Colombia - Elections - 2002
Colombia is a constitutional, multiparty democracy in which the Liberal and Conservative parties have long dominated politics. On March 10, voters elected a bicameral legislature with a mix of Liberal, Conservative, and independent members. On May 26, voters elected independent Alvaro Uribe President. Both elections were generally free and fair, in spite of a concerted campaign by terrorist organizations such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to disrupt them.
Despite decades of drug and politically related violence, the market-based economy is diverse and relatively advanced. The country's population is estimated at 44 million. Crude oil, coal, coffee, and cut flowers are the principal legal exports, although illegal drug trafficking has created a large illicit economy. Economic growth for the year was estimated at 1.6 percent, while inflation measured over 7 percent. Income distribution was highly skewed, with 67 percent of the population living in poverty.
A major internal armed conflict between the Government and leftist guerrillas, particularly the FARC and the terrorist organization National Liberation Army (ELN)--as well as right-wing paramilitaries, particularly the terrorist organization United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), caused the deaths of between 5,000 and 6,000 civilians during the year, including combat casualties, political killings, and forced disappearances. Serious violations of human rights were commonplace. The civilian judiciary was largely independent of government influence; however, the suborning or intimidation of judges, witnesses, and prosecutors was common.
Paramilitaries continued to commit numerous unlawful and political killings, particularly of labor leaders, often kidnaping and torturing suspected guerrilla sympathizers prior to executing them. Paramilitaries also conducted kidnapings for ransom. Paramilitaries committed "social cleansing" killings of homosexuals and other "undesirable" elements. However, paramilitaries appeared to commit far fewer large-scale massacres than in 2001.
Over the years, the public security forces have taken important steps to improve their human rights record; however, some members of the armed forces and the police continued to commit serious of human rights abuses. The Government's human rights record remained poor; there were continued efforts to improve the legal framework and institutional mechanisms, but implementation lagged, and serious problems remained in many areas. A small percentage of total human rights abuses reported were attributed to state security forces; however, some members of the government security forces continued to commit serious abuses, including unlawful and extrajudicial killings. Some members of the security forces collaborated with paramilitary groups that committed serious abuses. Impunity remained at the core of the country's human rights problems. The civilian judiciary was inefficient, severely overburdened by a large case backlog, and undermined by corruption and intimidation. Despite some prosecutions and convictions, the authorities rarely brought high-ranking officers of the security forces charged with human rights offenses to trial.
Guerrillas, particularly the FARC, were responsible for a large percentage of civilian deaths attributable to the internal armed conflict. The rate of guerrilla abuses increased during the year, particularly as the FARC attempted to undermine the national elections and complicate the peaceful transfer of power between administrations. They engaged in a concerted campaign to destabilize municipal governments by killing 9 mayors and threatening to execute others, forcing nearly 400 mayors to submit their resignations. In addition to politicians, guerrillas killed journalists, labor union members, and numerous religious leaders. The FARC also continued to kidnap, torture, and kill off-duty members of the public security forces. Guerrillas, particularly the FARC and the ELN, kidnaped thousands of civilians to help finance subversion and put political pressure on the Government. Victims were held in deplorable conditions and often tortured both physically and psychologically. Guerrillas, particularly the FARC, caused mass displacements both intentionally and as byproducts of military offensives, and caused thousands of civilian deaths and injuries through indiscriminate attacks on small towns and random terrorist bombings throughout the country. Guerrillas, particularly the FARC, engaged in widespread recruitment of minors and used female conscripts as sex slaves.
There were large demonstrations on many occasions by citizens throughout the country, some to repudiate terrorist activities, and others to protest government budget cuts and social policies. The authorities generally did not interfere. For example, on September 16, approximately 800,000 public employees throughout the country went on strike and held large marches in major cities to protest government-sponsored pension, labor, and tax reform bills. The protest was generally peaceful. However, the following day, government officials announced that employees whose positions were considered essential, such a firefighters and judges, would be sanctioned for having participated in the strike. Also, throughout the week of September 16 there were clashes between members of the public security forces and peasants conducting parallel mobilizations in rural areas to protest government agricultural programs and related policies. The security forces temporarily detained hundreds of peasants to enforce a government decree that prohibited impeding transportation on public highways.
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of universal suffrage. Presidential elections are held every 4 years, with the incumbent barred from reelection. Members of Congress are also elected to 4-year terms. Governors, mayors, and other local officials are elected to 3-year terms. Congressional and presidential elections were held in March and May, respectively. The last elections for local officials took place in October 2000.
