Action points based on findings

·         Simplify processes for mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) survivors to access their rights under the Victim’s Law, including ensuring that out of pocket costs for a range of services are covered within insurance systems.

·         Dedicate resources to the full implementation of a range of new policies and programs, including those promoting the rights of persons with disabilities and ensuring the availability of age- and gender-appropriate services.

·         Make sure that large government economic inclusion programs that target armed conflict victims are adjusted to include mine/ERW survivors.

Victim assistance commitments

The Republic of Colombia is responsible for a significant number of landmine and ERW survivors who are in need. Cluster munition victims have also been reported. Colombia has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty and as a signatory to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Casualties[1]

Casualties Overview

In 2013, the Presidential Program for Comprehensive Action Against Antipersonnel Mines (Programa Presidencial para la Acción Integral contra Minas Antipersonal, PAICMA) recorded 368 casualties from antipersonnel mines and ERW.[2]

There were 203 military casualties in 2013.[3] Civilian casualties (165) made up 45% of the total, the same percentage as in 2012; this was an increase compared to 37% in 2011 and other recent years.[4] More than a third (57, or 35%) of civilian casualties were children (43 boys; 14 girls). This continued the steady trend of increasing child casualties as a percentage of annual civilian casualties first observed for 2010 when children were 14% of civilian casualties, increasing to 22% in 2011 and 30% in 2012. The percentage of child casualties in 2013 was more than double the percentage in 2010. Child casualties have also increased in absolute terms since 2010 when there were 28 child casualties. There were five casualties among women, a dramatic decrease from the 32 women casualties in 2012.[5] The remainder of the casualties and the majority of recorded civilian casualties (64%) were men.

In 2013, there were 27 civilian casualties among manual coca eradicators employed by the Program for the Eradication of Illicit Cultivation (Programas contra Cultivos Ilícitos, PCI).[6] This was a significant decrease compared with the 55 casualties among coca eradicators in 2012 but similar to the number (21) reported for 2011. In 2013, PAICMA continued to work with the PCI, as required by the Attorney General’s Office, to ensure that safety standards, a security protocol, and preventive education were developed and implemented during manual coca eradication. Fluctuations in the annual number of coca eradicator casualties were due to the changing nature of armed conflict and varying tactics employed to counter drug eradication measures.[7] The number of casualties among security forces (police or military) occurring during coca eradication remained unknown through May 2014.[8]

From 2006 through the end of 2013, there were at least 369 civilian casualties recorded among coca eradicators; 42 died, 324 were injured, and it was unknown whether the remaining three casualties survived.[9]

The overall mine/ERW casualty total in 2013 (368) represents a significant decrease (25%) in annual casualties as compared with the 496 casualties recorded in 2012. Between 2006 and 2010, the Monitor identified a trend of declining annual casualty rates that had been ongoing since the peak of almost 1,200 casualties recorded annually in 2005 and 2006.[10] In 2011 and 2012, the decline slowed with annual casualty totals remaining fairly consistent, at 496 and 549 casualties per year, with a drop once again in 2013.

Between 1982 and the end of 2013, PAICMA recorded 10,626 casualties (2,157 killed; 8,469 injured).[11] Civilians accounted for 38% (4,122) of the total and children accounted for 25% (1,070) of civilian casualties. Casualties have been recorded in 31 of Colombia’s 32 departments. The departments of Antioquia, Meta, Caquetá, Norte de Santander, and Nariño registered the highest number of casualties and accounted for more than half of the total (54%). As of 31 December 2013, 3,261 mine/ERW victims were registered with Colombia’s Registry of Victims.[12]

Cluster munition casualties

As identified in Case No. 12.416 (Santo Domingo Massacre versus the Republic of Colombia) heard before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, 17 civilians were killed and 27 were injured during a cluster munition strike in Santo Domingo, Colombia on 13 December 1998.[13]

Victim Assistance

There were at least 8,469 mine/ERW survivors in Colombia as of the end of 2013.[14]

Victim assistance since 1999[15]

Since monitoring began in 1999, mine/ERW survivors in Colombia have faced serious obstacles in accessing emergency medical attention, ongoing medical care, and physical rehabilitation because these services have been available only in major cities while most mine incidents occur in rural and remote areas, as well as in conflict zones. In 1999, social and economic inclusion and psychological support for survivors was virtually nonexistent, even in most major cities, with the exception of two facilities in Bogota which have consistently provided comprehensive rehabilitation services that include psychological support.

During the period, several actors worked to improve and increase the available of rehabilitation services. Among these efforts, a comprehensive rehabilitation center opened in the department of Caqueta while rehabilitation centers in Antioquia and Valle del Cauca improved to include psychological support and vocational rehabilitation. In 2006, the ICRC began a mine action program in Colombia that included collecting data on mine/ERW casualties, helping survivors to access victim assistance, and strengthening the physical rehabilitation sector to improve the quality and accessibility of these services.

Through the work of national and international NGOs and Colombian authorities, more than 60 local disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs) and survivor associations have been formed since 1999, gradually increasing opportunities for peer-to-peer support as well as socio-economic inclusion. However, most associations and DPOs have had limited impact due to a lack of capacity and financial support.

Decreasing international funding for NGOs since 2012 limited their efforts to fill gaps in existing care and to facilitate access by paying for transportation and accommodations.[16]

Throughout the period, a series of laws have outlined the rights of survivors of mines and ERW as victims of terrorism or conflict through a process termed the “Route of Attention” (“Ruta de Atencion”) for mine/ERW victims, which is the legal framework through which victims can access their rights to compensation, rehabilitation, and other components of assistance by registering as victims and having the cost of assistance paid for or reimbursed through special government funds.[17] However, complicated procedures to register as a mine victim and delayed reimbursements have meant that many survivors could not access the care they needed or had to depend on support from the ICRC and NGOs to facilitate access or pay for services. The National Victims’ Law of 2011 guarantees comprehensive assistance to all mine survivors as reparations for violations of their rights resulting from ongoing armed conflict. Coordination of its implementation is the responsibility of the Unit for the Assistance and Comprehensive Reparation of Victims (Unidad para la Atención y Reparación Integral a Víctimas, or Victim’s Unit). However, as of 2013 most survivors had not felt the impact of this law.

Government coordination of victim assistance began in Colombia in 2002 through the Antipersonnel Mines Observatory, which was replaced in June 2007 with PAICMA. Throughout the period, victim assistance coordination mechanisms have varied and at times, have lacked continuity, a result of changes and restructuring within PAICMA and changes with the legal frameworks that outline the rights and assistance available to mine/ERW survivors.

Victim assistance in 2013

Few changes were reported in the overall availability or access to services and programs for mine/ERW survivors. The launch of a government program to increase access to psychological assistance for armed conflict victims created expectations for improvements in this care that were not met during the year. While an increasing number of mine/ERW survivors were registered with the Victim’s Unit and registered for healthcare assistance, the full impact of the Victim’s Law was still to be felt by most victims as existing structures were adapted to allow for its implementation. National and international NGOs continued to fill gaps, particularly in transportation to access services, in economic and social inclusion programs, and in psychological support, which should have been covered through the benefits provided by the government. In 2013, there was an increased focus on gender- and age-appropriate assistance though this was mostly at the level of policy with a limited impact in practice.

On 27 February 2013, Law 1618, the national law to guarantee the rights of persons with disabilities, aligned with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), was approved and a national disability policy was approved in December to ensure the implementation of the law.

