A/HRC/4/48 page 11 displaced persons. High levels of impunity also persist. In this context, the OHCHR Office stepped up its work aimed at supporting the efforts of the authorities to deal with the various problems. Annex II describes the situation of these groups in greater detail. Civil and political rights 35. Annex I contains a selection of cases of violations of civil and political rights brought to the attention of the OHCHR Office in Colombia in 2006. 36. The right to life was affected by the persistence of murders, with characteristics of extrajudicial executions, attributed to members of the security forces, particularly the army. The Office noted an increase in the number of complaints received compared with 2005. Such acts were recorded in 21 departments, particularly in Antioquia, Nariño, Valle, Putumayo, Cesar, Atlántico, Tolima and Guajira. In many of the cases reported, three common elements were identified: the presentation of civilian victims as having died in combat, the alteration of the scene of the crime by its perpetrators, and the investigation of the facts by the military criminal justice system. 37. Investigations by the Attorney-General’s Office established that a number of deaths initially presented as “mistakes” or “the consequence of friendly fire” were the result of extrajudicial executions. 38. This very serious violation of human rights is not limited to a single military unit; it occurs in various units over a large area of the country. This situation demands far-reaching measures. Because of their number and widespread occurrence, murders with characteristics of extrajudicial executions do not appear to be isolated incidents but acts that are tending to become increasingly common. 39. In the face of this situation, a particularly important development was the signing in June of a joint directive by the Minister of Defence and the Attorney-General with instructions for the promotion of the observance of constitutional jurisprudence on the restrictive interpretation of the military criminal justice jurisdiction and its application in exceptional circumstances. This and other measures, such as the presentation of the issue in the media, contributed to a perceptible decrease in complaints of extrajudicial executions in Antioquia, even though this department continues to be among those most affected by this pattern of activity. However, in other departments there was no decrease in the number of extrajudicial executions after the publication of the joint directive. In some areas, the instructions contained in the document were ignored or misinterpreted by those responsible for their implementation, while in others the practice of removing the bodies of victims before the arrival of the Technical Investigation Corps (CTI) (subordinate to the Attorney-General’s Office), continued among members of the army. 40. In the dialogue between the authorities and the OHCHR Office, it became evident that there was a need to reflect on the implementation mechanisms of the Defence and Democratic Security Policy that might be having negative effects on the behaviour of some members of the security forces. Inadequate interpretation of the requirement of showing results in the struggle against the illegal groups could be one of the factors influencing the commission of criminal acts by certain members. The Government expressed interest in working on a proposal to review the parameters now used to measure operational results.