Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa

1. Military Capacity of the FARC

Sources indicate that, although weakened by a government offensive, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC) still has the capacity to make [translation] "high impact attacks" (Reuters 2 Feb. 2012; see also AFP 3 Feb. 2012). According to Jane's Terrorism and Security Monitor, the FARC "remains an effective insurgent force" thanks to "new tactical doctrines designed to counter the more sophisticated counter-insurgency campaigns waged by recent Colombian administrations" (6 Feb. 2012). The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA), an "independent, nonprofit organization founded in 1996 … to provide information and analysis on the region, and on its … relationship with the United States" (NACLA n.d.), explains that the FARC has returned to a "more conventional guerrilla warfare by operating in small units and utilizing hit-and-run tactics against the military" (ibid. 10 Feb. 2012). InSight Crime, a research web portal on organized crime in Latin America and the Caribbean (n.d.), corroborates the NACLA statement, adding that the "guerrilla militias" have become the FARC's "most effective offensive weapon" because of their ability to hide in local communities (InSight Crime 7 Nov. 2011). The organized crime web portal also points out that the change in tactics has allowed the FARC to "retake the initiative from the army in certain parts of the country" (7 Nov. 2011).

El Espectador, a Bogota-based newspaper, cites information found on computers seized during military operations against the FARC that explains that, although the FARC has 67 fronts across the country, only 15 [translation] "maintain the strategic lines dictated by the [FARC] secretariat" (18 Feb. 2012), the ruling body within the guerrilla's command structure (Reuters 16 Nov. 2011); the rest are loosely attached and free to establish agreements with other criminal bands (El Espectador 18 Feb. 2012). The computer data also indicates that 92.8 per cent of FARC operations take place in 10 areas of the country (ibid.). Sources indicate that the FARC has around 8,000 combatants (AFP 22 Oct. 2011; The Telegraph 27 Nov. 2011).

1.1 Change in FARC Policy

On 26 February 2012, the FARC announced that it would no longer kidnap civilians for ransom and that it would release the 10 security-forces hostages it still held captive (FARC-EP 26 Feb. 2012). Sources report that these hostages were released on 2 April 2012 (InSight 3 Apr. 2012; The Christian Science Monitor 3 Apr. 2012). However, the CBC reports that, according to the Colombian government, the FARC has "at least 12" security force members in captivity (26 Feb. 2012). ABC.es, a Madrid-based online newspaper, reports that, 12 hours after its announcement, the FARC attacked, with bombs and mortars, police and military stations in Caldono in the department of Cauca (28 Feb. 2012). InSight Crime reports that, according to Colombian NGO Fundación País Libre, there are 405 civilians still being held captive by the FARC for ransom (InSight 3 Apr. 2012).

2. Activities of the FARC

Human Rights Watch indicates that the FARC is involved in "killings, threats, forced displacement, and recruiting and using child soldiers" (Jan. 2012). Data from Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Centre illustrates that, between 2010 and 2011 alone, there was a 44 percent increase in FARC attacks, from 167 to 241 (6 Feb. 2012). However, Corporación Nuevo Arco Iris, a Colombian think tank, attributed 1,115 attacks to the FARC during the first six months of 2011 (July 2011, 1).

Amnesty International reports that, on 9 July 2011, the FARC detonated a car bomb in Toribío, department of Cauca, killing "at least" three civilians and a police officer, and injuring 120 civilians and two police officers (27 Feb. 2012). Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports that, from 20 to 22 October 2011, the FARC launched attacks in the departments of Arauca and Nariño days before regional elections, killing 20 soldiers (22 Oct. 2011). According to authorities cited by the AFP, the attacks were the [translation] "deadliest" of the first 10 months of 2011 (22 Oct. 2011).

On 27 November 2011, the Telegraph, a London-based newspaper, reported the "execution" of four security force hostages that the FARC had held captive for nearly 14 years. The captives were killed when Colombian troops exchanged gunfire with the guerrilla camp that was holding them prisoner (The Telegraph 27 Nov. 2011). A fifth captive, a police sergeant who had been held hostage for 12 years, was later found alive after fleeing the guerrilla group during the confrontation (ibid.).

