Ensuring victims' rights in Colombia

16.1.2008

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0211/08
by Richard Howitt (PSE)
to the Commission

What guarantees can the Commission give that its aid monies to Colombia are used positively and will not fund projects, including rural reinsertion projects, which could potentially result in the legalisation of lands and other assets stolen during the conflict?

In line with the above, what action will the Commission take to consider funding or other appropriate action to ensure that all lands of forcibly displaced people are fully registered in accordance with Colombian law, in part to ensure that the EU is better placed to guarantee that it is not funding economic projects which may see those who secured lands illegally during the conflict benefiting economically from these lands?

How will the Commission ensure that it will provide political and where appropriate financial support to victims of human rights abuses committed by paramilitaries, the Colombian security, and armed forces and guerrilla forces seeking justice, whether through the Colombian Government's Justice and Peace framework deemed seriously flawed by Amnesty International, or through efforts undertaken outside this framework? This support may include action to guarantee the safety of victims seeking justice, protection for witnesses, human rights defenders and state judicial criminal and disciplinary investigators. It may also include action to ensure that exhumations of mass graves are undertaken in such a fashion that vital evidence pointing to culprits is not lost or destroyed, and that identification of human remains is ensured.

OJ C 291, 13/11/2008