Assessing victim assistance needs

In 2013, PAICMA carried out four different activities to collect information about the needs of mine/ERW survivors while informing them on how to register for services and benefits. As part of the process to develop the National Plan for the Comprehensive Assistance for Mine/ERW Victims (National Mine/ERW Victims Plan), PAICMA convened two sets of meetings: 1) one national meeting and two regional meetings with mine/ERW victims and; 2) one national meeting and two regional meetings with other stakeholders—local authorities, service providers, and NGOs. The purpose of all six meetings was to identify the needs of survivors, determine the barriers preventing them from accessing services, and finding ways to overcome these barriers through the National Mine/ERW Victims Plan.

PAICMA also participated in three ad hoc meetings with survivor networks, two convened by the NGO Pastoral Social and the other by the survivor network in the department of Santander. In the meetings, survivors presented the challenges in accessing assistance and PAICMA briefed participants on how to access their rights and services. PAICMA also participated in all five meetings of the Antioquia departmental victim assistance coordinating mechanism in 2013. In addition, PAICMA met directly with some new survivors and/or family members of persons killed by landmines to determine their needs and orientate them on how to register for benefits. PAICMA also worked with local authorities and NGOs to strengthen their capacity to work directly with survivors to orientate them in how to access benefits.[18]

Several NGOs, including the Colombian Campaign to Ban Landmines (Campaña Colombiana Contra Minas, CCCM), Handicap International (HI), Fundación REI, and Center for Comprehensive Rehabilitation Colombia (Centro Integral de Rehabilitación Colombia, CIREC) continued to collect information on an ongoing basis about the needs of mine/ERW victims and other persons with disabilities. In all cases, NGOs reported that this information was shared with PAICMA for inclusion in the mine/ERW victim database.[19] In 2013, CIREC instituted a new system with its “Seeds of Peace” network of local associations of persons with disabilities and mine/ERW survivors to measure the needs of persons with disabilities on an ongoing basis.[20]

NGOs and service providers reported that, by 2012, the mine/ERW victim database managed by PAICMA was more complete than in some previous years, most especially for victims of recent mine/ERW incidents as a result of the improvement of data collection efforts in recent years. This was a necessary step for mine/ERW survivors to access government-supported services and programs.[21] However, in 2013 it was still believed that some victims were not included in the database. The reasons for this were thought to be either because they were unaware of their rights and how to register; they feared repercussions from non-state armed groups if they reported the incident; or they feared being accused of handling IEDs by the armed forces.[22]

During 2013, PAICMA worked to share its data on mine/ERW victims with the registry managed by the Victim’s Unit.[23] As of the end of the year, the process of migrating data was underway and was expected to be completed by June of 2014. As of December 2013, 3,261 mine/ERW victims were registered in the Registry of Victims;[24] this figure was less than one-third of the total number of mine/ERW victims recorded by PAICMA by the same date. HI reported a need to improve the sharing and incorporation of data between PAICMA’s database, the Registry of Victims, and other government databases on persons with disabilities.[25] The CCCM, while recognizing the great efforts made in 2013 to record mine/ERW victims by PAICMA and the Victim’s Unit, identified the need for greater transparency in this consolidation of data and an expedited effort to ensure that all victims had equal access to their rights.[26]

In 2012, PAICMA began working with the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) to adapt and expand the latest version of the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database so it could be used as a tool to monitor the needs of mine/ERW victims and their ability to access their rights.[27] Throughout 2013, GICHD worked with PAICMA to add the new module to the IMSMA database with the expectation that its use would begin in 2014.[28]

In 2013, the Epidemiological Monitoring System (Sistema de Vigilancia Epidemiológica, SIVIGILA) in the department of Antioquia continued to record both mine incidents and the victim assistance services provided to survivors. During the year, efforts were made to expand this component of SIVIGILA to the departments of Meta, Cauca, Caquetá, Nariño, and Córdoba, however these activities were suspended because it was determined that there was a lack of human resources in those departments for a successful expansion.[29]

Victim assistance coordination[30]

In 2013, PAICMA continued to lead coordination and planning efforts specifically related to improving assistance to mine/ERW victims. The Victim’s Unit held numerous meetings of its executive committee and 10 different sub-committees, most of which had the purpose of fulfilling commitments to compensate and assist victims of armed conflict, including mine/ERW victims. In addition, Colombia has an active National Disability Council as well as department and municipal councils in which victim assistance actors participate, working to advance the rights of persons with disabilities.

