1. According to the latest estimates, Colombia's 603,280 indigenous inhabitants represent 2 per cent of its population of 37 million. The Afro-Colombian population of about 6 million inhabitants accounts for 16 per cent of the total population.
2. In addition to Spanish, which is recognized as the national language, Colombia has a rich linguistic source in its indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities. Sixty-four aboriginal languages belonging to 13 linguistic families have been identified: Chibcha, Arawak, Caribe, Macro-Tukano, Witoto, Sikuani, Quechua, Kamsa, Kofan, Nukak-Makú, Bora, Saliba and Puinabe. Some indigenous groups within the Afro-Colombian communities continue to use linguistic and indigenous expressions and speak their own dialects, such as Palenquero and Creole, found in the communities of San Basilio de Palenque and the islands of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, respectively, in the Atlantic region; in the Pacific region, some Black communities continue to use expressions inherited from their African ancestors.
3. Article 10 of the 1991 Constitution recognizes the languages and dialects of ethnic groups as official in their territories and stipulates that the education provided in communities with their own linguistic traditions will be bilingual; in addition, curricula are now geared to the ethnic features of the different communities (ethno-education).
4. According to article 19 of the Constitution, "Freedom of religion is guaranteed. Every individual has the right freely to profess his/her religion and disseminate it individually or collectively". The most recent demographic data show 95 per cent of the population as being Roman Catholic, with other religions accounting for the remaining 5 per cent.
5. Article 67 of the Constitution stipulates: "Education is an individual right and a public service that has a social function ... The State, society and the family are responsible for education, which shall be mandatory between the ages of 5 and 15 years and which shall include a minimum of one year of pre-school instruction and nine years of basic instruction".
6. Human rights problems are closely connected with the existence of multiple forms of violence whose limits are difficult to determine, owing in particular to the continuing internal armed conflict which Colombia is experiencing. To deal with this situation, President Samper's Government has designed a comprehensive and long-term policy for the promotion, protection and defence of human rights and the dissemination and implementation of international humanitarian law.
7. Government policy in respect of human rights and international humanitarian law encompasses the following areas of action, which are described in annex No. 7:
This policy is aimed at involving all of the government bodies working in the field of human rights and developing the best possible relations of understanding and cooperation with the courts and regulatory bodies.
8. On 31 July 1995, Presidential Decree No. 1290/95 established the Commission to Analyse and Evaluate the Implementation of the Recommendations of International Human Rights Bodies. It is composed of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, who chairs it, the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of Justice and Law, the Minister of Defence, the Director of the National Department of Planning, the Director of the Administrative Department of Security (DAS), the Presidential National Security Adviser, a representative of the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace and the Presidential Human Rights Adviser, who acts as Secretary.
9. This high-level body was established in October 1995 and has been meeting periodically. Its primary function is to work towards the implementation of recommendations made by intergovernmental human rights bodies and the experts appointed by them on the human rights policies to be adopted by the Government (particularly with regard to civil and political rights), especially aspects relating to provisions of the Political Constitution, the legislation in force and international treaties to which Colombia is a party.
10. In cooperation with the human rights commissions and plenary sessions of the two legislative chambers, the international treaties to which Colombia is not a party are being reviewed for the purpose of bringing domestic legislation into line with the most recent developments in international instruments produced by the competent intergovernmental bodies.
11. With financial and technical support from the Royal Government of the Netherlands, a systematized communications network has been set up for the exchange of information among State, governmental and non-governmental human rights bodies, making it possible to collect and transmit complaints and other information connected with cases of human rights violations throughout the national territory, refer them to the bodies dealing with investigation and penalties, institute urgent action to protect those concerned and ensure systematic follow-up of proceedings.
12. Act No. 199 of 22 July 1995 changed the Spanish title of the Ministry of the Interior (from "Ministerio de Gobierno" to "Ministerio del Interior") and made it responsible for coordinating the activities of all executive bodies responsible for the protection, defence and promotion of human rights; the Act also established a Special Human Rights Administrative Unit in charge of action in the following areas: implementing a protection programme for persons under threat, taking action aimed at prevention and relaxation of tensions and assisting persons who have been internally displaced as a result of the violence.
13. The Unit's work in protecting persons at risk focuses on political leaders and activists (of the opposition in particular), leaders and activists of social organizations, human rights activists and witnesses in cases of serious violations of human rights or international humanitarian law.
14. Article 5 of Act No. 199 of 1995 establishes the following functions of the Ministry of the Interior in the area of interest to us:
(a) To work in coordination with the competent bodies to safeguard the cultural identity of minorities in the framework of the ethnic and cultural diversity and the right to equality of all the cultures that make up Colombian nationality;
(b) To guarantee the rights of particular ethnic groups and ensure that their economic and social development is promoted according to the constitutional and legal provisions in force, without prejudice to functions within the purview of other competent government bodies;
(c) To guarantee equal opportunity with the rest of Colombian society by promoting government-sponsored activities to that end;
(d) To work to help overcome conflicts arising from indigenous groups' right to traditional production practices and collective ownership of property, especially that of the Black communities which have been occupying uncultivated land in the rural areas bordering the rivers of the Pacific Basin, in accordance with the relevant legal provisions, in the areas within its competence;
(e) To promote the participation of the Black and indigenous communities and their organizations, without detriment to their independence, in decisions affecting them and decisions at the national level on the basis of equality, according to the law;
(f) To provide support and serve as guarantor for the work of bodies and authorities responsible for environmental protection, bearing in mind the communities' relationship with nature.
15. This legal initiative has provided the Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities with a higher-ranking ministry to assist them in dealing with the Government and society in general and to work for their economic and social development in a participatory framework.
