US embassy cable - 04BOGOTA2115

UNCLAS BOGOTA 002115 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PTER, PROP, ELAB, CO 
SUBJECT: ACADEMIA TAKES A CLOSER LOOK AT HUMAN RIGHTS 
STATISTICS 
 
REF: 03 BOGOTA 9589 
 
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect. 
 
2. (SBU) Three researchers in the Department of Economics at 
the University of London, working in conjunction with an 
Economics Professor at Augusta State University in Georgia 
with whom post had already been in contact, recently provided 
us with a summary report of research conducted on violence 
statistics related to the Colombian conflict during the 
period 1988 to 2002.  The research supports the conclusions 
presented in reftel on the shortcomings of statistics 
produced by some Colombian human rights NGOs.  The report 
posits the year 2000 as a turning point for the GOC in terms 
of operational successes and improvements in the government's 
human rights record and attributes this turnaround primarily 
to Plan Colombia. 
 
3. (SBU) The researchers used data from the Jesuit-founded 
Center for Popular Research and Education (CINEP).  Their 
research corrects for skewed data that results from CINEP's 
reliance on strict legal definitions of "human rights 
violations" and "violations of international humanitarian 
law."  Instead, the researchers focused on presenting an 
analysis of "bellicose actions" undertaken by all armed 
actors in Colombia's internal conflict.  Their research also 
addressed the problem of overcounting by using what the 
researchers describe as a "more objective" methodology than 
that used by most Colombian human rights NGOs.  With these 
corrections in place, the data indicated that the FARC, ELN 
and AUC disproportionately target civilians, and that the 
number of civilian casualties attributed to GOC security 
forces dropped dramatically beginning in 2000, primarily 
because of a renewed GOC focus on human rights training and 
improved human rights performance. 
 
4. (U) The report is available online at 
http://personal.rhul.ac.uk/pkte/126/Documents /Docs 
/Database%20civil%20war.pdf.  Post is happy to provide 
electronic copies of this report to recipients having 
difficulty accessing the report online.  Please contact 
poloff Craig Conway via email (conwaycm@state.gov) to request 
a copy. 
 
WOOD