The Law Forced Internal Displacement and the Construction of the State

8/12/2019 The Law Forced Internal Displacement and the Construction of the State

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The Law, Forced Internal Displacementand the Construction of the State

John Larry Rojas Castillo*

This article focuses on the phenomenon of forced displacement and its relation-ship to the law and the problem of the social and political recognition of Blackcommunities in Colombia. There is a brief discussion of the events that generateforced displacement of the communities of Riosucio (Choc) and a demonstrationof how this process seems to involve a struggle between different normative formsdefended by the armed groups who are fighting for territorial domination. Forced

displacement reveals a strategy of war mediated by norms and, ultimately, revealsthe crisis of citizenship in the Colombian state. In this context of uprootedness, inwhich the displaced become pariahs in their own land, these people formed asettlement in Paravand (Antioquia), out of which they organized the Saint Francisof Assisi Peace Communities. Through rules and legal forms based on their cus-toms and traditions, these communities struggle to reconstruct their lives and tobe socially and politically recognized by the state. Hence, from the perspective ofthe armed groups engaged in a process of strategic colonization, the law can beused to bring about displacement, while from the perspective of the Peace Communi-ties, the law is revealed as an instrument in peoples struggle for their lives and land.

This article is an attempt to approach the problem of forced displacement in Colombia from a

Philosophy of Law perspective. It attempts to understand how law is molded in the midst of thephenomenon of displacement, meaning how it is produced, interpreted and applied. Hence, it is an

effort to carry out a study that is closely related to the socio-cultural context in which law emergesand is enforced. The philosophical aspect of the text is defined by the search for understanding, as

it attempts to penetrate the specific case of displacement to bring to light and expose the deepermeaning of the struggle among the different types of law which are interwoven within it. This

effort moves beyond description, as it seeks to reveal the sociopolitical meaning of the negation ofrights implied by displacement as a manifestation of the crisis of citizenship in the Colombian state

thereby showing how the law intervenes in the dynamics of war.To this end, I first present a simple reconstruction of the concrete case of displacement which

gave rise to the Paravand settlement. Secondly, I demonstrate how different normative systems

including communal, institutional, and those defended by the armed actorsare juxtaposed in com-munity life, thus revealing that displacement is one of the strategies of political and military en-gagement. Furthermore, I will expose how valid normative productions occur in the Peace

Communities and how processes of negotiation and recognition of the communities are shaped [inconjunction] with the state and the armed actors. This establishes a theoretical reflection which

allows for a general perspective of the complex cartography of the dispute over the concepts of lawand the role of law with regard to displacement.

* Chair of the Philosophy Department at the Corporacin Universitaria Minuto de Dios (Colombia).Professor of Philosophy at the Universidad Javeriana.

ILSA - Instituto Latinoamericano de Servicios Legales Alternativos. http:/www./ilsa.org.co/


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Finally, forced displacement is here recognized as a negotiation of the rights of citizens inwhich victims possess only their naked humanity, without the mask of citizenship which continually

elevates them [to a higher status] (Agamben 2000: 81-93). Hence, displacement toys with the politi-cal life of humanity, as the main right violated in displacement is the right to be actively linked to

other human beings in a communal relationship. Thus, respect for and protection of human rightscannot be secured merely by nominal membership to a nationality, but only when citizens and social

groups are effectively recognized by the state. From a philosophical point of view, we might dis-cover that it is only in the construction of a pluralist state that the different social and ethnic actors

find effective recognition and are guaranteed concrete respect for their rights as citizens. Through-out this study I demonstrate how the Peace Communities utilize their legal systems and internal

regulations to struggle to regain their lands and respect for their autonomy and, in this manner,for political recognition of their cultural and communal life. The Peace Communities are not anony-

mous conglomerates; they are organized groups of peopleparticularly Blacks who differ fromthe predominant culture and who, while sharing a common experience of tragedy, fight for recogni-

tion. We can thereby conclude that the law is a key element both in the struggle that generatesdisplacement, and in the processes of peaceful communal organization that confront it.

THE CASE OF THE PEACE COMMUNITIES BORN OUTOF THE PAVARAND SETTLEMENT, 1997-1998

In the reconstruction of this case we attempt to refer to the events which generated the forced

displacement from the Riosucio zone between the second semester of 1996 and the first months of1997, which precipitated the settlement of Paravand and, subsequently, the Peace Communities.

