Colombia: Forcible recruitment and extortion by guerrillas, repercussions for non-compliance, and impact of peace talks on these practices; current activities of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC)

Various sources report that the peace process consists exclusively of talks between representatives of the Colombian government and the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), without participation by the ELN, ERP, "paramilitaries" or other guerrilla or armed groups. The second round of talks reportedly began in early February 2000 in Sweden (The Miami Herald 8 Feb. 2000). Besides the government withdrawal from an area south of Bogota as a pre-condition for talks to begin (see COL31949.E), no reports of concessions or reduction in activities by either side could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

The FARC declared in late-December 1999 a "truce" over the Christmas and New Year holiday, which ended after 20 days on 11 January 2000 with simultaneous attacks on three cities (IPS 12 Jan. 2000). One day after the end of the truce, attacks on "several cities" in the country's southwest were reported (BBC News 12 Jan. 2000). Colombian newspaper articles and other documents of January and February 2000 report on attacks by FARC and other guerrilla groups, as well as confrontations with security forces, in various regions of Colombia. One source states that a FARC offensive along a road connecting Bogota and Villavicencio, and the subsequent army and air force response, had led to "some of the fiercest fighting for months" in southeastern Cundinamarca (LAWR 18 Jan. 2000, 28).

An 11 February 2000 Central America Report article refers to Colombians displaced from the northern border town of Jurado after a FARC attack on 12 December 1999 destroyed the town's police station and naval base. The report cites a source from the non-government Colombian Human Rights Committee for the Displaced (CODHES), an organization cited also in Country Reports 1998 and other documents, as stating that "the conflict is going to become worse" and that "the tendency in Colombia is the extension of the conflict to neighbouring countries." The report adds that FARC forces frequently cross the ill-defined border with Panama in the Darien region, stating that guerrillas apparently targeted Jurado residents for "alleged collaboration with the paramilitaries" (ibid.). The CODHES source is cited as saying that the town, despite having renewed police presence, "is not under control" and remains unsafe for the displaced to return (ibid.).

The most recent references to forced recruitment found among the sources consulted relate mostly to youths. For example, a 4 June 1999 AFP report states that "Colombian rebel and paramilitary groups have recruited some 8,000 young children into their ranks," adding that "twice as many seven-to-ten-year-olds were recruited by leftist rebels than by their right-wing rivals." The article states that, "based on data from the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare, human rights and church groups," … "over the past 15 years…the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country's oldest and strongest rebel group, recruited an estimated 5,200 boys and girls aged between seven and eight," while "the paramilitaries, instead, focused primarily on nine to ten-year-old boys, pressing some 2,800 into their service in the same period" (ibid.).

A 16 May 1999 article published by The New York Times reports that "the Roman Catholic Bishop for most of the [demilitarized] region, Hector Lopez, said the rebel group [FARC] had also engaged in 'forced recruitment' of children as young as 13." The article adds that "in some rural areas [the Bishop] regularly visits…the guerrillas were 'bringing together the whole population between the ages of 13 and 60 for two or three days' at their encampments, where 'they train them in the use of heavy weapons' and indoctrinate them in Marxist-Leninist theory" (ibid.).

The October 1998 Human Rights Watch report War Without Quarter states, in the chapter titled "Little Bells and Little Bees: The Forced Recruitment of Children," that "while some children may join the guerrillas by choice, others are forcibly recruited." The report indicates that "according to a 1996 report by the office of the Public Advocate, 14 per cent of the child guerrillas they interviewed for their study said they had been forcibly recruited," and adds:

In regions dominated by the FARC, like the department of Guaviare, we have received credible reports that the guerrillas forcibly recruit children as young as twelve. Often, families do not report the forced recruitment of children for fear of reprisals (ibid.).

For information on extortion and forced recruitment practices by guerrillas in Colombia, please refer to previous Responses, such as COL33554.E of 21 January 2000 (kidnapping and extortion of businessmen), COL33574.E of 25 January 2000 (urban operations and militias of guerrilla groups),  COL31951.E of 14 May 1999 (extortion and forced cooperation), COL31949.E of 12 May 1999 (status of peace talks between the government and guerrilla groups) COL29835.E of 6 August 1998 (forced recruitment of females and farmers in rural areas), and COL30303.E of 21 October 1998 (guerrilla activities and forced recruitment of young males).

These add to reports available at Regional Documentation Centres in printed and electronic format, such as the October 1998 Human Rights Watch report War Without Quarter, which includes chapters on guerrilla activities and recruitment of youths, and selected news articles providing ongoing coverage of guerrilla operations and the peace process. Country Reports 1998, under Section 1.g., summarizes guerrilla activity in Colombia, including an overview of their wide range of activities and forms of attack or retribution, as well as forcible recruitment of youths. Some news reports available through Regional Documentation Centres provide a brief overview of the current situation of the Colombian conflict in relation to the above-mentioned peace process (The Economist 29 Jan. 2000), as well as guerrilla activities in the demilitarized zone (The New York Times 16 May 1999) and around the country since the area was cleared of government forces (The Economist 17 July 1999).

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 to refugee status or asylum. Please see below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this information request.

Agence France Presse (AFP). 4 June 1999. "Thousands of Colombian Children Recruited by Rebels, Paramilitaries." (NEXIS)

BBC News [London]. 12 January 2000. "Reports From Colombia…" [Accessed 12 Jan. 2000]

Central America Report [Guatemala City]. 11 February 2000. "Colombians Seek Refuge Across the Border." [Accessed 11 Feb. 2000]

Inter Press Service (IPS). 12 January 2000. Yadira Ferrer. "Conflict-Colombia: Diplomatic Drive to Expedite U.S. Aid."  (NEXIS)

Latin American Weekly Report (LAWR) [London]. 18 January 2000. "FARC Offensive."

The Miami Herald. 8 February 2000. Tim Johnson. "Colombian Rebels Hit Road For a Lesson in Democracy." [Accessed 11 February 2000]

The New York Times. 16 May 1999. Late Edition-Final. Larry Rother. "Colombia Rebels Reign in Ceded Area." (NEXIS)

Additional Sources Consulted

Andean Newsletter [Lima]. 1999.

El Colombiano [Medellin]. Jan.-Feb. 2000.

El Espectador [Bogota]. 1999-Feb. 2000.

IRB databases.

Latinamerica Press [Lima]. 1999.

Latin American Regional Reports: Andean Group Report [London]. 1999.