16. Decree No. 0372 of 1996 established rules governing the above-mentioned Act No. 199 of 1995. Article 50 of the Decree provides for the establishment of the Governmental Human Rights Council, with the following membership: the Minister of the Interior, who chairs it, the Ministers of Justice and Law, National Defence and Education, the directors of the National Department of Planning and the Administrative Department of Security, the Presidential Human Rights Adviser and Presidential National Security Adviser, the High Commissioner for Peace, the Director-General of the Special Human Rights Administrative Unit of the Ministry of the Interior and representatives of the other bodies of the executive branch having responsibilities in the area of human rights. The Attorney-General of the Nation and the People's Advocate are invited to participate, as are representatives of non-governmental organizations and civil society. The Council, which was installed on 9 September 1997, National Human Rights Day, will have responsibilities in the following areas:
(a) Promoting the Government's human rights agenda;
(b) Cooperating with human rights non-governmental organizations, civil society and regulatory bodies in developing human rights policies;
(c) Providing the executive branch with guidelines to ensure that priority is given to the preservation of the right to life, physical integrity and liberty; and providing follow-up of inter-agency programmes and activities having the same objective;
(d) Responding to suggestions by the Commission to Analyse and Evaluate the Implementation of the Recommendations of International Human Rights Bodies;
(e) Promoting coordination procedures at the national, regional and local levels of government and with civil society aimed at preventive action to provide protection and assistance in particularly serious cases of human rights violations;
(f) Harmonizing any measures taken by the Government to maintain public order with preventive measures aimed at protecting human rights;
(g) Meeting immediately to take preventive action or corrective measures in cases of threats to or serious violations of human rights.
17. Decree No. 1165 of April 1997 established the Office of the Presidential Adviser for the Care of the Population Displaced by the Violence, whose role is to coordinate the implementation of government policy in this regard.
18. In 1995, when the policy for this ethnic group was adopted, the indigenous community was in the situation described below.
19. Approximately 603,000 indigenous persons belonging to 81 peoples live in Colombia; they account for close to 2 per cent of the population of the country. These peoples have diverse sociocultural characteristics and engage in activities ranging from hunting and gathering, fishing and itinerant gardening, found mostly in the forest, savannah and tropical desert, to peasant economy activities such as agriculture and cattle grazing in the Andean zones. Artisanal mining, trade and seasonal labour are practised in some communities. A process of urbanization is also taking place in some communities, such as the Ingas and Muiscas.
20. Indigenous peoples base their social systems on reciprocity, redistribution and a specific world view, which encompass all aspects of their ways of life and their territories (social, cultural, economic and political aspects and the relationship with nature).
21. Social and regional development has been influencing the living conditions and identity of these peoples, especially with regard to the recognition of their individual and collective ethnic rights, their ways of life, standard of living, culture and ability to take advantage of the possibilities offered by development to reassert themselves as peoples.
22. In terms of health, each indigenous culture has its own particular way of explaining the world around it, especially where the classification, prevention and treatment of disease are concerned. Indigenous peoples' health problems are linked to the weakening of their culture, environmental deterioration and their lack of access to State-sponsored health services owing to cultural differences and geographical location.
23. In a few regions of the country, traditional indigenous medicine is the principal ongoing health service and an important support for indigenous culture. One of the goals of Decree No. 1811 of 1990 is to make "Western medicine" compatible with and complementary to indigenous "traditional medicine"; in 1995, however, it was noted that the health programmes, means and spaces needed to link allopathic medicine to traditional curative and preventive practices had not been developed and many indigenous medical practitioners die without transmitting their knowledge to the younger generations.
24. Act No. 100 of 1993 and Decree No. 1135 of 1994 giving effect to it establish assistance for indigenous people aged over 50 years which is allocated through the "Revivir" programme on the basis of regional considerations and poverty levels, in accordance with the beneficiaries' social and cultural profile.
25. With regard to land ownership, indigenous peoples consider their territory to be the material foundation of their culture. Close to 80 per cent of indigenous people live on 408 resguardos, representing an area of approximately 27 million hectares; however, problems have been noted in these territories, such as: presence of tenant farmers, communities which are established on uncultivated land and have no resguardos and communities without land or without sufficient land and land registered with the National Agrarian Fund, but not attributed. It was also found that some indigenous resguardos overlapped with national parks and that mechanisms for harmonizing the rights and activities of indigenous peoples with the parks' objectives should therefore be sought.
26. As regards education, it was found that indigenous forms of socialization and transmission of knowledge, which are still in force in many cases, had not been recognized and sufficiently integrated into national educational systems. The Ministry of Education has been developing an ethnic education programme, to which approximately 80 per cent of indigenous peoples had access in 1995. Although this programme is part of the national educational system, situations were found in which its general approach did not take indigenous peoples' social and cultural particularities into consideration.
27. Educational institutions have not incorporated the communities' sociocultural features or made provision for primary education in each community's mother tongue. As to formal education, according to the 1985 census, the illiteracy rate among the indigenous population was 44 per cent as opposed to 36 per cent for the rural sector in general; primary and secondary level coverage in 1989 was 11.3 per cent and 1.25 per cent, respectively, as opposed to a national average of 84 per cent and 46 per cent.
28. Indigenous people who manage to complete secondary vocational training and wish to go on to higher education face economic difficulties and adjustment problems and, in many cases, are not able to meet the minimum requirements set by the Colombian Institute for the Promotion of Higher Education (ICFES), which leads to problems in entering university.
29. Although progress has been made in formulating alternative proposals for indigenous education, through the adaptation of curricula to the specific conditions of indigenous peoples, coverage has been partial and, in some cases, the indigenous world view is not taken into account.
30. It is also necessary to make the regulations to give effect to Act No. 115 of 1994, the General Education Act, more flexible where education for indigenous peoples is concerned, in accordance with their customs and with their participation.
31. Concerning environmental matters, despite the fact that indigenous peoples establish a relationship with nature that is based on a system of principles governing collective and individual behaviour towards their living space, settlement has introduced into most of the indigenous territories in the forest and savannah Andean systems of production which cause significant environmental deterioration and adversely affect indigenous social, economic, cultural and political systems.
32. Natural resources which are vital to survival in indigenous territories have been adversely affected by activities such as tree felling. Mining and other extractive activities and the construction of roads and port facilities have caused deforestation, river pollution, soil deterioration and indiscriminate over-exploitation of animal and plant resources. This situation has mainly affected the Waunana and Embera peoples on the Pacific coast, the Curripacos in the Guainía, the Wayúus in Guajira and other groups in the department of Putumayo.
33. Illicit crop-growing is highly distruptive to social, economic, cultural and ecological conditions in the indigenous territories, in addition to already existing factors of conflict such as poverty and insufficient institutional coverage. Illicit crop-growing has created problems of public order and affected the communities' economic, social and cultural lives, especially in Cauca, Caquetá, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Guaviare, Putumayo and Nariño.