On 21 January 2012, Reuters reported that the FARC destroyed a radar antenna system in the department of Cauca, delaying all air operations in a large part of south-western Colombia. On 24 January 2012, the Mexican news agency NOTIMEX reported that, in the first three weeks of 2012, the FARC carried out 132 attacks across the country, including armed attacks against rural communities and the sabotage of oil pipelines and electricity towers that left 56 soldiers dead or wounded. A week later, FARC guerrillas attacked a police station in Villarica, department of Cauca, killing six people, including a child (Reuters 2 Feb. 2012). A day before the attack, guerrilla forces detonated a bomb at a police station in Tumaco, department of Nariño, killing 9 people and injuring 71 (ibid.). On 8 March 2012, El Espectador reported the killing of three police officers in the department of Cauca when FARC guerrillas activated several mines as the police vehicle was driving by. According to Amnesty International, the government says that mines planted by the FARC have killed 49 security force members and 20 civilians in the first 10 months of 2011 (27 Feb. 2012).

2.1 Activities in Bogota

In October 2011, members of the FARC mobile column Ismael Ayala detonated a grenade in the northern sector of Bogota that injured four people (AFP 11 Oct. 2011). Also, five days before regional elections, the FARC left an explosive charge in a trash can inside a children's social assistance centre in the south of Bogota (ibid. 25 Oct. 2011). Two police officers were killed and one other was injured when they tried to deactivate the bomb (ibid.).

2.2 Activities in Santiago de Cali

El Tiempo, a Bogota-based newspaper, quotes the commander of the military police in Santiago de Cali as saying that, according to the FARC's strategy, called the Bolivarian Campaign for a New Colombia (Camapaña Bolivariana para una Nueva Colombia), Santiago de Cali was chosen as the [translation] "second city " to be targeted (10 Mar. 2012). The newspaper also quotes the president for Santiago de Cali's National Federation of Businesses (Federación Nacional de Comerciantes) as saying that 28 attacks have been committed in towns near Santiago de Cali during the first two months of 2012 (El Tiempo 10 Mar. 2012). According to the newspaper, the Colombian army has admitted that the FARC are [translation] "strategically" building up militias, such as the Western Joint Command and the Urban Front Manuel Cepeda, to provide weapons to the guerrillas in the city of Buenaventura in exchange for drugs (ibid.). El País, a Santiago de Cali-based newspaper, reports that, in August 2011, the FARC used four tractor trailers to block the highway that connects Santiago de Cali to Buenaventura (23 Aug. 2011).

3. State Response

On 16 June 2011, the Colombian government issued its national development plan for 2010 to 2014 (Plan Nacional de Desarrollo 2010-2014) (Colombia 2011a) through Law 1450 of 2011, which established, among other things, the National Policy for Territorial Consolidation and Reconstruction (Política Nacional de Consolidación y Reconstrucción Territorial, PNCRT) (ibid. 2011b). The PNCRT seeks to [translation] "strengthen [the] state['s] presence in regions affected historically by illegally armed organizations and illicit crops" (ibid. n.d.a). The PNCRT succeeds the Patriot Plan (ibid. 27 Dec. 2011), a "large-scale" operation focused on southern Colombia during the early years of former president Alvaro Uribe (NACLA 6 Sept. 2011).

A report by the Institute of Studies for Development and Peace (Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo y la Paz, INDEPAZ) indicates that the PNCRT is not looking at the narco-paramilitaries and drug traffickers so much as it is focused on combating the guerrillas (INDEPAZ 8 Mar. 2012, 9). The report explains that most of the area covered by the PNCRT includes regions of strategic importance to the FARC in terms of their accessibility to urban centres and resources (ibid.). It also indicates that, according to various NGOs' observations, the plan has successfully [translation] "neutralized the threat" posed to Bogota, the central zone, and the oil regions of the departments of Meta and Casanare, but it has not managed to control other localities contemplated in the PNCRT (ibid., 11).

