A/HRC/7/39 page 14 with direct and serious consequences for the civilian population. There has been information suggesting that certain members of the armed forces have links with actions attributed to these groups, or take an acquiescent or tolerant attitude to them. 40. There are also serious challenges to the consolidation of the demobilization process, precisely because of the emergence of new illegal armed groups.30 The structures, interests and modus operandi of these groups are not homogeneous, and the use of identical terms to describe them often conceals a wide variety of different activities, aims and alliances. However, whatever their denomination, they remain a legitimate source of concern because they continue to inflict violence on the civilian population,31 for example, in the Departments of Chocó, Valle del Cauca, and Putumayo. The extensive use of the name Aguilas Negras (Black Eagles) by several of the existing groups, although they apparently do not belong to a single structure, has created confusion and has occasionally enabled these groups to divert attention from their real importance. For this reason, the simple description of these new structures as “criminal gangs”, does not take into account the complexity, variety and plurality of the phenomenon and the danger it implies. Official figures report that the armed forces killed more than three times as many members of such groups in 2007 as they did in 2006.32 41. The authorities have detected that former middle-ranking cadres from previous paramilitary groups act as heads of some of these new groups, and that a number of low-level demobilized members operate in areas which were once zones of influence of the paramilitaries. Information received by the office in Colombia claims that these groups maintain links with demobilized paramilitary leaders who have accepted the terms of Law 975/2005. The Attorney General’s Office is investigating demobilized paramilitary leaders accused of continuing with their criminal activities from their cells in Itagui, Antioquia. 42. Many of these groups have been engaged exclusively in illegal activities which imply a control of territory and of the population, such as drug-trafficking, extortion, security-related actions, racketeering and other illegal activities. These have often led to violent disputes among the criminals themselves. Their activity is making a noticeable impact on the population in the 30 See Organization of American States, “Eighth Quarterly Report MAPP/OAS”, document OAS/Secr. Gen. CP/doc. 4176/07, 14 February 2007, p. 6, which “identifies 22 new structures composed of approximately 3,000 members”. See also “Disidentes, rearmados y emergentes: ¿bandas criminales o tercera generación paramilitar?”, Report No. 1, Comisión Nacional de Reparación y Reconciliación; Area de Desmovilización, Desarme y Reintegración, August 2007. Non-governmental sources such as the NGO INDEPAZ (Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo y la Paz) give higher figures. 31 Specifically, the victimization of sectors that had been directly targeted by paramilitary groups, such as human rights defenders, social leaders, members of ethnic groups, university professors and students, journalists and justice officials. 32 Ministry of Defence, “Logros y retos de la Política de Seguridad Democrática”: 198 killed in 2006; 636 killed in 2007.