NGK Cultural Bridge Fellowship 2006

I thought I would use this entry to discuss a little about my project and some of the issues I am grappling with. 

As I have mentioned previously, the main purpose of the JPL is to govern the demobilization of both paramilitary and guerrilla groups. Although the paramilitaries are actively discussing giving up their arms and receiving certain benefits in return, the guerrilla groups have not expressed any interest in being involved.  

In addition to the provisions relating to demobilization, the JPL states that victims have the right to reparation (consisting of compensation, restitution, rehabilitation, guarantees of no repetition and satisfaction). A victim is defined as a person who individually or collectively suffers direct harm as a consequence of criminal actions by illegal armed groups. The harm can include temporary or permanent injuries, physical, psychological or sensory disabilities, emotional suffering, financial loss, or infringements of fundamental rights. 

The Constitutional Court has also made preliminary comments on the law, further broadening the definition of victim to include family members of the immediate subject of a criminal act. 

To estimate the potential value of this liability, I have started to categorize all possible victims and the different types of direct harm they might suffer. For example, there are estimated to be 2,459,613 displaced persons in Colombia, usually rural landholders who have been forced to leave their land by paramilitaries or guerrillas and head to urban slums. Such people could suffer a range of harm including property loss, physical or psychological injuries, loss of future income, costs associated with transferring to a new location, and loss of cultural activities or traditions, etc. 

It is difficult to start to estimate the cost of repairing victims under the JPL, however, because each person I speak to has a very different interpretation of the meaning of the reparation provisions, not to mention how the JPL will be implemented in practice. Some people argue that the right to reparation will only apply if the paramilitaries responsible for harm to a victim choose to demobilize. Further, the head of the National Commission of Reparation and Reconciliation has cast doubt on whether displaced persons are in fact victims (?). I also need to give further thought as to which categories of loss or harm are ‘direct’.  

At the moment I am thinking that I will estimate the cost of the Government’s obligation in its broadest form, and not try to guess what resource constraints or limitations will apply in the future. I would like to make the final estimate user-friendly in the sense that if any constraints or limitations are found to apply, it will be easy to adjust the final estimation for such developments, i.e. subtract the amount attributable displaced persons if the JPL is not found to apply to them. 

Looking at how these broad legal obligations could fit with the economic and political constraints might make an interesting SYPA/thesis this coming year.

Any thoughts or suggestions on anything above will always be welcome!

On to other things, I got quite a shock when I heard that Senator Pardo was one of three senators who was sent a letter bomb last week (see http://eltiempo.terra.com.co/judi/2006-06-17/ARTICULO-WEB-_NOTA_INTERIOR-2954830.html). Apparently the letter got delivered to a different Rafael Pardo by mistake. It does not pay to have the same name as someone important in this country.

Finally, it has been great to be in South America during the World Cup. Although Colombia did not qualify, people are still going nuts. We have a tv in the office which has been going almost non-stop and no senators showed up to what was meant to be a full meeting of the Senate until one of Brazil’s group games had finished. Unfortunately Australia was put out by the Italians this morning (by a terrible refereeing decision)!

Until next week.        

This entry was posted on Monday, June 26th, 2006 at 12:04 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.