A new report documents 592 human rights violations against students in Colombia.

Demonstrations are an everyday sight at universities in Colombia. On Monday, two of the country’s universities were closed due to strikes. One was shut down by the administration.

- Not one day passes without there being strikes or demonstrations, says Diego Marin, leader of the Colombian student organization Asociación Colombiana de Estudiantes Universitarios (ACEU).

Last Wednesday, ACEU and the Norwegian Students’ and Academics’ International Assistance Fund (SAIH) put forward a report that showed 592 cases of human rights violations towards Colombian students during Álvaro Uribe’s first term as President (2002-2006). The violations include homicide, threats, torture and bodily harm.

- It is a combination of regular military forces and paramilitary groups that are responsible for persecution of and direct violence towards the students, Marin states. He believes that there is a constant campaign in operation, in the Colombian media amongst other things, to delegitimize students.

- They classify students as terrorists, and universities are referred to as free areas where terrorists may roam freely.

According to Marin, it is no longer safe for him to stay in Colombia, and he has therefore applied for political asylum in Norway.

- An unfair connection

The Colombian Embassy does not think that the student organization does the president justice:

«There have been violations to human rights in Colombia for decades; that is a reality every Colombian government have had to deal with and combat. The government of Mr. Uribe has been particularly successful by reducing the rate of threatens [sic] and crime, something publicly accepted by competent international institutions including the United Nations, though those same institutions and some others demand further measures to better the results. To demand more action of the government is healthy for the population; to relate Mr. Uribe with human rights violations is just mean». This is what an unnamed spokesperson at the Colombian Embassy in Stockholm, where the Colombian ambassador accredited to Norway has his official residence, writes in an e-mail to Universitas.

Protected against legal prosecution

Amnesty International has been working on the conflicts in Colombia for a long time. Gerald Folkvord of Amnesty talks of paramilitary groups that cooperate with the Colombian authorities.

- The authorities protect these paramilitary groups from legal prosecution and investigation. No matter how many people they kill or torture, they do not have to face any consequences for their actions, Folkvord says.

- The Colombian government has a very aggressive, critical view of human rights activists and opinions that clash with their own. Activists are called terrorists. Being presented as a terrorist is synonymous with one’s life being in danger. They must seek refuge, Folkvord says.

Arne Aasheim, regional advisor for Latin America in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (UD), says that Norway is trying to maintain a dialogue with Colombian authorities through their embassy in Bogatá.

- Through the embassy, Norway has a presence in Colombia, and our starting point is that we have the opportunity to contribute to subdue conflicts and mediate opinions through contact. Human rights are always a priority, Aasheim says.