34. Beginning in 1994, 364 indigenous resguardos were assigned resources from the national current account (Act No. 60 of 1993). The following factors have made it difficult to implement these resources: the indigenous peoples' and communities' lack of preparation, resulting in poor operational and managerial capacity; the territorial authorities' lack of familiarity with the legal instruments to give effect to their implementation; and confusion and lack of information about the destination of the resources and the institutions' lack of sufficient coordination and training to provide the territorial authorities and indigenous communities with adequate advisory assistance. Full coverage has not been achieved, as nearly 40 resguardos established since 13 September 1993 do not have use of these resources.
35. In addition, the rules governing the administrative organization of the Indigenous Territorial Entities (ETI) and their coordination with the other territorial entities have not yet been defined.
36. The general outline of the Government's policy for the indigenous peoples is found in National Economic and Social Policy Council (CONPES) document No. 2773 of 1995. It reads as follows: "The National Government, through its Programme of Support for and Ethnic Strengthening of Indigenous Peoples, shall further the implementation of the constitutional principle of the ethnic and cultural diversity of the Colombian nation and promote the rights deriving therefrom. The Government's policy for indigenous peoples is defined by the following objectives, which shall serve as guidelines for implementing the different programmes:
(a) To support the indigenous peoples' social, economic, educational and cultural systems of health, monitoring and social regulation by adapting them to and improving their coordination with the national society's systems. The gender perspective as it relates to indigenous communities is aimed at reclaiming the particular values of each people and the basis for women's identity and validation, bearing in mind the social and cultural systems and particular world view of each indigenous people;
(b) To conduct activities aimed at the protection, promotion, dissemination and defence of the individual and collective ethnic rights of indigenous peoples;
(c) To harmonize and coordinate the different levels of Government, public administration sectors and institutions and non-governmental bodies working on indigenous matters, in support of autonomous and sustainable ethnic development;
(d) To consult and involve indigenous peoples and communities and their authorities and representative organizations in the programmes and projects designed on their behalf and to consider the programmes and projects proposed by the indigenous peoples in an effort to reach agreement;
(e) To promote information and communication activities concerning the ethnic and cultural diversity of the Colombian nation and inter-ethnic and intercultural training.
C. Plan of Action for the Indigenous Peoples (CONPES document No. 2773 of 1995)
37. The Government's intention in adopting the above-mentioned document was to support, strengthen and ensure the consolidation and implementation of the rights granted to the indigenous peoples by the Constitution, on the basis of respect for ethnic and cultural diversity through their participation in national life and, especially, the design and implementation of social and economic development projects having an impact on their social, economic, cultural and political systems.
38. Strategies for indigenous peoples involve the establishment of regulations giving effect to their rights; recognition of their particular systems of monitoring and social regulation, including coordination between the indigenous and national judicial systems; adoption of territorial and sectoral support programmes developed in cooperation with the indigenous communities; establishment of Indigenous Territorial Entities (ETI); continuation of the legalization and reclamation of the indigenous territories; knowledge and understanding of indigenous values and customs by Government bodies; and involvement of the communities in Government social and economic development programmes.
39. The Act relating to the National Development and Investment Plan 1995-1998 adopted by Congress, includes an article stipulating that the following resources will be provided for the indigenous peoples from the national investment budget: 2 per cent of the following programmes and subprogrammes: (a) agrarian reform; (b) social welfare programmes, excluding the special programmes on urban employment, low-cost housing, support policy for urban development, tax transfers and budgetary allocations for municipalities and indigenous resguardos; (c) environmental programmes, excluding the urban improvement and population subsectors, demographic policy, with a view to pollution-free production and a national environmental system.
40. To achieve the proposed objectives, the Government will commit funds in the amount of $COL 290,990 million (1994) for the 1995-1998 budget period, of which projected resources of $COL 78,972 million will be transferred to the indigenous resguardos during the same period. The communities will also have access to cofinancing, for which the different cofinancing bodies will study allotment mechanisms.
41. Several factors have hindered the implementation of Governmental policy for the indigenous communities, the foremost among them being the financial factor. However, the Government is confident that the achievements described below will enable the Committee to appreciate the Government's efforts and its determination in this regard.
1. Support for social, economic, cultural and political systems Strengthening of ethnic education
42. The following activities have been carried out in accordance with the guidelines contained in Act No. 115 of 1994 and Statutory Decree No. 804 of May 1995, which cover modalities of education for ethnic groups:
(a) Workshops and research. The Ministry of Education has sponsored 85 preparatory workshops and 167 in-service workshops for indigenous teachers. Similarly, 48 research projects have been conducted in linguistics and applied anthropology, in addition to 93 projects conducted under the Institutional Education Programme;
(b) Access to higher education. Up to 1996, the Colombian Institute for Student Loans and Study Abroad (ICETEX) and the Social Solidarity Network of the Office of the President of the Republic, through the Alvaro Ulcué Fund, granted 781 loans subject to cancellation on performance of community service, to which 376 were added in 1997. The University of Amazonía has also sponsored training for 33 indigenous students in a linguistic certification programme. Under agreement No. 022 of 1986 between the Ministry of the Interior and the National University of Colombia, which allots 2 per cent of its vacancies to indigenous peoples, 295 indigenous persons have been admitted, 37 of whom have already graduated, and 28 new students have enrolled in the first half of this year;
(c) Educational infrastructure. The Social Investment Fund (FIS) has financed 103 educational infrastucture and endowment projects and has also granted 76 subsidies for upkeep. The Directorate-General for Indigenous Affairs has assisted in the construction of schools and sanitary facilities.
Health and comprehensive care for the indigenous peoples
43. Health care. The Ministry of Health has adopted special guidelines on health care for the indigenous peoples and has formed a working group for that purpose. In addition, an interdisciplinary and interagency group coordinated by the Directorate-General for Indigenous Affairs has been working on the consideration and adoption of criteria for establishing rules to give effect to the chapter of Act No. 100 of 1993 which covers health for the indigenous peoples.
44. Seventy-five thousand indigenous persons have joined the subsidized health scheme. Similarly, 228 patients have been assisted by the Directorate-General for Indigenous Affairs and the Inpatient Health Network.
