How have Colombia-FARC peace talks affected scale of conflict?
A new United Nations report provides some sense of the scale of聽's conflict since rebel group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia ()聽began peace talks with the government in 2012, even as negotiations remain in limbo following the capture of a military general in November.
Approximately 50,000 victims were displaced due to actions by the FARC rebel group聽from November 2012 to June 2014,聽聽by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).
This figure represents roughly 17 percent of over 300,000 victims of displacement in聽聽during that period. Confrontations between the聽聽and Colombian military accounted for an additional 27 percent of displacements.
Meanwhile, groups known as "BACRIM," from the Spanish acronym for "criminal bands," were responsible for 23 percent of displacements, and "other" groups were behind 30 percent, according to the UNOCHA report.聽
The UNOCHA report also included slightly different figures from聽's victims unit, known as the UARIV, which say that guerrilla groups 鈥� including both the聽聽and the National Liberation Army () 鈥� were responsible for 48 percent of displacements; the BACRIM for 19 percent, and "unknown" actors for 31 percent.聽
The displacements were concentrated in the country's Pacific region, as well as the department of Antioquia.
Additionally, the UNOCHA report stated that since the peace talks began, 10.5 percent of聽's reported聽聽cases were attributed to either the聽聽or the聽, without clarifying where this number is sourced from.
The report also stated that "one out of five" kidnappings in聽聽involve either the听辞谤听, although common crime is responsible for the majority of cases 鈥� 76 percent.聽
InSight Crime Analysis
When it comes to the question of whether the聽聽have been the primary drivers of聽's conflict since the peace talks began, the figures from the UNOCHA report don't present a very clearcut answer. This isn't helped by the report's聽occasionally unclear explanations of where it sourced its statistics from.
Some of the figures sourced from the UNOCHA report could certainly be used to make the case that other actors besides the聽聽remain major contributors to the conflict. Even if the聽聽and the聽聽are responsible for 48 percent of聽's displacements, put together, the BACRIM and "unknown" actors" are responsible for 50 percent, according to the UARIV figures quoted in the report.
