By Natalia Venegas Arango / GICJ
On January 2, rebel groups contesting over the control of the local illegal economies clashed against each other. The confrontations took place near the border with Venezuela in the towns of Tame, Fortul, Saravena, and Arauquita. The encounter was held between members of the National Liberation Army (ELN) and dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The ELN is Colombia’s largest armed rebel group and the dissidents of the FARC became so after rejecting the peace deal in 2016. This peace deal demobilized the FARC group and brought to an end 50 years of armed conflict in the country.
Thus far, it has been difficult to determine how many people have been killed. According to the Colombian ombudsman, there have been 16 casualties. [1] But, Juan Carlos Villate, responsible for Human Rights issues in Arauca reported that there had been 24 confirmed deaths, and that the death toll could increase to 50. Arauca has been a department historically affected by the armed conflict in Colombia. This development has reawakened a sense of hopelessness among its people.
According to the Colombian government, providing safety for the people at the border is very hard and new mechanisms are currently being looked into. Furthermore, the Colombian government has stated that both rebel groups have been very hard to eliminate because they have received the support of the Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. According to the Colombian government, they operate in Colombia and hide in Venezuela. This accusation has been denied several times by the Venezuelan government. [2]
For the Colombian rebel groups, the main source of income comes from illicit activities. Their biggest source of wealth is drug trafficking, but they also steal cattle and kidnap people that circulate the area. They tax the products, including food and drinks. Moreover, in the region of Arauca, there is a lot of oil which gives the rebel groups the possibility to extort tankers. In this order of ideas, it is believed that the clashes are driven by greed. Nevertheless, some scholars are concerned about the lack of information that's been made available regarding the attacks. For instance, it is unknown the group's front within the rebel groups that participated and what triggered the violence in certainty. For now, the biggest concern is if this will mark the dawn of a new era of war. In any case, based on the number of deaths and cases of displacement, the events can be considered to be one of the most severe humanitarian crises that Colombia has experienced in recent memory.
Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ) condemns the human rights violations committed in Arauca and encourages all parties in the conflict to respect the Geneva Conventions and its additional protocols. We call upon the Colombian government to provide security for the population in Arauca. If security is to be achieved, the peace treaty must be implemented, especially at the local level. GICJ also believes that in order to stop the violence in the area, the Colombian and Venezuelan government should cooperate to protect the people that live by the border of both countries.
Justice, Human Rights, Geneva, geneva4justice, GICJ, Geneva International Centre For Justice