Following a series of national and regional consultations in the second half of 2013, PAICMA developed the areas of work for the “National Plan for Comprehensive Assistance to Victims of Landmines, ERW and IEDs” with financial support from the European Union.[31] As of April 2014, the final draft of the plan had not yet been shared with the NGOs that participated in the consultations. Also, there was no system in place to monitor the plan’s implementation.[32] No resources had been dedicated to the plan’s implementation during the first half of 2014.[33]

In an effort to decentralize victim assistance, PAICMA also worked with local authorities to develop departmental Routes of Attention for mine/ERW victims in Putumayo, Nariño, Cauca, and Tolima. It also developed Routes of Attention for mine/ERW victims of vulnerable groups such as indigenous populations as well as children and adolescents.[34] Building on this experience and through the information shared during an experts meeting held in Geneva in May 2013, co-hosted with Austria, Colombia published the “Guide for the Comprehensive Assistance for Boys, Girls and Adolescent Mine Victims” that was presented in Maputo in June 2014.[35]

There were also several bilateral and multi-stakeholder coordination meetings among NGOs, service providers, and survivor networks in 2013.[36] These meetings were effective in improving the day-to-day situation for mine/ERW survivors by optimizing the use of scarce resources, increasing knowledge of the overall situation of mine/ERW victims, and expediting assistance for urgent cases.[37]

In 2013, PAICMA continued to participate as a member of the technical subcommittees of the Executive Committee of the Victim’s Unit for Reparations, for the implementation of the Victim’s Law: 1) Assistance and Care; 2) Information Systems; 3) Administrative Compensation; 4) Prevention, Protection and Guarantees of No Repetition; 5) Differentiated Approaches (focused on specific needs of persons with disabilities and indigenous populations as sub-sets of victims); 6) Rehabilitation (including physical and psychosocial); and 7) Restitution of Land. PAICMA reported that their participation increased the visibility of the specific needs of mine/ERW victims, especially in the sub-committees on Administrative Compensation and Rehabilitation.[38]

The CCCM participated regularly in meetings of the sub-committee on Prevention, Protection and Guarantees of No Repetition.[39] In September 2013, the CCCM was elected to participate in the National Committee of Victim Participation as one of six designated national organizations in defense of the rights of victims.[40] HI participated in departmental sub-committees on Information Systems and Rehabilitation.[41]

The National Plan for the Comprehensive Reparation and Assistance for Victims of Violence, under the Victim’s Law, was adopted in August 2012.[42] The plan was supported by an implementation strategy, guidelines, a budget, and a monitoring mechanism.[43] Ongoing monitoring of the plan is the responsibility of each thematic sub-committee under the Executive Committee.[44] In order to implement the plan as relevant to mine/ERW victims, during 2013 PAICMA updated the national mine/ERW victim Route of Attention to include the assistance and reparations guaranteed through the Victim’s Law. This included at least 24 adjustments covering issues such as how to register and how to access healthcare benefits, education benefits, vocational training, and compensation. Adjustments covered matters relating to survivors of mine/ERW incidents as well as family members of survivors and family members of people killed by these weapons.[45]

Representatives of both PAICMA and the Victim’s Unit also participated in meetings of the National Disability Council.[46] In 2013, the National Disability Council worked to develop the new national policy on disability and social inclusion (“Conpes 166”), approved 6 December 2013, to implement Colombia’s disability law in line with the CRPD.[47] PAICMA contributed a set of specific recommendations and actions from the perspective of the needs of mine/ERW survivors with disabilities.[48]

In April 2014, Colombia hosted “Bridges between Worlds,” a global conference that aimed to advance the understanding of the international community regarding the place of assistance to victims of mines and other explosive remnants of war in broader contexts.[49]

