Colombia - Elections - 2006
Colombia is a constitutional, multiparty democracy with a population of approximately 42 million. On May 28, independent presidential candidate Alvaro Uribe was reelected in elections that were considered generally free and fair. The 42-year internal armed conflict continued between the government and terrorist organizations, particularly the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN). .The United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) was demobilized by August, but renegade AUC members who did not demobilize, or who demobilized but later abandoned the peace process, remained the object of military action. While civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces, there were instances in which elements of the security forces acted in violation of state policy.
Although serious problems remained, the government's respect for human rights continued to improve, which was particularly evident in actions undertaken by the government's security forces and in demobilization negotiations with the AUC. The following societal problems and governmental human rights abuses were reported during the year: unlawful and extrajudicial killings; forced disappearances; insubordinate military collaboration with criminal groups; torture and mistreatment of detainees; overcrowded and insecure prisons; arbitrary arrest; high number of pretrial detainees some of whom were held with convicted prisoners; impunity; an inefficient judiciary subject to intimidation; harassment and intimidation of journalists; unhygienic conditions at settlements for displaced persons, with limited access to health care, education, or employment; corruption; harassment of human rights groups; violence against women, including rape; child abuse and child prostitution; trafficking in women and children for the purpose of sexual exploitation; societal discrimination against women, indigenous persons, and minorities; and illegal child labor.
Illegal armed groups committed the majority of human rights violations. Despite a unilateral cease-fire declared by the AUC in 2002 and a nationwide demobilization, renegade paramilitary members committed the following criminal acts and human rights abuses: political killings and kidnappings; forced disappearances; torture; interference with personal privacy and with the political system; forced displacement; suborning and intimidation of judges, prosecutors, and witnesses; infringement on citizens' privacy rights; restrictions on freedom of movement; recruitment and employment of child soldiers; and harassment, intimidation, and killings of human rights workers, journalists, teachers, and trade unionists.
The FARC and ELN committed the following human rights violations: political killings; killings of off-duty members of the public security forces and local officials; kidnappings and forced disappearances; massive forced displacements; suborning and intimidation of judges, prosecutors, and witnesses; infringement on citizens' privacy rights; restrictions on freedom of movement; widespread recruitment of child soldiers; attacks against human rights activists; harassment, intimidation, and killings of teachers and trade unionists.
During the year the government demobilized 17,560 paramilitary members, which brought the total number demobilized since 2003 to more than 32,000 and concluded the demobilization process. Former paramilitaries who refused to demobilize were treated as common criminals. Representatives of the government, the ELN, civil society, and international observers continued meeting to explore a possible peace process and demobilization of the ELN.
Political reforms enacted for the March parliamentary elections raised the vote threshold for parties to retain formal status and gain access to government funds. The threshold rose from 50,000 votes to 2 percent of votes cast for either the Senate or the House of Representatives; 24 of the 60 parties maintained their official status following the March elections. The Liberal and Conservative parties have long dominated politics, but the reelection of President Uribe as an independent, the second place showing of the Polo Democratico Alternativo's (POLO) presidential candidate Carlos Gaviria, and the success of third party candidates in the March parliamentary elections reflected a widening of the political arena.
Both renegade paramilitary groups and the FARC threatened and killed government officials. According to the National Federation of Councils (FENACON), 23 council members were killed during the year, compared with 26 during 2005. FENACON attributed 60 percent of attacks on council members to the FARC.
Scores of local officials throughout the country resigned because of threats from the FARC. In October the press reported that 60 public officials, including seven mayors, tendered their resignations in Norte de Santander Department after receiving death threats from FARC. Also in October senators from POLO denounced an "extermination and intimidation" plan by paramilitary groups against the party in Valle de Cauca Department. A Ministry of Interior and Justice program provided protection to 155 mayors, two former mayors, and 1,914 council members during the year.
The law requires that women be placed in at least 30 percent of appointed government posts and that the government report to Congress each year the percentage of women in high-level government positions. There were 11 women in the 102-member Senate, including its president, and 16 women in the 166-member House of Representatives. There were five women in the 13-member cabinet and three on the 23-member Supreme Court. There were four indigenous senators, two of whom occupied seats reserved for indigenous persons, and one indigenous member of the House of Representatives. There were no indigenous cabinet members and no indigenous persons on any of the nation's high courts. There were two Afro-Colombian senators and three Afro-Colombian members of the House of Representatives. There were no Afro-Colombian cabinet ministers and no Afro-Colombians on any of the nation's high courts.
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