, indicates that FARC's 57th Front has again become a very mobile and more clandestine guerrilla group, according to the Front's leaders (17 Jan. 2008).

Decline of FARC members

According to the Colombian government, FARC "has gone into irreversible decline" (BBC 1 Feb. 2008). Cambio also notes a steady weakening of the organization (29 Nov. 2007). On 1 March 2008, the Colombian army killed FARC's number two leader, Raúl Reyes [whose real name was Luis Edgar Devia (BBC 1 Mar. 2008)], in Ecuador (Reuters 4 Mar. 2008; ibid. 7 Mar. 2008; AFP 7 Mar. 2008). On 7 March 2008 in Colombia, Colombian forces killed Iván Ríos [whose real name was Manuel Muñoz Ortiz (AFP 7 Mar. 2008)], who was another FARC leader and a member of the organization's secretariat (Reuters 7 Mar. 2008; AFP 7 Mar. 2008).

However, an independent expert and former Colombian presidential adviser, interviewed by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) following the death of two FARC leaders, stated that, in his opinion, FARC is still capable of enduring and has already demonstrated its ability to adapt (9 Mar. 2008). In addition, according to the BBC, the death of three key FARC members in 2007 affected only specific units, not the entire organization (BBC 1 Feb. 2008).

The number of FARC fighters has decreased from 16,900 to 8,900, according to figures published by Cambio (28 Nov. 2007), but the government estimates that there are currently between 6,000 and 8,000 rebels (BBC 1 Feb. 2008; see also L'Express 22 Jan. 2008).

Nevertheless, the BBC reports that few independent analysts accept the government's estimate of 6,000 fighters (BBC 1 Feb. 2008). According to Le Monde, there are fewer than 9,000 fighters (21 Feb. 2008), and AFP mentions 17,000 fighters (21 Jan. 2008). According to FARC, the organization had more than 20,000 members in 2007 (Le Figaro 15 Dec. 2007).

An article in the daily newspaper, The Washington Post indicates that "a report by a coalition of 187 human rights groups said there are allegations that between mid-2002 and mid-2007, 955 civilians were killed and classified as guerrillas fallen in combat – a 65 percent increase over the previous five years, when 577 civilians were reported killed by troops" (The Washington Post 30 Mar. 2008).

Judicial proceedings

On another topic, two FARC members have been subject to judicial proceedings. Ricardo Palmera, also known as Simón Trinidad, the "highest-ranking member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia ever captured" (AP 15 Oct. 2006; BBC 1 Feb. 2008), was charged with providing material support to a terrorist organization (Dow Jones International News 10 Oct. 2006) and for his involvement in kidnappings (ibid.; AP 15 Oct. 2006). He is serving his sentence in the United States (US) (BBC 1 Feb. 2008). He was extradited to the US after being arrested in Ecuador in 2004 (AP 15 Oct. 2006).

In early 2008, Luz Dary Conde, another FARC member, was arrested in Cúcuta (AFP 3 Feb. 2008). The US is [translation] "seeking her extradition because of her involvement in the kidnapping of three Americans held hostage for four years" (ibid.).

FARC financing methods

The activities of FARC, currently the richest active guerrilla group according to Le Monde (21 Feb. 2008), are reportedly financed largely by drug trafficking, since kidnappings and extortion are in decline (Cambio 28 Nov. 2007).

According to AFP, in 2007, Anayibe Rojas Valderrama, a high-ranking FARC member and financial officer of the FARC's 14th Front, and two other people were convicted of drug trafficking by a US district court; Rojas Valderrama's trial followed her extradition from Colombia in March 2005 (AFP 2 July 2007).

