Inter-american court of human rights
Events following the displacement
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- The return of those displaced and the continuation of the acts of violence against those displaced from Cacarica
Events following the displacementFollowing the events of February 1997, those displaced continued to be subject to harassment, threats and acts of violence by paramilitary groups.241 It was also recorded that, between 1996 and 2002, several people were murdered or disappeared.242 In addition, as of March 1997, the State was aware of the situation of insecurity, because it had been requested to take measures of protection in this regard.243 In addition, the evidence reveals that, in 1998, Social Action presented a housing improvement project for 418 families, which was subsidized by the petitioners, and 147 families benefited from it.244 The return of those displaced and the continuation of the acts of violence against those displaced from CacaricaIn February 1999, some of the communities displaced from Cacarica, declared themselves to be a “Peace Community” entitled “Comunidad de Autodeterminación, Vida y Dignidad” (hereinafter “CAVIDA”) [Self-determination, Life and Dignity Community].245 After remaining for almost three years in the Turbo sports arena and in the El Cacique hacienda - Bahía Cupica (Chocó), they began the process of returning to their territory, following agreements between the national Government and the community, and monitored by a Joint Verification Commission. Another group of the displaced population chose to settle definitively in the municipality to which they had been displaced.246 Owing to the situation of insecurity and scarcities, they asked the Government to provide adequate safety and socio-economic conditions for their return.247 Agreements were therefore signed with the Colombian Government.248 Some of the agreements made by the Government, the communities and the Joint Verification Commission included the construction of housing, a production project, the “unclogging” of the navigable waterways and the permanent presence of the Ombudsman’s Office as part of the comprehensive protection scheme.249 In addition, on December 13, 1999, the “Return Agreement between the Communities displaced from the Cacarica river basin provisionally settled in Turbo, Bocas de Atrato and Bahía, and the national Government” was signed, which included the components that the Government had to carry out for the definitive return of the communities.250 The forced displacement of these communities lasted a total of four years,251 from February 1997 to March 2001, although the return process began in January 2000.252 It is an undisputed fact that 270 persons returned during the first stage; 84 in the second stage, followed by another 450 and, during the last stage, approximately 150 persons returned.253 In addition, owing to the persistence in the region of the factors that gave rise to the displacement in 1997 (the ACCU and the FARC guerrilla), the communities banded together in the CAVIDA process decided voluntarily, and under the aegis of the State and of the international community, to set up two settlements known as “Esperanza en Dios” and “Nueva Vida”, and determined to prevent armed agents from entering the areas that they lived in and cultivated, defined as humanitarian zones.254 The members of CAVIDA chose to adopt internal rules of coexistence in which they established that they would remain outside the armed conflict, and would not collaborate with any of those participating in the hostilities.255 The evidence shows that, during the four years of the displacement,256 the State only offered the following support for the return: (a) humanitarian assistance to 10 families who, in 2004,257 returned voluntarily from Jaqué (Panama) to Nueva Vida; (b) actions in the Cacarica river basin aimed at community assistance, from which one “Nueva Vida” family benefited;258 (c) humanitarian assistance, psychological care, and organization of the shelters by the Presidential Advisory Council for the Displaced and some NGOs, January 1999;259 (d) food for Cupica and Turbo from May 1999 and January 2000, respectively, until December 2000, to the value of 1,243,475,684 Colombian pesos; (e) payment of public services of water and electricity for Turbo and the two shelters amounting to 68,233,062 pesos, and (f) “toiletry kits, dishes, cooking utensils and stoves for 172,676,618 pesos.”260 It is also on record that the State provided technical and financial support for the implementation of the different stages of the return to the area,261 preparing the initial conditions for the return by planting crops and hiring boats and, subsequently, by housing projects, production projects and other activities to assist in the resettlement. Also, in September 2000, 201 persons were transferred from Bahía Cupica to Turbo for family reunification purposes, and humanitarian assistance was provided to 10 families who returned voluntarily from Jaqué (Panama) to Nueva Vida in 2004.262 Lastly, actions were taken in the Cacarica river valley to provide attention to the communities, and one “Nueva Vida” family benefited from them.263 However, the representatives and the victims indicated that the Government only complied partially with the agreements it had made,264 and that the housing construction project in these settlements, started in October 2000, had proceeded very slowly. In addition, they indicated that the process of providing identity documents and registering those who returned to the Cacarica river basin was only partly completed,265 and that “[d]espite the implementation of the different mechanisms of prevention, the proposed objective have not been achieved completely, owing to the poor response of the Armed Forces.266 Nevertheless, the evidence reveals that, between May 1999 and December 2000, the State provided food to those who were returning to the Cacarica territories, and who remained in Turbo and in Cupica, amounting to approximately 1,243,475,684.00 Colombian pesos.267 In addition, as it has been noted (supra para. 121), the information presented by the different State entities reveals that the Cacarica communities, in particular those of “Esperanza en Dios” and “Nueva Vida,” continued to be subjected to threats, harassment and acts of violence by members of the armed groups.268 Between 1996 and 2002, 106 persons belonging to the Peace Communities and the process of the return to Cacarica were murdered, and 19 persons were disappeared.269 Despite the new acts of violence, in October 2002, 939 persons decided to continue the return process.270 On September 7, 2001, the Cundimarca Administrative Court issued an order to protect the fundamental rights of the communities of the Cacarica River to health and also life, tranquility, and the right to obtain a response to their petitions from the authorities.271 The representatives also indicated that paramilitary groups made two incursions into the settlements of the communities in 2001: the first on June 9 and the second on June 10.272 Directory: docs -> casos -> articulos docs -> Observational Assessment of Teaching Practices Teaching Assessment Initiative Proposal Submitted to The Teachers for a New Era project docs -> Traditional British values docs -> From Warfighters to Crimefighters: The Origins of Domestic Police Militarization docs -> Borzoi Club of America Register of Merit Program I. 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