The NACLA reports that Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos replaced the Minister of Defence in August 2011 due to concerns that security in the country was deteriorating after attacks by the guerrillas had increased (10 Feb. 2012). El Colombiano, a Medellin-based newspaper, reports that Santos recognized that there are [translation] "blemishes on the issue of security"; he also said that he was concerned about "guerrilla attacks in various regions, extortion in the rural areas and an eight percent growth in kidnappings for ransom" (8 Aug. 2011). The newspaper reports that Santos ordered a review of territorial control in the country to deal with changes to the guerrilla's tactics and announced that the Unified Action Groups for Personal Freedom (Grupos de Acción Unificada por la Libertad Personal, GAULA) would join in the fight against criminal bands and guerrilla militias (ibid.). According to the Ministry of Defence website, GAULAs are "elite units exclusively dedicated to preventing and acting against kidnapping and extortion" (Colombia n.d.b). The President also announced the creation of the Intelligence Consolidation Centre of the Armed Forces General Command (Centro de Fusión de Inteligencia del Comando General de las Fuerzas Militares) to make [translation] "adjustments" to "'combat intelligence'" (El Colombiano 8 Aug. 2011).

On 18 February 2012, El Espectador reported that, based on information found on computers confiscated from the FARC, the government developed a new strategy to fight the guerrillas called Operation Sword of Honour (Operación Espada de Honor). The Sword of Honour strategy is evaluating FARC's fronts and militia structure, and will, accordingly, intensify operations of [translation] "high strategic importance" (El Espectador 18 Feb. 2012). The strategy plans to use the air force for surveillance in the southeastern part of the country, as well as navy intelligence along the Pacific coast to prevent drug trafficking (ibid.). According to President Santos, guerrillas are implementing a "wasp plan" (plan avispa) as a response to the state's PNCRT plan; the wasp plan consists of launching attacks that will have [translation] "great resonance" to attract media attention (El Colombiano 3 Mar. 2012). The Research Directorate was unable to find further information on Operation Sword of Honour or the wasp plan among the sources consulted within the time constrains of this Response.

4. State Actions

On 10 October 2011, AFP reports that [translation] "at least" 11 FARC guerrillas from Front 33 were killed in a police operation in the department of Norte de Santander. In February 2012, Caracol Radio, a radio station based in Bogota, reported the killing of the commander of Front 62 in the department of Meta (14 Feb. 2012). This front was responsible for coordinating the FARC's eastern and southern blocs (Caracol Radio 14 Feb. 2012.). One month later, Colombia Reports, a Medellin-based, English-language news source (n.d.), reported the detention of four guerrillas from Front 34 in the department of Chocó (6 Mar. 2012).

4.1 State Actions in Bogota

Police captured FARC's plans for its mobile column Ismael Ayala to attack police stations in the Bogota neighbourhoods of Arborizadora Alta, Candelaria and San Francisco (El Espectador 11 Oct. 2011). Sources report that the National Police also detained 12 FARC guerrillas accused of committing [translation] "various" attacks in Bogota and the central zone of Colombia (AP 29 Feb. 2012; NOTIMEX 28 Feb. 2012), as well as manufacturing security force uniforms in order to install roadblocks and mount attacks against military targets and civilians (ibid.). Also, El Espectador reports the discovery by the police of [translation] "'clandestine hospitals'" belonging to the FARC in a neighbourhood in south Bogota and in the department of Meta (3 Mar. 2012). The hospitals were used for injured guerrillas (El Espectador 3 Mar. 2012). In another government operation, agents of the Office of the Attorney General (Fiscalía General de la Nación) seized 80 mortar shells and a tripod just outside of Bogota; the weapons belonged to FARC urban militias (NOTIMEX 19 Mar. 2011).