Information sharing by electronic means or by couriers

According to Juan Manuel Santos, Colombia's Minister of Defence, FARC currently lacks means of communication (BBC 1 Feb. 2008). The BBC reports that "their radio and satellite communications are being intercepted thanks to US technology" and that the organization has been forced to resort to using couriers (BBC 1 Feb. 2008). In February 2008, the organization announced by e-mail the possibility of releasing hostages (Radio-Canada 3 Feb. 2008). No additional information on this topic could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Agence France-Presse (AFP). 3 February 2008. "Colombie : les FARC annoncent trois nouvelles libérations d'otages" (La Presse [Montréal] / Eureka.cc)
_____. 21 January 2008. "Colombie: L'ELN libère neuf otages." <http://www.ledevoir.com/2008/01/21/172667.html> [Accessed 25 Feb. 2008]
_____. 2 July 2007. "Colombian Woman is First FARC Leader Sentenced in US." (Factiva)

Amnesty International (AI). 21 February 2008. "Colombie. Déclaration d'Amnesty International à la 7ème session du Conseil des droits de l'homme des Nations unies." (AMR23/007/2008) <http://www.amnesty.org/fr/library/asset/AMR23/007/2008/fr/405ff424-e9fd-11dc-9a27-819d7db3035f/amr230072008fra.pdf> [Accessed 3 Mar. 2008]

Associated Press (AP). 15 October 2006. Toby Muse. "Top FARC Rebel Goes on Trial in U.S. Court." (Factiva)

Associated Press (AP) / Agence France-Presse (AFP). 12 January 2008. "Les FARC détiennent toujours 700 otages." (Le Droit [Ottawa] / Eureka.cc) [Accessed 25 Feb. 2008]

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). 9 March 2008. Hernando Salazar. "Dos golpes duros a las FARC." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/latin_america/newsid_7285000/7285893.stm> [Accessed 9 Mar. 2008]
_____. 1 March 2008. Jeremy McDermott. "FARC Aura of Invincibility Shattered." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7273320.stm> [Accessed 5 Mar.2008]
_____. 1 February 2008. Jeremy McDermott. "Colombia's Rebels: A Fading Force?" <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7217817.stm> [Accessed 20 Feb. 2008]

Cambio [Bogota]. 28 November 2007. "En qué están las Farc." <http://www.cambio.com.co/portadacambio/752/ARTICULO-PRINTER_FRIENDLY-PRINTER_FRIENDLY_CAMBIO-3836911.html> [Accessed 4 Apr. 2008]

Colombia. 20 January 1993. Ley 40 de 1993. <http://www.secretariasenado.gov.co/leyes/L0040_93.HTM> [Accessed 8 Mar. 2008]

Colombia Journal. 12 January 2008. Paul Wolf. "FARC Not a Terrorist Group." <http://www.colombiajournal.org/colombia270.htm> [Accessed 20 Feb. 2008]

Consultaría para los Derechos Humanos y el Desplazamiento (CODHES). N.d. "Page principal." <http://www.codhes.org/> [Accessed 20 Feb. 2008]

Courrier international [Paris]. 17 January 2008. No. 898. Paco Gómez Nadal. "Dans la jungle des FARC : visite au Front 57." (Translation of an article that appeared in La Prensa, date unknown) <http://www.courrierinternational.com/article.asp?obj_id=81569> [Accessed 25 Feb. 2008]

Dow Jones International News. 10 October 2006. "Trial of Senior Colombian Rebel to Start Thursday in US." (Factiva)

L'Express [Paris]. 22 February 2007. Axel Gyldén. "Les FARC : le vrai visage des ravisseurs d'Ingrid." <http://www.lexpress.fr/info/monde/dossier/colombie/dossier.asp?ida=455791&p=3> [Accessed 25 Feb. 2008]

Le Figaro [Paris]. 15 December 2007. Nº 19711. Pascale Mariani and Roméo Langlois. "FARC : la plus vieille guérillla du monde." (Eureka.cc)

France2.fr. 13 December 2007. Catherine Le Brech. "Colombie, terrain miné par les guérillas." <http://info.france2.fr/dossiers/monde/37222332-fr.php> [Accessed 25 Feb. 2008]

Fundación Seguridad y Democracia (FSD). 2007a. "Las elecciones menos violentas en 10 años." <http://www.seguridadydemocracia.org/docs/pdf/especiales/informeEspecial18.pdf> [Accessed 8 Mar. 2008]
_____. 2007b. "Avances contra el secuestro 2002-2006." <http://www.seguridadydemocracia.org/docs/pdf/especiales/informeEspecial17-2.pdf> [Accessed 8 Mar. 2008]