45. Training. Forty indigenous persons are currently being trained in traditional medicine. The Ministry of Health, for its part, has financed the establishment of 18 bicultural health centres.
46. The Ministry of Health has sponsored 58 workshops for publicizing the contents of Act No. 100 of 1993, Social Security Act, in respect of indigenous peoples and a special indigenous health system is being prepared in consultation with the indigenous peoples.
47. Protection for children and indigenous families. The Colombian Family Welfare Institute has designed a policy for the care and protection of children. Services have been provided for 168,787 indigenous people to date through the programme on comprehensive care for indigenous children and families.
48. The names of 9,350 indigenous persons have been added to the senior citizen's register. Subsidies have been channelled to 3,205 senior citizens through the Social Solidarity Network's "Revivir" programme.
49. The Directorate-General for Indigenous Affairs of the Ministry of the Interior, in coordination with the Colombian Family Welfare Institute, has helped to reintegrate 30 minors in irregular situations into their communities, pursuant to articles 21 and 90 of the Juvenile Code.
Land and agrarian reform
50. Establishment of reservations. In 1996, on the advice of the Directorate-General for Indigenous Affairs, 28 new resguardos were established, covering an area of 126,000 hectares and 6,124 indigenous peoples from the following communities: Kocama-Tikuna (Amazonas), Embera-Katío (Antioquia, Caquetá and Chocó), Tukano-Desano-Tariano (Guaviare), Páez (Huila, Caquetá), Arhuaco (Cesar), Guayabero (Guaviare, Meta), Pijao (Huila, Tolima), Wayúu (Guajira), Awa (Nariño), Eperara-Siaperara (Nariño), Inga (Putumayo), Witoto (Putumayo), Embera-Chami (Valle).
51. Through the Ministry of the Environment's natural resources programme (PMRN), $200,000 from a World Bank loan have been invested in the demarcation and titling of indigenous resguardos.
52. Land acquisition. From 1994 to 1996, the Government allotted 416,880 hectares of land to establish indigenous resguardos for 36,726 indigenous persons. Pursuant to the María-Piendamó Agreement, the Government transferred 6,700 hectares of land to the Páez people.
Support for production projects
53. Projects. In 1996, the Ministry of Agriculture's Cofinancing Fund for Rural Investment invested $COL 1,165 million for job creation and support for the Comprehensive Peasant and Indigenous Development Plan (PDIC). Likewise, the National Royalties Fund allocated approximately $COL 790 million to the implementation of 22 production projects.
54. Training. The World Food Programme (WFP) has trained 245 indigenous people and provided 8,000 with soft loans for community production projects. Workshops have also been conducted on policy formulation and the reorganization of regional resources for the indigenous peoples.
55. The Ministry of Agriculture's "Capacitar" programme has sponsored 59 training workshops for the design of production projects. Similarly, the Directorate-General for Indigenous Affairs has held 60 workshops on legal policy developments for indigenous authorities and 10 territorial entities.
Other activities
56. Special court system. The Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Justice and Law are conducting research aimed at developing regulations for the special indigenous courts established in article 246 of the Constitution. To this end, the first National Seminar on the Special Indigenous Court System was held to define mechanisms for appropriate coordination with the national court system.
57. Protection of ecosystems and natural woodlands. The Directorate-General for Indigenous Affairs published an Indigenous Atlas of the Amazon Basin, as a showcase for the region's wealth in natural resources. The Directorate also established a task force on biodiversity and genetic resources in the indigenous territories. Part of the task force's work will be to promote a process of consultation of the communities with a view to introducing regulations giving effect to Andean Group Decision No. 391 establishing a special system for access to the genetic resources of the indigenous Afro-American and local communities. The Directorate has also taken inventories of plant life and designed plans for the handling and conservation of the fishery resources of the Amazonas, Caquetá, Putumayo and Magdalena rivers and the binational station at Guajira.
58. Institutional development and resources allocated to indigenous resguardos from the national current account. The Directorate-General for Indigenous Affairs, the School of Public Administration and the National Department of Planning have been training the indigenous authorities in public administration and transfer operations.
59. Support for the establishment of indigenous territorial bodies. The Government submitted to Congress for consideration two bills on rules governing the establishment of indigenous territorial entities, but they were not discussed by Congress.
60. Support for binational programmes and programmes in border areas. Binational meetings have been conducted with Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama and Venezuela to discuss the topics of comprehensive assistance to indigenous peoples in border areas, double nationality, establishment of binational indigenous organizations, international cooperation projects and problems in border areas, such as illegal mining.
2. Cultural and institutional diversification in the framework of indigenous policy
Harmonization, adaptation and institutional coordination
61. The Directorate-General for Indigenous Affairs has laid the groundwork for interagency coordination and project management; and the Organizational Committee for Indigenous Peoples was established and has been meeting and working in such areas as institutional adaptation, the definition of regulations governing the Social Security Acts as it affects indigenous people, rules governing prior consultation of indigenous peoples and the development of an indigenous special court system.
62. Decree No. 1397 of 1996 established the National Commission for Indigenous Territories and the Bureau for Cooperation with Indigenous Peoples and Organizations, which is made up of the Deputy Minister for Rural Peasant Development (Ministry of Agriculture), the Director General and high-level officials of the Colombian Agrarian Reform Institute (INCORA), a representative of the Ministry of the Interior, the head of the Agricultural Development Unit of the National Department of Planning, the Director of the Budget Division of the Ministry of Finance and representatives of the following indigenous non-governmental organizations: National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC), Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon Region of Colombia (OPIAC) and Tairona Indigenous Conference (CIT). Representatives of each macroregion of the Regional Boards of the Economic and Social Plan (CORPES) also participate. Indigenous senators and former members of the indigenous constituent assembly have a standing invitation to participate.
63. The Standing Bureau for Cooperation is divided into thematic commissions working in the areas of biodiversity, U'wa people, budget, border areas and participation, consultation and cooperation. It is made up of the Ministers of the Interior, Agriculture, Environment, Finance, Development, Mines and Energy, Health and Education, the Director of the National Department of Planning, the Presidential Advisers on Border Areas and Social Policy, indigenous senators and former members of the indigenous constituent assembly. The International Labour Organization, the Human Rights Commission and the Episcopal Conference of Colombia were designated as monitors.