4.2 State Actions in Santiago de Cali

In Santiago de Cali, the army seized 213 improvised explosive devices belonging to the mobile column Gabriel Galvis in a rural area outside the city (El Espectador 26 May 2011). El Espectador reported that the Metropolitan Police of Cali seized 100 bars of explosives belonging to the FARC that allegedly would have been used for attacks in the city (27 Sept. 2011). Bogota-based Radio Santa Fe also reports the seizure in Santiago de Cali of two [translation] "high-power rifles" and 100 grenades that were allegedly intended for the FARC in southern Colombia (30 Jan. 2012).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

ABC.es [Madrid]. 28 February 2012. Alejandra de Vengoechea. "Las FARC se financiarán con la venta ilegal de oro y el narcotráfico." (Factiva)

Agence France-Presse (AFP). 3 February 2012. Nina Negrón. "FARC aumenta ataques en Colombia y Santos defiende su estrategia militar." (Factiva)

_____. 25 October 2011. "Violencia llega a Bogotá: dos policías muertos a días de comicios regionales." (Factiva)

_____. 22 October 2011. "Ataques de FARC dejan 20 militares muertos en últimas 48 horas en Colombia." (Factiva)

_____. 11 Ocotber 2011. "Autoridades atribuyen a FARC ataque en Bogotá que hirió a cuatro personas." (Factiva)

_____. 10 October 2011. "Exército mata 11 guerrilheiros na Colômbia." (Factiva)

Amnesty International (AI). 27 February 2012. "Colombia: FARC Urged to End All Kidnapping." [Accessed 7 Mar. 2012]

Associated Press (AP). 29 February 2012. "Desmantelaron red de las FARC en Bogotá." [Accessed 14 Mar. 2012]

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). 26 February 2012. "Colombia's FARC to Give up Kidnapping." [Accessed 7 Mar. 2012]

Caracol Radio. 14 February 2012. "Las Farc sufren nuevo golpe con la muerte de alias 'Dumar', cabecilla del frente 62." [Accessed 14 Mar. 2012]

The Christian Science Monitor. 3 April 2012. Louise Arbour. "FARC Hostage Release Signals Possible End to Colombia's Internal Conflict." [Accessed 10 Apr. 2012]

Colombia. 27 December 2011. Ejército Nacional. "Comandante General de las Fuerzas Militares, un General clave." [Accessed 14 Mar. 2012]

_____. 2011a. Ley 1450 de 2011. [Accessed 15 Mar. 2012]

_____. 2011b. Decreto 4161 de 2011. [Accessed 15 Mar. 2012]

_____. N.d.a. Departamento para la Prosperidad Social. "Política Nacional de Consolidación y Reconstrucción Territorial." [Accessed 15 Mar. 2012]

_____. N.d.b. Ministerio de Defensa Nacional. "Grupos de Acción Unificada por la Libertad Personal - Gaula." [Accessed 24 Feb. 2012]

El Colombiano [Medellin]. 3 March 2012. "Santos denuncia 'plan avispa' de los grupos armados para atacar a la población civil." [Accessed 3 Mar. 2012]

_____. 8 August 2011. Juan Carlos Monroy Giraldo. "Santos anuncia remezón al plan de seguridad." [Accessed 9 Mar. 2012]

Colombia Reports [Medellin]. 6 March 2012. Charles Parkinson. "4 'FARC' Captured in Western Colombia." [Accessed 7 Mar. 2012]

_____. N.d. "About Colombia Reports." [Accessed 15 Mar. 2012]

Corporación Nuevo Arco Iris (CNAI). July 2011. León Valencia and Ariel Ávila. La nueva realidad de las FARC. [Accessed 20 Mar. 2012]

El Espectador [Bogota]. 8 March 2012. "Tres policía muertos en emboscada de las Farc en Cauca." [Accessed 9 Mar. 2012]

_____. 3 March 2012. "Hallan hospital de las Farc al sur de Bogotá." [Accessed 14 Mar. 2012]

_____. 18 February 2012. "'Operación Espada de Honor'." [Accessed 20 Feb. 2012]

_____. 11 October 2011. "Revelan planes terroristas de las Farc en Bogotá." [Accessed 14 Mar. 2012]

_____. 27 September 2011. "Incautan cien barras de pentolita de las Farc, en Cali." [Accessed 14 Mar. 2012]

_____. 26 May. 2011. "Hallan caleta con 213 minas de las Farc en Cali." [Accessed 14 Mar. 2012]

Fuerzas Armada Revolucionarias de Colombia - Ejército del Pueblo (FARC-EP). 26 February 2012. "Declaración pública: sobre prisioneros y retenciones." [Accessed 7 Mar. 2012]

Human Rights Watch. January 2012. "Colombia." World Report 2012: Events of 2011. [Accessed 15 Mar. 2012]

InSight - Organized Crime in the Americas. 3 April 2012. Geoffrey Ramsey. "FARC Releases Hostages, Though Hundreds of Civilians Remain Kidnapped." [Accessed 10 Apr. 2012]

_____. 7 November 2011. Jeremy McDermott. "The FARC After 'Alfonso Cano'." [Accessed 9 Mar. 2012]

_____. N.d. "About InSight - Organized Crime." [Accessed 15 Mar. 2012]

Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo y la Paz (INDEPAZ). 8 March 2012. Camilo González Posso. Consolidación territorial y resurgimiento de paras y guerrilla. [Accessed 20 Mar. 2012]

Jane's Terrorism and Security Monitor. 6 February 2012. Matt Henman. "FARC's Strategic Evolution." [Accessed 7 Mar. 2012]

North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA). 10 February 2012. Garry Leech. "The Shifting Contours of Colombia's Armed Conflict." [Accessed 9 Mar. 2012]

_____. 6 September 2011. Nazih Richani. "The Santos Government Revises Military Strategy." [Accessed 14 Mar. 2012]

_____. N.d. "About Us." [Accessed 5 Apr. 2012]

NOTIMEX, Agencia de Noticias del Estado Mexicano. 28 February 2012. "Capturan a comando rebelde sospechoso de ataques en Bogotá." (Factiva)

_____. 24 January 2012. "Reportan 132 ataques de las FARC en tres semanas en Colombia." (Factiva)

_____. 19 March 2011. "Abortan plan de las FARC para realizar ataques en Bogotá." (Factiva)

El País [Santiago de Cali]. 23 August 2011. "Farc incursionaron y bloquearon la vía Cali-Buenaventura." [Accessed 14 Mar. 2012]

Radio Santa Fe. 30 January 2012. "Incautan en Cali poderoso armamento de las Farc." [Accessed 14 Mar. 2012]

Reuters. 2 February 2012. "Nuevo ataque explosivo de las FARC en Colombia deja 6 muertos." (Factiva)

_____. 21 January 2012. "Ataque de las FARC a radar retrasa vuelos en el sur de Colombia." (Factiva)

_____. 16 November 2011. "Colombia's FARC Rebels Pick Hardline New Leader." [Accessed 5 Apr. 2012]

The Telegraph [London]. 27 November 2011. "Colombia's FARC Rebels Execute Four." [Accessed 7 Mar. 2012]

El Tiempo [Bogota]. 10 March 2012. "Cali se blinda contra la estrategia de las Farc de cercar a la ciudad." [Accessed 14 Mar. 2012]

Additional Sources Consulted

Internet sites, including: Alcaldía Mayor de Bogotá; Alcaldía Santiago de Cali; Canal RCN; Colombia - Defensoría del Pueblo, Fiscalía General de la Nación, Ministerio del Interior, Policía Nacional de Colombia, Procuraduría General de la Nación; European Country of Origin Information Network; Freedom House; International Crisis Group; International Federation for Human Rights; International Institute for Counter-Terrorism; El Mundo; Organization of American States; Reliefweb; Semana; US Department of State; Washington Office on Latin America.