Colombia provided detailed updates on the progress and challenges for victim assistance at the Thirteenth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Geneva in December 2013, at the Convention on Cluster Munitions intersessional meetings in Geneva in April 2014, and at the Third Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in Maputo in June 2014, as well as through its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report submitted for calendar year 2013.[50]

Survivor inclusion and participation

In 2013, mine/ERW survivors and their representative organizations participated in the consultations to develop the National Mine/ERW Victims’ Plan.[51] During part of the year, four mine/ERW survivors participated on the Victim’s Law National Committee for the Participation of Victims and on the departmental and local committees in Santander.[52] Survivors were also represented on the sub-committees on Prevention, Protection and Guarantees of No Repetition and on Community Organizations for the implementation of the Victim’s Law.[53]

Survivor participation in the coordination and planning of victim assistance was seen to be more effective in 2013 than in previous years; survivor representatives were more knowledgeable and better able to contribute substantively. PAICMA continued a pilot project (started in 2012) to strengthen the capacity of organizations of survivors, providing technical support to three associations in 2013.[54]

In 2014, representatives of National Network of Landmine Victims and Survivors’ Organizations, formed in December 2013, participated in the national committee for the ongoing Colombian peace process and participated at the peace negotiations in Havana to represent the perspectives of mine/ERW survivors.[55]

In 2013, mine/ERW survivors were represented on disability coordination mechanisms at the departmental level in Bolivar, Antioquia, and Santander.[56] Survivors were also represented in national disability coordination via the CIREC “Seeds of Peace” network.[57] In 2014, mine/ERW survivors who were elected to join municipal disability coordination in eight locations contributed to the development of implementing guidelines for the 2013 Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.[58] In 2013, PAICMA had informed survivors about their right to participate in such disability coordination as persons with disabilities.[59] In 2014, the national network of survivors’ organizations assisted member associations in applying for membership in their municipalities.[60]

Numerous survivor associations and NGOs included mine/ERW survivors in the provision of assistance to other mine/ERW survivors. Local associations of survivors established by CIREC provided peer support, community-based rehabilitation, and other social inclusion activities.[61] The Self-Sustaining Farm for the Rehabilitation of Victims (Granja Autosostenible para la Rehabilitación de Víctimas, ASUTAL) reported the inclusion of survivors in providing assistance such as transportation, food, and lodging to other survivors.[62] Fundación REI reported the involvement of mine/ERW survivors in providing peer support, humanitarian aid, and transportation to access services.[63]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities[64]

Emergency and ongoing medical care

Following several interventions in recent years by the government and international NGOs and continued assistance by the ICRC, emergency medical response was seen to be more effective in 2013 as compared with previous years.[65] The CCCM estimated that emergency care was effective some 90% of the time. Shortcomings remained in providing thorough examinations while providing emergency care to prevent future complications and in informing patients to register as mine/ERW survivors, a necessary step to ensure their rights and the availability of government support for the costs of rehabilitation.[66]

The ICRC found that the number of survivors who lacked insurance or other means to cover the costs of their emergency medical care and physical rehabilitation was decreasing. This was found to be the result of efforts by the ICRC, NGOs, survivor associations, and PAICMA to assist mine/ERW survivors in registering for government benefits, including to the national health insurance system.[67]

PAICMA coordinated with the Ministry of Health and Social Protection to identify and resolve gaps in coverage for mine/ERW victims under current health insurance schemes, such as transportation and other out-of-pocket costs like co-payments for medicine and other treatment, to fulfill the requirements of the Victim’s Law.[68]

Physical rehabilitation, including prosthetics

Some organizations providing physical rehabilitation, such as CIREC, or working to facilitate access to such services for mine survivors reported an increase in the number of beneficiaries or geographic coverage (see table above). However, other organizations working with mine survivors and persons with disabilities saw little change overall in the availability, quality, or access to physical rehabilitation in 2013. Several organizations noted that bureaucratic delays or long wait lists meant that many survivors could be waiting up to a year for services while there could be delays of up to six months in getting a prosthetic fitted after an initial consultation.[69]