64. The National Human Rights Commission for Indigenous Peoples was established through Decree No. 1396 of 1996. It is made up of the Minister of the Interior, who chairs it, the Ministers of Defence and Justice, the Attorney-General of the Nation, the Public Prosecutor, the People's Advocate, indigenous senators and former members of the indigenous constituent assembly and representatives of ONIC, OPIAC and CIT. The Decree provides for the monitoring of the Commission's performance by the ILO, the Human Rights Commission and the Episcopal Conference.
65. Regional policy boards with indigenous representation have also been formed (in the departments of Guaviare, Magdalena, Meta and Cauca) and inter-agency and indigenous committees have been established at the departmental level (Cesar, Antioquia, Nariño, Chocó, and Amazonas).
66. The Directorate-General for Indigenous Affairs has worked with indigenous bodies and peoples in disseminating indigenous policy (CONPES document No. 2773 of 1995) through the harmonization and simplification of methodologies and technical assistance.
67. Demographic information. The Territorial Development Unit of the National Department of Planning established a data base on the indigenous territorial and population system and the section on indigenous communities of the 1993 population census is being completed; the data will be compared to and supplemented with the censuses conducted by the indigenous community council representatives and the authorities at the community level. Another important achievement in this area was the creation of a map-linked data base and a documention centre in the offices of the Directorate-General for Indigenous Affairs.
68. Provision of members of indigenous communities with identity papers. The National Civil Register, with support from the Directorate-General for Indigenous Affairs, has begun an identification programme (identification campaigns, civil registers and identity cards) in the indigenous communities in outlying urban areas and difficult-to-reach areas in the departments of Guainía, Guaviare, Caquetá, Putumayo, Amazonas, Vichada, Meta, Chocó and the Pacific Coast.
69. In addition, through coordinated action with the Directorate-General for Indian Affairs, the Recruitment Division of the army has conducted large-scale campaigns aimed at determining the status of members of indigenous communities with regard to military service, leading to exemption from service and exemption from payment of alternative fees in all of the country's departments, and this has covered 7,000 indigenous people to date.
3. Consultation and participation of indigenous peoples in the programmes conducted on their behalf
70. Definition of regulations governing mechanisms for the effective participation of indigenous peoples. Pursuant to ILO Convention No. 169, ratified through Act No. 21 of 1991 and implemented through Act No. 99 of 1993 and other relevant instruments, a document was prepared containing a frame of reference for consultation of the indigenous communities. The Directorate-General for Indigenous Affairs also issued decision No. 23 of 1997, subsequently repealed, with a view to adopting a comprehensive framework for legal matters and administrative consensus.
71. As mentioned earlier, the Organizational Committee for Indigenous Peoples was established to introduce regulations governing the processes of consultation and participation of indigenous peoples in the decisions affecting them. As soon as the Committee has drawn up the relevant proposal, it will be presented to the indigenous peoples for consideration. Other forums for dialogue have been established, such as the above-mentioned National Commission for Indigenous Territories, the Standing Bureau for Cooperation with Indigenous Peoples and Organizations and the National Human Rights Commission for Indigenous Peoples. In addition, pursuant to Decree No. 1088 of 1993, the Directorate-General for Indigenous Affairs has provided 68 legal aid units for associations of traditional authorities.
72. Various governmental bodies have concluded agreements with the Páez, Guambiano and Yanacona peoples (La María-Piendamó Agreement, Guambiano welfare plan) and agreements in Macizo Colombiano, Baja Bota Caucana, Caquetá and Putumayo, at the communities' request. The agreements have covered topics relating to territory, natural resources, infrastructure, production, conflict resolution, health, education and credit. The agreements have not been fully implemented owing to difficulties of various kinds, but the Government will continue working towards that end.
73. Training. In order to secure the effective participation of indigenous communities on a more efficient basis, the Directorate-General for Indigenous Affairs, with support from the World Bank, is conducting a programme of training for strengthening and intercultural management with 10 indigenous peoples, which has already concluded its first phase; 10 training workshops on the same theme have been conducted with indigenous peoples and institutions.
74. Cooperation. Political talks are also being held between the U'wa people and the Government with a view to resolving the differences created by the granting of an environmental licence for oil exploration in its territories; the purpose of the talks is to guarantee respect for the territory and ethnic and cultural integrity of these communities; projects intended for the same purpose are also being conducted with the Páez and Guambiano peoples.
4. Protection, promotion and defence of the indigenous communities' human rights
75. As mentioned above, Decree No. 1396 of 1996 established the National Human Rights Commission for Indigenous Peoples, whose purpose is to design and and ensure the implementation of measures for guaranteeing respect for the lives and integrity of the indigenous peoples in all parts of the national territory. The Commission is responsible for the periodic evaluation of the situation of the indigenous peoples, especially in regions where social unrest is the most acute. Three of the Commission's subcommissions are working on the following themes: (a) assistance to indigenous victims of violence; (b) monitoring and promotion of criminal and disciplinary investigations into violations of the human rights of members of the indigenous communities; and (c) conflict resolution.
76. With regard to assistance to indigenous victims of violence, the Government conducts programmes in the framework of the Social Solidarity Network, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Development (Inurbe-Artesanías). These programmes have been designed for the growing population group in the country affected by these problems and aid to indigenous peoples is being channelled through them. In addition, the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace and the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Human Rights provide emergency humanitarian aid for the victims of violence, including members of indigenous peoples, through agreements with the Colombian Red Cross.
77. The Office of the Presidential Adviser for Human Rights receives complaints of human rights violations lodged by indigenous communities and encourages the competent bodies to conduct the relevant investigations.
A. Location and socio-geographical characteristics
78. The Black communities of Colombia may be located geographically on the basis of the way the country is divided up politically and administratively, thereby allowing a socio-geographical approach which takes account of land use dynamics and strategies for adaptation to the natural environment.
79. Locating the Black communities according to sociocultural areas makes it possible to understand their cultural diversity and the various ways in which they use their land and establish economic, political and symbological relations in accordance with specific geographical and historical conditions.
