ANNUAL REPORT 2004 MASS DEMOBILIZATIONS

Five blocks of the Self Defense groups have been totally dismantled, 3,983 weapons have been handed over, and 2,624 people have returned to civilian life. Those are the final results of the mass demobilizations carried out during the final months of 2004.

The demobilizations were carried out in compliance with the Santa Fe de Ralito agreement signed by the government and the self defense groups on July 15, 2003, and ratified by that armed group on October 7, 2004, by means of a public communiqué called “Act in Good Faith for Peace”.

The demobilized blocks (Calima, Catatumbo, Bananero, Cundinamarca and AUC del Sur del Magdalena e Isla de San Fernando) had operated in the Departments of Antioquia, Magdalena, Norte de Santander, Valle and Cundinamarca.

The demobilization process for these five blocks was carried out in three stages: A stage of raising awareness, preparation, and training, another of concentration, demobilization, and verification, and the third and last, corresponding to the demobilization and beginning of the process of reincorporation to civilian life.

The first stage was led directly by the High Commissioner of Peace, who traveled to the regions where the demobilizations would be carried out to explain the scope of the process and the methodology to be used. During his tour through these regions, the Commissioner met with local authorities, Departmental authorities, Police, military officers, and with the community in general.

The Commissioner visited the following Departments during the process of raising awareness and coordination with regional and local authorities: Antioquia, Norte de Santander, Córdoba, Magdalena, Meta, Valle and Cundinamarca.

For the development of the second stage, corresponding to Concentration, four zones of temporary location were established by resolutions, with an effective period from 15 days to one month, as follows:

Demobilization of the Bananero Block: Resolution No. 246 of 2004/ farm property " La Macarena " located in the village "El Dos", municipality of Turbo, Antioquia, from 00:00 hours on the 20th of November of 2004, until 24:00 hours on the 10th of December of the same year.

Demobilization of the Cundinamarca Block: Resolution No. 295 of 2004/ Instituto Técnico Agrícola Luís Carlos Galán, located in the village of Terán, municipality of Yacopí, Department of Cundinamarca, until 24:00 hours of the 30th of December of the same year.

Demobilization Catatumbo Block: Resolution No. 260 of 2004/ farm property “Brisas del Sardinata”, located in the village of Campo Dos, municipality of Tibú, Department of Norte de Santander, from November 29, 2004, until the end of the day on December 30 of the same year.

Demobilization Calima Block: Resolution No. 297/ Country property “El Jardín”, located in the village of Galicia, municipality Bugalagrande, Department of Valle, until the end of the day on January 10, 2005.

The demobilization of the Autodefensas del Sur del Magdalena e Isla de San Fernando, was carried out in the village of San Rosa, municipality of Santa Ana, Department del Magdalena.

For the concentration, logistical preparations and operatives were carried out to get ready for the presence in the zone of the Block members.

Each one of these Temporary Location Zones had a coordinator, who, under the supervision of the High Commissioner, was in charge of organizing the identification card campaigns, the application of surveys, the deposit of weapons in the weapons locker for a preliminary count, the gift of a change of clothing for each person demobilized, the preparations for the event of laying down weapons, and the organization of the camp, among others.

The entire concentration process was accompanied by members of the Support Mission to the Peace Process from the OAS, (MAPP/OAS)

The identification cards that were handed out identify the former members of each block of the self defense groups as demobilized combatants and allow them to have access to the benefits of the Reincorporation program, including the payment of a subsidy.

At no time may this card be used as an identification document to avoid the application of any law or to obtain judicial benefits.

During this stage an intra-institutional coordination effort was carried out for the individualization of each demobilized person, to establish his or her full identity.

The third and final stage, corresponding to Reincorporation, is currently being developed. Its coordination is under the supervision of the Reincorporation Program at the Ministry of the Interior and Justice and of the Office of the High Commissioner of Peace. This phase includes comprehensive attention to the demobilized person, for which purpose five fixed Reference Centers have been established, located in the urban zones closest to the places of residence of the demobilized people. They are in: Turbo, Medellín, Cúcuta, Montería and Bogotá.

In said Reference Centers, follow-up, monitoring, and evaluation of the reincorporation process is carried out on an individual basis, and the demobilized person is advised in the following areas: judicial (identification of judicial situation); Social (education, health and psychological and social support); Humanitarian Attention (support for relocation and the monthly subsidy) and the productive area.

Judicial area

In order to facilitate the entrance of the person into society, and as a member of society obtain the corresponding identification documents, an intra-institutional coordination was carried out that involved the following institutions: Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil (National Registry of Marital Status), Cuerpo Técnico de Investigación de la Fiscalía (Attorney General’s Technical Body of Investigation (CTI), Administrative Department of Security (DAS), the National Army, the Ministry of the Interior and of Justice, the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation, and the Consejo Superior de la Judicatura (Superior Council of the Judicature).