On 10 March 2003, voters elected a bicameral legislature with a mix of Liberal, Conservative, and independent members. On May 26, voters elected independent Alvaro Uribe President. Both elections were generally free and fair, in spite of a concerted campaign by terrorist organizations such as the FARC to disrupt them. The Liberal and Conservative parties often negotiated with members of smaller, independent parties to form working coalitions. In the House, the Liberal Party held on to 58 seats, while the Conservative Party held 21. The remaining 87 seats were filled by candidates from some 40 different "independent" political movements, some loosely affiliated with the Liberal and Conservative parties. In the Senate, Liberals took 31 seats, Conservatives took 13, indigenous candidates took 2 constitutionally mandated seats, and independents filled the remaining 56 seats.
Political parties generally operated freely without government interference. Parties that fail to garner 50,000 votes in a general election lose the right to present candidates and receive government funds. However, they may reincorporate at any time by presenting 50,000 signatures to the National Electoral Board. Suffrage is universal and voluntary for citizens age 18 and over, except for active duty members of the police and armed forces, who are prohibited from voting. Civilian public employees, although eligible to vote, are not allowed to participate in partisan politics.
The congressional and presidential elections, conducted under unprecedented levels of state security, were generally free and fair, despite attempts by paramilitaries and guerrillas to interfere in the political process. However, the National Electoral Commission invalidated 17,000 votes based on evidence of fraud, annulling the victories of five Senators-elect. In areas dominated by paramilitaries, such as the department of Cordoba and urban areas of the Middle Magdalena region, paramilitaries gathered community leaders--sometimes by force--to instruct them on acceptable candidates. However, despite paramilitary boasting that they elected 35 percent of the legislature, election results revealed that candidates reportedly endorsed by paramilitaries consistently lost in regions dominated by these groups. For example, in the city of Barracabermeja, where paramilitary influence was widely acknowledged, all candidates reportedly endorsed by paramilitaries lost the elections by wide margins.
Guerrillas conducted a systematic campaign of violence designed to disrupt and discredit the national elections. The FARC attempted to assassinate Alvaro Uribe when he was a candidate more than 12 times, including a major bomb attack on April 14 in the coastal city of Barranquilla that left 3 dead and 13 injured, including 10 civilians. The FARC threatened to kill civic leaders and residents of towns in which most voters cast their ballots for Uribe, and successfully prevented thousands of peasants in rural areas from going to the polls. Nevertheless, in FARC influenced regions, such as the department of Caqueta, Uribe won by a large margin.
In retaliation for Uribe's first round election victory, on June 5 the FARC killed Luis Carlos Caro, the mayor of Solita, a town in Caqueta department that voted overwhelmingly for Uribe. In an attempt to destabilize the country prior to Uribe's inauguration, the FARC extended its threats to all local elected officials throughout the country, resulting in the submission of resignations by 399 mayors nationwide. Another 300 mayors were obligated to carry out their responsibilities by telephone and messenger from relatively secure department capitals. Many city council members and municipal workers also resigned, halting the provision of public services in many municipalities. In total, the FARC killed 9 mayors and 70 city councilmen during the year. On inauguration day, the FARC launched a rocket attack on the presidential palace; however, most of the 15 rockets missed their target and fell in a slum near the palace, killing 23 persons, including 3 children.
The FARC also committed aggressions against threatened mayors' families. In July the FARC killed Omar Castano, the son of Jose Leonel Castano, mayor of the town of Vista Hermosa, Meta department, formerly part of the FARC despeje. Omar Castano had been kidnaped June 28. His body was not returned. The FARC kidnaped several mayors' children to pressure the mayors into resigning. For example, on July 17, members of the FARC kidnaped the 3-year-old daughter of Libardo Herazo, mayor of Colon, Putumayo department. The girl and her nanny were released on July 31, after Herazo publicly announced his resignation.
The AUC initially threatened to retaliate against mayors who resigned in the face of FARC intimidation, but stepped back from this policy in June as announced in a letter to the Colombian Federation of Municipalities.
The FARC kidnaped politicians in an attempt to force the Government into a prisoner exchange. For example, on February 23, the FARC kidnaped independent presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. Three days earlier, the FARC had kidnaped Senator Jorge Eduardo Gechem, Chairman of the Senate Peace Commission, during an airplane hijacking. The FARC continued to hold captive an additional four members of Congress.
Both the AUC and the FARC claimed to operate clandestine political movements: the AUC's National and Democratic Movement, launched in September 2001, and the FARC's Bolivarian Movement for a New Colombia, announced in April 2000. The status of these movements was uncertain, although their influence appeared minimal.
In municipalities that lacked a state security presence and in poor urban neighborhoods both guerrillas and paramilitaries sought to impose control and garner political support using measures along a spectrum from social cleansing killings to donations of labor and materiel for community projects.
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