The Colombian government and the nation’s largest paramilitary group the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) agreed on July 15 to peace talks. The AUC promised to start demobilizing its estimated 13,000 fighters by the end of the year and to lay down its weapons by 2005.
The official peace negotiations come after a supposed December cease-fire and six months of exploratory talks. President Álvaro Uribe Vélez said he believes "this can contribute to the country laying the foundation for peace." Peace commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo said he hoped the peace talks with the AUC would prompt leftist guerrillas to put down their arms. "Taking away armed actors like the paramilitary fighters opens the way to an effective peace process" with the rebels, Restrepo said.
AUC leaders claimed they want to help build the "authentic peace that Colombia waits for and deserves." In June, a six-person Colombian peace commission said the government should continue the peace process "under the condition that there is a total and verifiable cease-fire, with the main goal being demobilizing and reincorporating the paramilitaries into society." Several sources have pointed out that the required December cease-fire was never taken seriously by the AUC and was in fact violated repeatedly. The AUC, led by Carlos Castaño and Salvatore Mancuso, represents about 70% of the paramilitary forces operating in Colombia.
Bogotá and Washington are promising to help the demobilized fighters return to regular society. Although the Washington has helped fund programs for former combatants following other civil wars, this is officially the first time it would do so for a group it considers a terrorist organization.
Human rights groups caution, however, that the paramilitary fighters should not be absolved of responsibility for their atrocities and abuses. Notably absent from the statement signed by the AUC and the Colombian government was any mention of the legal actions pending against top AUC leaders, both in Colombia and in the United States. A Colombian government source said legal measures were being sought that would allow Castaño and his fighters to lay down their arms, despite pending prison sentences. Instead of prison sentences they could be required to make "social reparations." For many Colombians such concessions are unacceptable, because they would allow AUC leaders—responsible for gross human rights violations—to emerge unscathed as political actors.
A confidential report prepared for Uribe on whether a formal peace process should begin with the AUC revealed a deep split between Colombia’s civilian government and the military leadership regarding the demobilization of the paramilitary group. Quoted by the Washington Post, the report bluntly states: "The armed forces are the principal enemy to a peace process with the self-defense groups." It concludes: "Opposition exists at the highest ranks to permit demobilization." Through collusion and mutual support, the army brass clearly sees the AUC as a valuable tool in fighting guerillas.
A recent issue of Semana, a Bogotá-based magazine, raised the issue of ties between security forces and the AUC. It reported that Uribe’s security policies have coincided with the "strong expansion" of paramilitary groups, and added that, despite the cease-fire declared by the AUC late last year, the ultra-right groups have increased their presence in various regions of the country. Even if the peace process with the AUC proceeds, several other paramilitary groups refusing to negotiate remain. And the rank-and-file of the AUC are just as likely to be absorbed by these groups or create new ones.
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