As far as the judicial situation of the demobilized person, the judicial benefits established in law 782 of 2002 were requested individually for each one. The request will be transferred to the respective judicial officers or the executive branch, depending on the specific situation of the person. Those offices, according to the crime covered by the request will make a decision: to grant the benefit (when appropriate) or to continue the respective criminal process.

RESOURCES INVESTED

In humanitarian attention and delivery of return subsidies, the government has invested to date a total of 1,513 million Colombian pesos.

DEMOBILIZED PERSONS AND WEAPONS HANDED OVER

The figure for demobilized persons to date is almost 2,624 men and women; the number of weapons, both long and short, is 3,983. In addition, abundant explosives, supplies, ammunition and uniforms were handed over.

The weapons handed over in the disarming and demobilization process were held under the custody of the Army and at the disposition of the Attorney General’s office. Once the weapons were transferred to the corresponding Brigade, a second count was made and a document was written containing: the number and type of weapons, ammunition, explosives, supplies, and communications material, among others. The document was signed by the Brigade Commander, an advisor to the Office of the High Commissioner, and a representative of MAPP/OAS.

The transfer of the weapons from the Temporary Location Zones to the corresponding Brigade, and the count and identification of the same had the constant support of an official from the GIAT (Intra-institutional Group for Anti-terrorism Analysis, made up of the Army, Police, and the DAS), who in turn verified the condition of the war material.

APPLICATION OF THE SURVEY

The five self defense blocks that to date have demobilized are made up of a population of 2,624 people.

The office of the High Commissioner of Peace conducted a survey with the purpose of evaluating the basic characteristics of the demobilized population, and its expectations for the future. This knowledge will permit the processes in the framework of reincorporation to be built based on the information supplied by the demobilized persons themselves. It will be a fundamental resource for putting the Follow-up, Monitoring, and Evaluation System into action.

OTHER GOODS HANDED OVER

105 Farms
58 properties (both houses and commercial property)
10 boats
45 mules
11 Vehicles

Results of the survey

Close to 98% of the demobilized population is masculine.

72% is younger than 30 years old.

The marital status of more than half of the population is married or married under common law (57%). Fifty-six percent declared they have children and 91% affirmed having lived with their family before joining the illegal armed group. In the survey, 77% of those demobilized showed an interest in meeting with their families once they have completed their withdrawal from illegal armed activity.

As far as the degree of education, 12.5% of the demobilized people are illiterate and only 50% have finished the fifth grade.

Relative to the productive activities engaged in by the demobilized people before joining the illegal armed group, the majority of the population indicated they had employment – 45% - a smaller percentage indicated they had temporary work – 24% - and a small percentage responded that they had participated in a family business – 9%. According to the survey, only 2% of the population had been unemployed.

Regarding the employment expectations of the demobilized people, 21% desire employment, 50% would like to create their own small business, and 27% would like to establish a small business in partnership with a former friend. The majority indicated they would like to work in an urban area.

The majority of the demobilized population indicated they have no possessions (88%) and only 3.6% said they own their own home.

Of the total number of people demobilized, close to 8% have some type of permanent limitation (disability).

Operative to Conduct the Survey

Conducting the survey and the card issuing process in each Temporary Location Zone was carried out with the participation of: 15 to 20 survey administrators, 4 supervisors, 6 digitizers, 2 computer engineers, and 10 card processors.

The time per person to conduct the survey was approximately 10 minutes and the time for processing the identification card was from 7 to 8 minutes.

The application and processing of the survey, as well as the card issuing process, relied on technical advice from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and field advice from the office of the High Commissioner of Peace and from the Reincorporation Program from the Ministry of the Interior and Justice.

The survey was applied by students and professionals in social communications, the majority of them inhabitants of the zone where the demobilizations occurred. That is the case with the Social Pastoral in Turbó, The ‘Escuela Francisco de Paula Santander’, Tibú section, and the ‘Corporación Escuela Galán’, in Cundinamarca.
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Each survey included 31 questions, the great majority with multiple choices. The time for processing was 3 days.

The card issuing process was carried out with a biometric identification system (taking fingerprints, signatures, and photographs), information that was stored in a database that has a high security level.

REFERENCE CENTERS

To date, 6 reference centers have been installed in the country. Their location is based on the information produced by the survey as far as the population density and the geographic distribution of the population (place of return of the demobilized person).

The reference centers are located in Cúcuta, Montería, Bogotá, Buga, Turbo and Medellín. There is also a Mobile Reference Center that will program and carry out periodic visits to the different regions where there are small groups of demobilized combatants, to assist their reincorporation process.

TELEPHONE LINE 1 - 8000

With the purpose of supplying daily updated information to the demobilized population as a group, a free telephone number was made available with national coverage. Using this number, the demobilized person can clear up doubts and questions regarding his or her reincorporation process.