2. Please clarify whether Decree No. 128 of 2003 bars a person who has committed war crimes or crimes against humanity and who has not been tried or sentenced by the courts from benefiting from something that is contrary to international obligations, such as an amnesty or pardon based solely on the decision of a non-judicial organ such as the Comité Operativo para la Dejación de las Armas (CODA).

3. Please provide details of the contents of the bill to reform the justice system, which was submitted to Congress in October 2002. What constitutional limitations on amparo proceedings (acción de tutela) are provided under the reform bill?

4. Please indicate what steps the State party has taken to combat and put an end to paramilitarism and to ensure that the alleged ties between members of paramilitary groups and State security officials are severed. In this context, please supply statistics on the number of members of paramilitary groups and State security officials who have been tried and sentenced for promoting, leading, participating in, supporting or financing paramilitary activities and the type of sentences they have been given. Please also indicate the number of members of State security bodies who have been suspended from duty or dismissed on account of being charged with activities of this kind.

5. What steps has the State party taken to ensure compliance with the views and recommendations adopted by the Committee under the Optional Protocol to the Covenant? In this context, please indicate whether Act No. 288 of 1996 provides for compliance with only those decisions of the Human Rights Committee that meet the prerequisites of fact and law established in the Constitution and in applicable international agreements.

7. Please provide information on the measures that have been taken to improve the situation of women's sexual and reproductive rights, in particular with a view to halting the increase of illegal abortions. In addition, please indicate whether or not the new Penal Code continues to punish abortion performed in cases of rape and for medical reasons.

8. Bearing in mind the existence of sexual or gender-based violence in Colombia, how is the reduced number of sentences for crimes of this kind to be explained?

9. Please provide precise information on the economic resources that have been made available to implement the many programmes mentioned in the State party's periodic report, for the benefit of women, children, ethnic minorities and internally displaced persons.

12. Please provide information on the number of investigation procedures and criminal proceedings that have taken place for extrajudicial executions (massacres and individual murders), by whom they were carried out and the results of those procedures.

13. Please provide information on whether the State party has created a network of informers and collaborators among the civilian population in order to gather confidential information on illegal armed groups, with a view to transmitting such information to the security forces. If so, what safeguards exist to ensure that such information will be correctly evaluated before it is used? What type of controls would these groups be subject to? Would they be authorized to bear arms?

14. Please provide detailed statistics on the application of crimes relating to forced disappearances, forced displacement and genocide incorporated into the new Penal Code (paras. 214 and 215). In particular, please indicate the number of reports of crimes of this kind, the results of the investigation procedures and criminal proceedings and the compensation paid to the victims.

15. Please indicate what steps have been taken to deal with so-called "social cleansing" operations, which target children, homosexuals, prostitutes and petty delinquents.

17. Please explain what specific measures the State party has taken to provide the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Unit of the Public Prosecutor's Office with the material and human resources necessary to allow it to intensify its work and ensure the safety of its members.

18. Please clarify the allegations (reports) of cases in which prosecutors belonging to the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Unit have been dismissed by arbitrary decision of the Public Prosecutor.

19. Please indicate whether the State party has concrete plans to submit a bill to Congress establishing a career structure for officials and employees of the Office of the Public Prosecutor. If so, please indicate the content of the bill.

20. Please clarify whether or not the Public Prosecutor's Office has declared itself incompetent in favour of military criminal justice in specific cases of serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, such as the Santo Domingo, Pueblorrico and Mapiripán massacres. If so, please explain the reasons for such declarations.

21. Please clarify whether or not the Ombudsman's Office has adequate funding and the necessary political support to carry out its work.

23. Please comment on the statements made by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on human rights defenders on the tendency of State and army officials to violate Presidential Directive 07, entitled "Defending the defenders", by using irresponsible rhetoric against human rights defenders, who are often accused of collaborating with the guerrillas. In addition, please indicate whether any programme of periodic meetings between the Government and human rights defenders has been established with a view to receiving their concerns and taking action and measures to protect and prevent the violation of their rights.

24. Please indicate what measures have been taken by the State party to guarantee the free exercise of political rights by voters and political parties during the elections held in 2002.

26. Please indicate whether specific measures have been adopted to protect the leaders, defenders and other members of the indigenous or Afro-Colombian communities against possible violations of their civil and political rights, particularly the right to life and not to be discriminated against for racial reasons.

27. What steps has the State party taken to guarantee that consultations with representatives of the indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities are held in connection with development and resource exploration programmes on land subject to the property rights of those communities?