We will present a simple reconstruction of events, enriched with the narration of the protagonists ofthe process, which provides us with an initial general context which will allow us to comprehend

the dynamics of the problem.

Initial General Context: Riosucio

Riosucio has special significance for the Urab region of the Choc and in the Atrato river basingiven its biodiversity and the richness of its natural resources, as well as its commercial, geo-strate-gic and military importance. It is a zone of incomparable wealth, given the uniqueness of its

biodiversity and its water reserves and natural resources, which remain largely unexploited (al-though woodcutting and shrimp industries are now being developed). Furthermore, the intermedi-

ate and lower zones of the Atrato River are incredibly fertile and perfect for cattle raising or agri-culture.

From the commercial perspective, the Urab region possesses great importance as a naturalbridge between Central and South America and the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, leading to impor-

tant proposals to develop key mega-projects in the area. Moreover, this zone also has tremendousmilitary significance as a jungle region which allows for ground communication between Central

America and the [Colombian] interior, which in turn facilitates the flow of arms, the mobilization ofkidnappings, and the shipment of drugs.1 As a consequence, this area has great geo-strategic and

military importance on both the national and international levels, which prompts the insurgent andpara-state groups to attempt to dominate it.

1 Arms trafficking and the mobilization of kidnappings have been recurrent illegal practices in thiszone. Although the counter-state and para-state armed groups have repeatedly denied thatthe territory is used for drug trafficking, security and intelligence agencies consistently accuseguerrilla and paramilitary groups of such usage.



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The Territorial Conflict Between the Guerrillas and Paramilitary in Riosucio,The Process of Displacement and the Formation of the Settlement.

In this general context, the first months of 1996 gave way to an intense armed struggle among the

guerrillas, the military, and paramilitary forces 2 for control of the rural zones of Riosucio. In thisway, during the course of the year the paramilitary groups began to have an ever-increasing pres-

ence in the areas surrounding the municipal center of Riosucio which, since the 1960s, had beenunder the control of the FARC guerrilla and had lived under that gr oups law. This process of

territorial dispute had begun around 1985 when Fidel Castaos groups 3 took control of SantaMara La Antigua; regardless, they had not engaged in significant confrontations with the guerrillas

until 1995, when both paramilitary and guerrilla groups sustained intense combat in the area.Hence, throughout 1996 paramilitary groups committed massacres, murders, extrajudicial

executions and disappearances as they sought to ensure military dominance. This assault led to thepermanent intimidation of the population and to multiple images of terror, which in turn led to the

massive displacement of peasants to the municipal centers of Riosucio, Turbo, Quibd and Crdobaduring the second half of the year. In December of that year the paramilitary achieved full domi-

nance over the urban area of Riosucio. Bombings by the Army and the National Police accompaniedthe arrival of the paramilitary, whousing the slogan, we are the Self-Defense Forces, were come

to clean up the towntook hostages, assassinated members of the JUCO (Communist Youth) andcommunity leaders, and set up a blockade to keep food and gasoline from the residents of the rural

areas of the village, arguing that many of those staples would end up in the hands of the FARC andthat their strategy was thus to starve the guerrillas to death.

The guerrilla responded to this paramilitary takeover with an attack by its 57thand 34thFrontson January 9, 1997, in which five residents were killed, seven were wounded, and the population

was massively displaced. Moreover, as they retreated, the subversives passed through the hamlet

of Nueva Luz and Los Manguitos, where they decapitated seven peasants after accusing them ofcollaborating with the paramilitary (El Tiempo, 5 March 1997, p. 9).

During the last days of January and the first 20 days of February, the pressure on the popula-tion grew steadily worse, given the imposed limitation on food and the continual confrontations

between the guerrillas, the paramilitary, and the Army.During the early morning hours of February 24, 1997, an intense bombardment was launched

on the township of Bocas de Taparal and later throughout the Salaqu river canyon. The bombings,which continued throughout the day, provoked the displacement of residents who had lived in the

region for more than 30 years, mostly Black communities made up by women and children withoutclothes or shoes, who, in the words of the displaced, left their property and possessions behind in

the hot bonfires. In the process of displacement which followed these confrontations, many peoplehad to go into jungle areas in which they got lost. Some pregnant women had to give birth under

these conditions and some children fell ill. In one month, between 2000 and 3000 peasants searchedfor the highway leading to the ocean, in the upper Turboa goal which only a few achieved,

while others were forced by the Army to stop in Paravand, a township of Mutat.4

2 In the districts (corregimientos) of Alto Riosucio, Bajir, Boca de Curvarad, Cacarica, Chintad,Domingod, Jiguamiand, La Grande, La Honda, La Larga, La Raya, La Teresita, La Travesa,Peye, Salaqu, Truand, Tumaradocito, Turriquitad, Viga de Curvarad and Villanueva. Alsoaround the police stations of Isla, Sautat and Tamboral.