L'Humanité [Saint-Denis, France]. 9 February 2008. Ernesto Montenegro and Carolina Cano. "La vraie racine de la crise colombienne." <http://www.humanite.fr/2008-02-09_Tribune-libre_La-vraie-racine-de-la-crise-colombienne> [Accessed 25 Feb. 2008]

International Crisis Group. 11 October 2007. "Columbia: Moving Forward with the ELN?" (Latin America Briefing No. 16) <http://www.crisisgroup.org/library/documents/latin_america/b16_colombia_eln.pdf> [Accessed 20 Feb. 2008]
_____. 20 October 2006. "Tougher Challenges Ahead for Colombia's Uribe." (Latin America Briefing No.11) <http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4455&CFID=35749961&CFTOKEN=90806655> [Accessed 20 Feb. 2008]

Libération [Paris]. 13 February 2008. Michel Taille. "À Saravena, les paysans traqués par les guérillas marxistes." <http://www.liberation.fr/actualite/monde/309773.FR.php?rss=true> [Accessed 25 Feb. 2008]
_____. 30 May 2006. Michel Taille. "On doit le calme revenu à Uribe." (Eureka.cc)

Le Monde [Paris]. 25 February 2008. Paulo A. Paranagua. "Le kidnapping, une industrie prospère en Colombie." (Eureka.cc)
_____. 21 February 2008. Laurent Zecchini. "Dans la jungle avec les soldats de l'armée Colombienne." <http://www.lemonde.fr/ameriques/article/2008/02/20/dans-la-jungle-avec-les-soldats-de-l-armee-colombienne_1013537_3222.html> [Accessed 25 Feb. 2008]
_____. 11 January 2008. Marie Delcas. "Dans les bottes des FARC." <http://www.lemonde.fr/cgi-bin/ACHATS/acheter.cgi?offre=ARCHIVES&type_item=ART_ARCH_30J&objet_id=1020166&clef=ARC-TRK-G_01> [Accessed 25 Feb. 2008]

Radio-Canada. 3 February 2008. "Espoir pour d'autres otages des FARC." <http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/International/2008/02/03/003-farc-espoir-otages.shtml?ref=rss> [Accessed 25 Feb. 2008]

Reuters. 7 March 2008. "L'armée annonce la mort d'un commandant des FARC." (Factiva)
_____. 4 March 2008. "Facts about Colombia's FARC Guerrillas." <http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ N04505540.htm> [Accessed 5 Mar. 2008]
_____. 7 February 2007. "More than 100 Colombia Rebels Surrender – Police." (Factiva)

United Nations (UN). 29 February 2008. General Assembly. Annual Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and Reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and of the Secretary General: Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the Situation of Human Rights in Colombia. (A/HRC/7/39). <http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/7session/A.HRC.7.39.pdf> [Accessed 12 Mar. 2008]

The Washington Post. 30 March 2008. "Colombian Troops Kill Farmers, Pass off Bodies as Rebels." <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/29/AR2008032901118.html> [Accessed 8 Apr. 2008]

Additional Sources Consulted

Internet sites, including: Asamblea Permanente de la Sociedad Civil por la Paz,Centro de Investigación y Educación Popular, Colombian Human Rights Network, Colombian Support Network, Comunidad de Paz de San José de Apartadó, Conflict, Security & Development, Contemporary Security Policy, Defense & Security Analysis, Democracy and Security, Derechos Human Rights, Equipo Nizkor, Fundación Ideas para la Paz, Fundación Instituto para la Construcción de la Paz, Human Rights First, Instituto Latinoamericano de Servicios Legales Alternativos, Instituto Popular de Capacitación, International Security, International Social Security Review, Journal of Conflict & Security Law, Movimiento de Víctimas de Crímenes de Estado, Peace & Security, Security,Security Dialogue, Security Journal, Security Studies, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Terrorism and Political Violence.

Topics: Militias,