80. Depending on their sociocultural characteristics, the Black communities can be classified as "ethnico-territorial", "urban", "inter-Andean", "Caribbean", "settler" and "raizales from the islands of San Andrés and Providencia". These characteristics may be summarized as follows:
(a) The ethnico-territorial Black communities include all the Afro-Colombians settled in traditional areas with certain ancestral cultural practices peculiar to a specific territory. These are rural communities located in humid tropical forests, river valleys, marshes, mangrove swamps and coastal strips. Examples are the communities established in Colombia's Pacific area;
(b) The Caribbean Black communities account for a high percentage of the population which is located on the Atlantic seaboard and whose historical ethnic roots in this coastal region show the close links of this Afro-Colombian group with the culture of the Caribbean region of the hemisphere;
(c) The Urban Black communities are a group of Afro-Colombians living in urban and metropolitan concentrations who maintain close kinship ties and cultural links with the ethnico-territorial populations and develop urban cultures, but with their own characteristics, symbologies and languages specific to their ancestral backgrounds;
(d) The Black communities of the inter-Andean valleys are characterized by being settled in areas of their own in the valleys, foothills and hills of the Colombian Andes, such as the concentrations in the Cauca and Magdalena valley regions and those established in small Andean towns;
(e) The term "Black settler communities" means groups of Afro-Colombians who, for various reasons, have migrated and populated new territories. These include the Black peasant settlements of the Bota Caucana, the eastern plains, the Orinoco region and Amazonia, to cite a few examples.
(f) The Black "raizal" communities are the ethno-cultural group formed by the inhabitants of the San Andrés and Providencia archipelego, who maintain a marked Caribbean identity, with sociocultural and linguistic traits clearly differentiating them from the rest of the Afro-Colombian population.
81. The status of the Black communities of Colombia is only just beginning to be a subject of systematic study by the Colombian State. The preliminary data assign them to the group of Colombians with the highest index of unmet basic needs. The data also show that the population of these communities is much larger and geographically more representative than previously thought.
82. In response to these findings, the National Economic and Social Policy Council (CONPES) itself, headed by the President of the Republic, turned its attention to this situation, adopting for a start a "programme in support of the ethnic recognition of the Afro-Colombian population". The basis of this programme is a diagnosis recognizing the economic and social situation in which most of these communities live and which is attributable to the historical disadvantage resulting from the enslavement to which they were subjected in the past. In the document in question, the Government maps out some policies and adopts a plan of action which is not sufficient to rectify this situation, but is regarded as laying some very important foundations for tackling it.
83. According to the findings of preliminary studies by the National Planning Department set out in CONPES document No. 2909 of February 1997, it can be affirmed that the Afro-Colombian population is present in all the country's geographical areas, but mainly in the inter-Andean valleys of the Patía, the Magdalena and the Cauca, in the lowlands of the "Pacific Platform", in the Urabá region, on the Atlantic coast, in the San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina archipelago and in the country's various gold-bearing zones. There also exist major population nuclei in the country's main urban centres, especially Cali, Barranquilla, Cartagena, Medelín and Bogotá.
84. The Black communities settled in towns make up the majority of Colombia's Black population. In nearly all the country's major urban centres Afro-Colombians constitute an important group who contribute to enhancing Colombia's ethnic and cultural diversity, through some typically urban public gatherings forming part of a highly diverse and heterogenous sociocultural scene that depends in part on the specificity of the type of citizen inhabiting a particular town.
85. Within the national context, it is observable that the population nuclei to which the Black communities belong live in conditions of extreme poverty or in slum areas, with indices of unmet basic needs above the national average. The chances of improving in the quality of life of the Black population depend to a large extent on the enhancement of their organizing capacity, on the development of sustainable alternative modes of production and on the policies devised by the national Government to achieve this objective.
Health conditions
86. The health status of this population is precarious; for example, on the Pacific Coast, there are infant mortality rates of 117 per 1,000 live births, which is four times the national average. The morbidity pattern is characterized by diseases typical of poor living conditions, such as gastroenteritis and acute respiratory infections. In the ancestral territories where these communities live, there is inadequate health care provision and it is estimated that about 60 per cent of this population has no access to it.
87. The sanitary conditions in which the Black communities of San Andrés, the Atlantic coast, the Pacific coast and various urban areas live are among the least satisfactory in the entire country. For the Pacific region, for example, the present coverage of piped water services in the chief towns of municipalities averages 48 per cent and that of sewerage services, some 10 per cent in urban areas, i.e. half the national averages. The coverage for piped water in rural areas stands at 13 per cent and for sewerage, at about 2 per cent (not counting the municipality of Buenaventura). The coverage of garbage collection systems amounts to 10 per cent and facilities for the disposal of solid wastes are lacking.
88. The institutional framework of the sanitation services is unsatisfactory. In the chief towns of the municipalities, institutional structures are rudimentary and, in rural districts and areas, there is little assistance available from the national or departmental level. The same applies in urban areas, where a high percentage of neighbourhoods with Black populations have no basic service infrastructure.
Educational situation
89. With regard to the state of education for these population groups, the coverage of the schooling system is low. For the year 1993 in the Pacific coastal region, for example, primary school attendance was estimated at 77 per cent and secondary at only 36 per cent, whereas the averages at the national level for that year stood at 86 and 46 per cent, respectively. Similarly, the infrastructure and equipment of educational facilities is markedly inadequate and the quality of the teaching low owing to the lack of relevance for pupils, as there is no recognition of their ethnic specificity, and to low levels of achievement and efficiency. In general, curriculum content is not adapted to the Afro-Colombian communities' sociocultural characteristics, but dominated by features specific to the Andean/mixed race and White culture.
90. In the regions or departments where Black communities are located, culture has not received adequate attention from the administration, so it is underutilized as a factor of social change. Sport, too, has been given less than adequate encouragement and support.
Housing conditions
91. With regard to the Afro-Colombian communities' dwellings, there are, in addition to low coverage by public housing services difficulties with the legalization of property and building rights, together with a high percentage of overcrowding and low housing quality. Moreover, there are settlements in areas subject to periodic flooding or otherwise at risk, both in the countryside and in towns. The supply of public sector housing is also inadequate.
