A/HRC/10/32 page 10 Unit after preliminary investigations by Special Investigation Task Forces.12 This Unit also conducted a total of 39 exhumations, but the remains recovered are still being identified. Other exhumations during the reporting period, as mentioned below, have been conducted in the framework of the Peace and Justice Act. 25. A pilot phase of the National Plan for the Search for Disappeared Persons, which focused on the situation in Casanare department, was chiefly limited to collecting information for referral to the Attorney-General’s Office and training public officials. As acknowledged by the Government, this and other positive institutional developments, such as the establishment of the Rapid Search Mechanism, would require further efforts to be effective. Victims’ organizations and judicial authorities agree that there has been limited effectiveness in the matching of information and, overall, a degree of negligence in the operation of these institutions.13 These organizations have also criticized the continuing requirement for a “declaration of presumed death” to be made, in order, among other things, to receive humanitarian assistance from the Government. In their view, this requirement inflicts additional emotional damage on the families and “re-victimizes” them. 26. Ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, to which the Government committed itself during the universal periodic review in December 2008, would represent a significant step towards guaranteeing a more comprehensive and effective response to victims’ claims. E. International humanitarian law 27. OHCHR Colombia continued to record serious breaches of international humanitarian law committed by all parties to the conflict. Moreover, as in the past, FARC-EP and ELN continue to refuse to be bound by international humanitarian law. 1. Guerrilla groups 28. Among other things, selective killings and the massacre of four coca leaf eradicators in Puerto Libertador (Córdoba) in February 2008 have been attributed to members of FARC-EP. ELN is believed to have committed, among other offences, the murder, also in February, of a member of the community of Micoahumado (Bolivar), who was accused of being an army informer. 29. FARC-EP continued with its indiscriminate attacks, seriously affecting the civilian population, including the launching of explosives which killed 3 individuals in Corinto (Cauca) in May 2008; acts of terrorism, such as the attacks on the Courts of Justice in Cali (Valle del 12 These Commissions are dispatched to places where there is evidence or information that could help in the investigation of a disappearance. They may focus on establishing the facts in a single case or in a number of connected cases. 13 Final Report of the Special Investigation Task Force for Casanare and Magdalena, January 2008.

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents