Convivir (surveillance cooperatives)

The private security and surveillance cooperatives for agrarian defense or Private Security and Surveillance Community Services, mostly known as Convivir or self-defense groups, were far-right companies created with the objective of providing paid private surveillance and security services to a community. They arose as a response from the Colombian State to provide a new legal framework to the defense that the landowners had been making of their own lands, in the face of the threat of the guerrilla groups that the Colombian State was unable to combat effectively.

They were created by then President César Gaviria Trujillo in 1994, together with his Minister of Defense, Rafael Pardo Rueda, through Decree Law 356 of 1994, which established the conditions for regulating new "special security services private" that they would operate in combat zones where public order was precarious. Finally they were regulated by the government of President Ernesto Samper Pizano.

The idea arose within the same government of César Gaviria, who was looking for a way to get closer to the civilian population in order to obtain a greater participation from them in the fight against the guerrillas. In December 1994, the then Defense Minister, Fernando Botero, communicated through various means the objective and scope of the new private surveillance services, and also established that people with criminal records could not join them.

On April 27, 1995, a resolution of the Surveillance and Security Superintendence decided that these institutions would be called Convivir. Its members could carry weapons and communication equipment for the exclusive use of the military forces. Its basic function was to collaborate with law enforcement in the fight against the insurgency. In 1997, the Constitutional Court clarified their legal nature and established that they could only use weapons for civilian use, effectively nullifying their combat capabilities. After this limitation of their actions, many of those who directed them ended up as commanders of the Self-Defense Forces. United of Colombia.

Background

The previous self-defense groups were created in Colombia from Decree 3398 of 1965 and Law 48 of 1968 by which the National Defense is organized and opened the door for the formation of civilian groups armed by the Army. In the case of the department of Tolima, they were called Civil Defense in the 1970s, Rojo Atá in the 1980s, and the later Convivir in the 1990s.

Activities

Members of the Convivir had the legal right to carry weapons and communication equipment for the exclusive use of the military to protect their communities and collaborate with the public forces in the fight against insurgency. The director of the Administrative Department of Security (DAS), General Luis Enrique Montenegro, announced the conduct of intelligence operations in association with the Convivir.

The Convivirs were organized at a national level, making it difficult to establish their exact number and that of their members, because it depended on clearly conceptualizing which private security groups were or were not considered as such. There are estimates that contemplate up to 414 groups and, according to the president of the National Federation of CONVIVIR Associations Carlos Alberto Díaz, as of December 1997 there were more than 120,000 members of the Convivir in Colombia. of 500 rural security cooperatives in 24 departments.

Controversy

During their existence, several Convivirs were criticized for irregularities in their formation and supervision, as well as for the existence of serious abuses, including human rights violations against civilians and alleged guerrilla collaborators.

It has been denounced that its creation contributed to complicate the distinction between civilians and combatants, along with the fact that various members of paramilitary groups formed or joined the Convivir, and/or illegally assumed the name of "Convivir& #3. 4; without having official authorization to do so, giving rise to different confusions and subsequent abuses.

For the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the "close working relationship between the Military Forces and the CONVIVIR is what allows, under the circumstances analyzed, to give the members of the Convivir the status of state agents", both during their legal and illegal actions.

Based on the rules established by the central administration of the State, the creation of 67 of them was allowed. Other mayors and governors of the country did the same.

On the other hand, some local leaders refused to do so, such as the mayoress of Apartadó, Gloria Cuartas, who criticized the organization of the Convivir in her municipality and considered that, in addition to being unnecessary, it was detrimental to governability.

It is also important to clarify that the creation of the Convivir was declared enforceable by the Constitutional Court and its surveillance was in charge of the Superintendence of Surveillance of the National Government, and not of the governorates. In Colombia, there were more than 414 Convivir organizations, of which 67 were approved in Antioquia. This shows that its defense and approval was broad throughout the national territory, and greater in the department of Antioquia.

In 1998, Human Rights Watch stated: "we have received reliable information indicating that the CONVIVIR of Magdalena Medio and southern Cesar were led by known paramilitaries and threatened to assassinate Colombians who were considered sympathizers of the guerrillas". Amnesty International also opposed these groups.

Dismantling

In 1997, in response to a claim of unconstitutionality against Decree 356 of 1994, the Constitutional Court declared the existence of the Convivir unconstitutional, but ordered them to return the weapons for the exclusive use of the Armed Forces. Colombians and imposed other restrictions on them. Subsequently, the president of the Convivir National Federation ordered the unilateral dismantling of most of these groups through their disarmament and organized demobilization.

Known Convivir Associations

• Conviving Horizonte
• Conviving Guaymaral
• Live New Dawn
• Live Arrayanes
• Living with Guacamayas
• Conviving Papagayo
• Convival Avive
• Conviving Costa Azul
• Living Bellavan
• Living a New Light
• Live Seven Cures
• Living Hope
• Conviving Guayacanes
• Live Friends for Valencia
• Convive Order and Development
• Conviv La Palma
• Covitur
• Conviving Comembera
• Convince the Plate
• Conviv Asociación de campesinos de Punta de Piedra
• Live the Paramillo
• Convide the Tagua del Darién
• Conviving Chigorodó cheerful
• Live Coopchur
• Conviving Palma Real
• Conviv La Guayaba