Use of natural resources
92. The main problems with the use of natural resources and the environmental situation are in the Pacific coastal region, the department of Magdalena, the city of Cartagena, the Urabá region and the San Andrés and Providencia archipelago. The Chocó biogeographical area has one of the world's highest indices of biodiversity and endemism; many of the species concerned are still unknown to science and it is estimated that 22 per cent of the 40,000 higher plant species that it is calculated may exist in Colombia belong to the Pacific region. In recent years, the area has been supplying one third of all the raw timber consumed in the entire country and 62 per cent of that obtained from natural forests. According to calculations, 154,000 hectares of trees are felled in the region each year.
93. The use of inappropriate technologies for the exploitation of natural resources is having a heavy environmental impact on the region, causing extensive damage to soil, water and the environment in general. In coastal villages, the discharge of waste water, excreta and garbage into the sea is adversely affecting the fauna and flora associated with these ecosystems, as well as activities specific to the tourist subsector.
94. Recent migratory movements of settlers and entrepreneurs to the Pacific area are introducing non-sustainable modes of production and affecting social organization, the Afro-Colombians' own modes of production and the cultural development of the territory.
Regional development and collective land ownership
95. With regard to regional development and collective land ownership, the Pacific coastal area is where the problems faced by the Black communities call for priority attention. As a result of the isolation of this region, the social marginalization of the communities and the lack of any definition of the concept of territory by the State, the problem of the legalization and recognition of territory on the Pacific Platform and in other areas with similar conditions had not been solved. Only with the adoption of Act No. 70 of 1993 was a start made on establishing policies, mechanisms and instruments designed to remedy that situation. There were also problems with regard to the legalization of urban property and land reclamation in other regions with Afro-Colombian settlements.
Economic aspects
96. As to economic aspects, a relatively large proportion of the Afro-Colombian communities are settled in rural areas, where they engage mainly in primary activities such as mining, fishing, agriculture and extraction of timber. These economic activities are characterized by their low productivity and the use of traditional technologies with little environmental impact.
97. Approximately 12 per cent of the population is employed in the secondary sector (industry) and an equal percentage in the tertiary (services), especially in the port towns. The per capita income of these communities is estimated at $500 per year, less than one third the national average.
98. In urban areas, Afro-Colombian manpower tends to be employed mainly in the informal sector of the economy, e.g. itinerant vending, building and domestic service, characteristically low-paid occupations with no social security or guaranteed benefits.
Energy
99. Energy is in short supply in the Pacific and Atlantic coastal areas, San Andrés and Providencia and the Orinoco region. In the main urban centres of these regions, a regular energy supply service, though of poor quality, is available in marginalized districts. In the smaller population centres, the power supply, if any, is limited to a few hours per day in the chief town of the municipality.
Transport
100. In the Pacific coastal area, for example, the principal means of transport is by river in view of the availability of water resources and the inadequacy of the local road network. The excessive and inappropriate regulatory control of coastal navigation restricts the supply of transport for passengers and fuel. There is an inadequate network of airports for communication between the coastal localities and the rest of the country. In the inter-Andean valleys, roads have to be improved to make travel for the inhabitants and the transport of farm produce easier.
Telecommunications
101. The telecommunications system is unreliable, especially as far as rural telephone service is concerned, and, in urban centres, there are not enough lines.
102. Afro-Colombian women face poverty, high unemployment rates and low-grade work, insufficient health protection and a high incidence of domestic violence, all of which combined have led to immigration from their native settlements. The same applies to young Afro-Colombians, who do not enjoy optimum conditions of security or access to higher and vocational education, to good jobs and to development in keeping with their world view and their sociocultural situation. A related cause of concern is the large number of minors exposed to adverse conditions in large towns.
Institutional contest
103. In this regard, the territorial divisions where the Afro-Colombian population settles are characterized by their low capacity for administration, planning and management. In most localities, there are no systems for budgeting, information, monitoring and follow up. The precarious state of their finances is reflected in dependence on transfers from the national budget, the lack of any income of their own and chronic budget deficits. This in turn becomes a structural obstacle to efficient performance by the territorial divisions of their assigned functions under the decentralization arrangements.
104. With regard to human rights, there is not enough information available in the country about the situation of the Black communities. Nevertheless, the problems faced by these communities are known to the institutions and to the public, not only through complaints of racial discrimination, prejudice and segregation, but also through cases of forced displacement and violations of physical and cultural integrity.
105. Under Act No. 70 of 1993, some areas and authorities have been established to promote community participation, such as the Black Community Affairs Department of the Ministry of the Interior, the Study Commission for the Formulation of the Development Plan for the Black Communities and the High Level Departmental Consultative Bodies. Regulations have also been adopted on other important aspects such as recognition of the right to collective ownership, participation in the National Planning Council, participation in elections to the House of Representatives (in abeyance pending the adoption of new regulations, as the legal provisions to give effect to this right were recently declared unconstitutional) and the establishment of an Education Committee.
Guzman
meja
Source: National Planning Department.
Note: In the large capital cities, there is a high percentage of Afro-Colombians among the population.
C. The Government's policies on behalf of the Afro-Colombian population
106. Under the programme in support of ethnic recognition for the Black communities, approved by the National Economic and Social Policy Council (CONPES), the Government has decided to speed up the implementation of the constitutional provision on the ethnic and cultural diversity of the Colombian nation and to give effect to the rights referred to therein.
107. The policy of the State on behalf of the Afro-Colombian population is embodied in the following objectives:
(a) To adapt and coordinate governmental echelons, sectors and institutions of the public administration and non-governmental organizations involved with the Black communities, with the aim of furthering their ethnic development;
(b) To promote a process of social, economic and cultural development for the Black communities in keeping with their world view through participation by those communities and their representative organizations in any plans, programmes and projects of concern to them;
(c) To encourage and strengthen Black community organizations in their institutional development;
(d) To push forward with activities for protecting, promoting, publicizing and defending the ethnic, individual and collective rights of the Black communities.
108. The following strategies are the frame of reference for the Government's policy with regard to the Black communities:
2. The right to be different;
3. Recognition of the right to territory and to natural resources;
4. Strengthening of organizations and institutions;
5. Equitable participation in all the country's goal-setting and steering bodies.
109. During the recent first visit to several countries of the African continent by the President of Colombia in May 1997, the ties linking millions of Afro-Colombians to the inhabitants of that region were highlighted and those communities were invited to strengthen their bonds of cultural identity.