The CCCM found there to be significant gaps in getting assistance for hearing and sight impairments[70] and ASUTAL reported a decline in the quality of care in the Santander department.[71] International organizations trained rehabilitation professionals to improve gender- and age-appropriate care and to prepare survivors for return to everyday activities. However, users of these services had not observed an impact from this training.[72]

In 2013, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection and the ICRC continued to work with various physical rehabilitation providers to improve the quality of care so as to meet national standards established in 2010; the deadline for service providers to meet these standards and continue their operations was originally set for December 2013, but revisions to the law extended this deadline into 2014.[73]

In order to address the lack of trained rehabilitation specialists, the ICRC supported the training of several Colombians at the University of Don Bosco in El Salvador as well as the professional prosthetics and orthotics course started in cooperation with the National Apprentice Service in 2010.[74]

Economic inclusion

In 2013, several economic benefits for mine/ERW victims, including one-time reparation payments, death benefits in some cases, and monthly pensions were added in adjustments made to align Colombia’s Route of Attention” to the Victim’s Law.[75] No information was reported on the number of victims who had received these benefits by the end of the year.

Organizations of survivors or those working with survivors reported a lack of assistance from the government in gaining employment or starting income-generating projects.[76] For example, in the department of Santander, while the department government had a significant budget to generate employment for armed conflict victims, no mine/ERW victims gained employment through this project in 2013.[77] Some opportunities to participate in income-generating opportunities were available for mine/ERW victims through NGOs but the availability of these projects was insufficient to meet the need.[78]

In 2014, six departmental governments included financial resources for income-generating projects for survivors in their budgets for implementing mine action at the departmental level following advocacy efforts by local members of the national survivor network.[79]

Psychological support, including peer support

Two new mental health programs were launched by the government in 2013 under the Victim’s Law. The Ministry of Health and Social Protection launched the “Program for Psycho-social and Comprehensive Health of Victims” (“Programa de Atención Psicosocial y Salud Integral a Víctimas,” PAPSIVI), implemented through national and local actors (such as health centers) to diagnose the psychosocial needs of armed conflict on individuals, families, and communities, including mine/ERW victims.[80] The program was designed in consultation with armed conflict victims, including mine/ERW victims.[81] As part of the program, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection also began providing a virtual course in psychosocial support for armed conflict victims for health professionals throughout Colombia.[82]

The second program, launched by the Victim’s Unit, provided group therapy to registered armed conflict victims in communities throughout Colombia and provided referrals to the Ministry of Health and Social Protection for victims in need of individualized care.[83]

While NGOs working with survivors observed an increase in government capacity for addressing the psychological needs of mine/ERW survivors,[84] the expected impact of psychological support programs had not yet been felt by the end of 2013. NGOs and survivor associations were still seen as the greatest source of psychological support for mine/ERW survivors, mostly through peer support.[85] Objectives of the PAPSIVI program were also seen not to have been met in its first year. In early 2014, victims were able to provide input through the national coordination mechanism for the Victim’s Law on how to adjust the program and improve its impact.[86]

Laws and policies

On 27 February 2013, Colombia approved Law 1618 to guarantee and ensure the rights of persons with disabilities, in line with the CRPD.[87] To promote the participation of armed conflict victims in the implementation of the Victim’s Law, Resolution 0388 adopted the Protocol for the Effective Participation of Armed Conflict Victims on 10 May 2013. Both pieces of legislation held great potential to protect the rights of mine/ERW victims as armed conflict victims and as persons with disabilities.[88]

No improvements in physical accessibility were identified in Colombia in 2013.[89] In November, the Council of the State ordered all public offices to make facilities accessible and called on municipal governments to enforce rules to make all public facilities accessible.[90]

Colombia ratified the CRPD on 5 May 2011.