WHAT IS THE WORKING GROUP "WOMAN AND ARMED CONFLICT" ?

It is an instance of coordination and reflection, formed by women's organizations, human rights organizations and social organizations; individuals, and local and international bodies interested in making the many forms of violence which affect women and girls more visible, in the context of the Colombian internal armed conflict.

WHO FORMS THE WORKING GROUP “WOMAN AND ARMED CONFLICT”?

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The Group began work in September 2000, when it became apparent that Violence Against Women and girls in the context of the Colombian armed conflict was not very visible to the public at large. The fear of reprisals, lack of confidence in the justice system and high levels of impunity for such crimes are obstacles which prevented the women affected from denouncing acts of violence committed by armed actors against women and girls. To this, we add that the available information is scattered across the country in the hands of women's organisations, organisations working for the defence of human rights, and some State agencies.

THE WORK OF THE GROUP

The Group connects up information on the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, through examination of secondary sources, the conducting of workshops with women affected by the conflict, and the compilation of testimony and research reports supplied by organisations along to the Group and other all women's and human rights organisations. The result of this work has been published in reports which the Group has been sending to these United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and other institutions at home and abroad. The report showed a diversity of contributors connected up by the Group in its efforts to make the impact of armed conflict on woman and girls in Colombia more visible.

In April 2001, the Group prepared its first report on Violence Against Women and Girls in the context of the Colombian internal armed conflict. Aware of the importance of adopting international mechanisms for the protection of human rights, the Group delivered this report to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, to arouse her interest in the situation in Colombia, and to promote a visit to see the situation of violence of violation of women's human rights for herself. In November 2001, the Special Rapporteur at the time, Mrs Radhika Commaraswamy, visited Colombia and subsequently made a report to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. The Rapporteur's report included recommendations to the Colombian government and to the armed actors with regard to: (1) the measures required to guarantee the protection of human rights of women and girls in Colombia,(2) the pressing need to sign humanitarian accords, to protect women in the framework of international humanitarian law, and (3) public policy designed to reduce the effects of violence and discrimination against women. REPORT OF THE RAPPORTEUR,/MISION COLOMBIA.

In December 2001, the Group published a second report which brought to light some forms of violence against women and girls in the context of the armed conflict, approaching the following issues: figures on some violations of international humanitarian law and human rights of women and girls in the context of social and political violence, displaced women and girls, violence against the participation of women and their organisations, girls disengaged from the armed conflict, sexual violence against women and girls, and other forms of violence against them.

In October 2002, the Group sent the Special Rapporteur a follow-up report on compliance with her recommendations (see page 119 of the Third Report), intended to act as support for her report to the annual sessions of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. The report follows that the recommendations of the Rapporteur, analysing them in the framework of the measures of "the State of Internal Commotion” (a State of Exception) ordered by the government, and the effect of those measures on the lives of women.

In April 2003, the Group published its Third Report which brings the issues of the previous report up to date, and includes matters such as the effect of armed conflict on indigenous and AfroColombian women, the impact of armed conflict on the lives of women (example, Medellín), the relationship between family violence and the violence generated by armed conflict, the situation of women deprived of their freedom for reasons related to the armed conflict, and sexual violence perpetrated by armed actors, which is a topic of which appears time and again in the report.

In October 2004, the Group published its Fourth Report, revolving around the question, "What does security means for Colombian women who have to live with the impact of armed conflict, and how is that affected in the context of the Defence and Democratic Security policy of the present government? The report makes it plain that the Defence and Democratic Security policy, far from protecting the civilian population from the rigours of armed conflict, has helped to worsen their security situation due to the growing militarisation of civil civilian life, and the stronger pressures of the various armed actors - including the army - to involve the civilians in the conflict. The report included the situation of women who have returned home in the context of the Democratic Security Policy, the impact of confinement and mass detentions on the lives of women, the situation of women during and after the "rehabilitation zones" in Arauca, and security and protection for participation by women and women's organisations. Also, issues raised in previous reports were updated.

In December 2005, the Group published its Fifth Report which analyses the legal framework of the demobilisation of the paramilitaries, and the effects on women, the impact of the demobilisation of paramilitary Groups in Magdalena Medio and Medellin on the lives of women, the situation of women and girls in Putumayo and in Bogota, and the situation of displaced teachers. At the same time, it also presents an updated report on sexual violence in them the context of the armed conflict, and the situation of indigenous women in Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and in Cauca.

In December 2006, the Group published its Sixth Report, containing the results of following up some of the recommendations of United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, its causes and consequences, after the official visit to Colombia in November 2001. The Report highlights expressions of social and political violence derived from the current dynamics of the conflict, which were not so visible during the Rapporteur´s visit, and evaluates the level of compliance with some of the recommendations by the Colombian State and armed Groups, in the following areas: violence against women, including sexual violence, violence against participation, the situation of rural women; for statistics out; justice and impunity under the rules set for the current demobilisation process, and the lack of judicial independence; and humanitarian accords and peace the peace process.

In December 2006, the Group published the text “Women´s memoir. A guide to documenting the impact of Violence Against Women and girls in the context of armed conflict and make it more visible”. This was a tool to support the work of defending women's human rights. The guide is a compilation of the point of view of the Group, in relation to the realities of Colombian women in the midst of armed conflict, as expressed in its annual reports, and it connects up the accumulated experience of workshops in of formation in documentation conducted by the Group with women's organisations in several parts of the country. In these workshops, the Group compiles testimonies and information about the impact of violence in the context of armed conflict on the lives of women and girls, in order to make it visible and to document it; and at the same time, it trains others to learn how to document this violence. The Guide is addressed to community leaders and social organisations involving women and human rights.

WHAT THE GROUP PROPOSES TO DO.

The Group seeks to ensure that the many forms of violence against women and girls in the context of the Colombian armed conflict are considered to be unacceptable crimes which must be investigated, punished, and made the object and source of reparations. Given the dimensions of the internal armed conflict, issue of violence against women and girls cannot continue to be put off, or pushed into second place. It is essential that the Colombian state adopt immediate and specific measures to combat the high level of impunity which exists in respect of violations of women's rights, and that it implement the recommendations of United Nations special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, and other international instances in this way. If the State were to follow the recommendations of the Rapporteur, this would help to overcome the human rights crisis in all Colombia, and to reduce the impact of armed conflict on women and girls.

The Group hopes that is reports contribute to make a serious human rights crisis involving women in Colombia more visible, on the understanding that the solution of the internal armed conflict is not the only factor involved, to the extent that the causes of human rights violations are the result of deep-seated social, economic, and cultural inequities, which become more bitter in times of armed conflict.