D. Progress in the implementation of the Government's policy on behalf of the Afro-Colombian population
Collective land ownership
110. As was to be expected, the process of the adjudication of titles to ownership of the ancestral territories occupied by the Black communities has not been easy. Following the adoption of the 1991 Constitution, a process aimed at giving effect to this right for the communities was set in motion; first, a special committee composed of representatives of the Government and the Black communities and set up to draft regulations for the implementation of transitional article 55, in conformity with its provisions worked for a year, with the assistance of departmental advisory committees, on the task of studying and preparing a draft law to pave the way for award of land titles.
111. After a quick passage through the Congress of the Republic, the bill was approved and ratified by the executive on 27 August 1993; it thus became Act No. 70 of 1993.
112. For the purpose of the implementation of the Act and in accordance with its provisions, a process of mutual consultation was initiated between the Black communities and the national Government through the High-Level Advisory Committee, which deals with article 45 of the Act. The outcome of these consultations was the publication of Decree No. 1745 of 12 October 1995, establishing mechanisms and procedures for collective award to the Black communities of titles to ownership of the territories.
113. To date, the Colombian Agrarian Reform Institute (INCORA) has issued six land titles to Black communities located in the municipality of Riosucio in the department of Chocó and occupying an area of 60,000 hectares.
114. On this subject, CONPES ruled that:
115. Similarly, the national Government, aware that "ethnic diversity is closely related to cultural diversity", is progressively involving the Black communities in participatory bodies where the planning and execution of environmental management are decided, such as the National Environmental Council and the Regional Autonomous Corporations, as will be seen from the following table:
Chocó
Valle
Cauca
Nariño
Urabá
Risaralda
San Andrés
1
116. The Bio-Pacific Project (PBP). For the furtherance of environmental management, the national Government has had recourse to international cooperation, resulting in the launching of important projects involving the participation of the Black communities; a case in point is the Bio-Pacific Project for the conservation of biodiversity, which is an initiative of the Colombian Government for implementation in two phases. The first phase (March 1993-September 1997) was financed by the Global Environment Facility with a donation of $9 million, one third of which was provided by the Swiss Government.
117. According to the project document, the overall objective of the first phase was to provide the Chocó biogeographical region with the necessary input to consolidate a new development strategy based on the application of scientific knowledge and the identification of options for the management of biodiversity such as would ensure its protection and sustainable use, as determined by consultation with the communities.
118. The basic principles guiding the PBP for the achievement of the overall project objective include: (a) the duty of the State to guarantee and protect the patrimonial and intellectual rights to biodiversity of the peoples making up the nation in general and the ethnic groups of the Pacific area in particular; and (b) direct participation by the Pacific ethnic groups in such policies, programmes and draft decisions adopted by the State as in any way affect the environment and the very life of the region; this is a necessary condition for ensuring the conservation of biodiversity.
119. The implementation phase of the PBP began in the Chocó biogeographical region in March 1993, when a great many complex social movements were taking place at the same time. Noteworthy among these were the processes involved in the organization of the Black communities in line with transitional article 55 of the Constitution and Act No. 70 of 1993; the processes of organization of the indigenous communities; the reorganization of institutions concerned with environmental protection; and the intensification of economic processes based on extraction of the natural resources of the region.
120. Taking into account the complexity of the regional scenario, the multifarious and often conflicting interests of the various regional players and, in general, a situation of continuing change, the PBP has had to devise and develop various strategies of participation, consultation and coordination with regional players.
121. To begin with and after a process of public information and debate on the objectives, goals, strategies and activities proposed under the project, various operational processes were initiated, especially with Black and indigenous community organizations, NGOs, academic institutions and local and regional public bodies. The strategic thrust of activities in the fields of education, communication and social organization has been towards the identification of local initiatives and, through support for those initiatives, the strengthening of the managerial capacity of the communities and organizations promoting or encouraging them. This is reflected in improved capacity to form working teams and to propose and plan activities conducive to the conservation of biodiversity, culture and territory.
122. To supplement the foregoing activities, support has been given to projects formulated by community organizations for the characterization and management of the territory, the evaluation of systems of production, the implementation of pilot production projects, the identification of local reserves and the marking out of permanent plots, etc. These initiatives generally include training processes which, combined with practical experience, enable us to harness conceptual resources and methodological instruments for assessing and strengthening the communities' capacity for managing, through the organizational processes, their own social construction undertakings.
Legislative proposals on behalf of the Afro-Colombian community
123. Specific penal legislation. The problem of racial discrimination in Colombia has only just reached the "phase of institutional recognition". Civil society, for its part, and the Black communities themselves are only now beginning to realize the seriousness of some reprehensible forms of behaviour, inherited from our colonial history, which still underlie, consciously or unconsciously, the thinking and practice of many Colombians, as was found by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance.
124. The question is nevertheless beginning to arouse interest at the regional level as well. At a recent forum on "alleviation of poverty for minority communities in Latin America", sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), at which a study was submitted on racial topics carried out in nine countries of Latin America, an expert on the subject stated her view that "self-rejection is the deepest wound that racism inflicts on a person's identity". This quotation is considered appropriate inasmuch as, with regard to punitive measures, the level of awareness of communities and individuals who are victims of racial discrimination in all its forms is proving crucial.
125. Despite the foregoing, the Government has achieved major advances with the promulgation of Act No. 70 of 1993, which provides inter alia, in its article 33, that:
"The State shall punish and prevent any act of intimidation, segregation, discrimination or racism against the Black communities in the various parts of the public administration at the upper decision-making levels and especially in the communications media and the education system and shall ensure that the principles of equality and ethnic and cultural diversity are implemented.
126. In addition and in compliance with the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Government has welcomed the model national legislation for the guidance of Governments in the enactment of further legislation against racial discrimination and has accordingly initiated an internal debate intended to involve major sectors of its institutions and, in particular, the Black and indigenous communities themselves in the drafting of a law such as will lead to the adoption of effective measures, which will nevertheless be adapted to the specificities of this problem area within the country, in order to ensure that they produce the desired effects.
127. Legislative and other measures to combat racial discrimination. Following the adopted of Act No. 70 of 1993, giving effect to transitional article 55 of the Constitution, the work done by the national Government, in consultation with the Black communities, to combat racial discrimination and the lack of opportunities for this ethnic group has been quite considerable, as may be seen from the following table.