3 Paramilitary groups with ties to drug trafficking (proofreaders note).4 A great many Afro-descendents, indigenous people and mestizo peasants from the communi-

ties of the Cacarica River Basin were also displaced in the course of the fighting between statearmed forces, the para-state forces, and the counter-state forces. In contrast with those whoarrived in Paravand, these communities sought refuge in the Coliseum in Turbo or fled toPanam, where some of them were subsequently deported to Cupica bay. Even though thesegroups did not call themselves Peace Communities, they did develop a very important experi-



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The authorities of Riosucio maintain that most of the farmers and woodsmen arrived as hos-

tages of the guerrilla, and that that was why they tried to separate the women and childrenfrom the group (...). For General Rito Alejo del Ro, Commander of the 17th Brigade, the trekto Mutat was an opportunity to sneak up on the FARC in order to capture the route to thesea for the third time (El Tiempo, 1 April 1997).

Accused by the Army of collaborating with the guerrilla, the displaced settled into Paravand

during the last days of March and the first days of April 1997. They had to pledge that they had noplans of taking over the road to the sea, but that they did have hopes of urgent medical attention

and the possibility of establishing direct contact with the national government in the hopes of ob-taining guarantees to return to their lands. They also explained that their exodus from the region

was due to the paramilitarys threats and accusations of being guerrilla collaborators, and to theguerrilla warnings insisting that if they did in fact leave, they would be obeying a paramilitary

order and would not be allowed to return.5

In this way, the intense, warlike confrontation for territorial hegemony placed profound and

continual pressure on the communities, to the point of forced displacement; hence, it is important tomove beyond simply identifying the immediate author of such orders. Rather, it is necessary to

point out how the struggle for territory and the intense bombings lead to the victimization of theBlack peasant communities. Throughout 1997 new paramilitary attacks caused new processes of

displacement, which brought the number of displaced settlers to around 5000.

Community Organization in the Settlement

During the first few days of the settlement, people found themselves forced to sleep out in the open

air on sheets of plastic in cattle fields. Later, due to the efforts of several NGOs,6 the Ministry of theInteriorthrough the Office of Human Rights and in conjunction with the Diocese of Apartad

built zinc shelters which were then occupied by each of the 49 different communities that arrived atthe settlement.

In the face of their problems and needs as refugees in precarious humanitarian and securityconditions, and using as a foundation the organization that had existed prior to the displacement,

each community organized itself into Community Counsels with a legal representative and a board

of directors. At the same time they created different committeesmade up of representatives se-lected from each communityto find solutions to their problems or to obtain resources from theNGOs or the government itself. It is worth emphasizing the importance of these Community Coun-

sels, which were instituted by virtue of Decree 1745 of 1995, which is in turn regulated by Law 70 of1993. In some of the communities, these Counsels were organized before displacement with the

goal of reclaiming collective rights to their traditional lands. Once they received title to the landthrough the INCORA (Colombian Institute for Agrarian Reform), they established maximal admin-

istrative authority over the land in accordance with the Constitution, as well as over the effectivelegal norms and the unique legal systems of each community(Decree 1745, 1995). This communal pro-

cess is worth highlighting, since the 1991 Constitution and Law 70 of 1993 had recognized not onlythe Black communities communal land rights, but also their rights to their own culture and cus-

toms. With this law the Black communities achieved a measure of autonomy to administer andorganize their territory through their own legal systems.

ence of peaceful community resistance. Given the fact that these communities not only sharecultural and ethnic ties, but also have suffered the pain of displacement and cultivated a projectof community organization, it is important to study their experience in order to attain a betterunderstanding of the struggle of Black communities to be recognized as political and socialactors. SeeCOMUNIDADES DE LA CUENCA DEL CACARICA(2002).

5 See El TiempoApril 1, 1997 and El Mundo April 2, 1997; El TiempoMarch 7, 1997.6 Among the organizations that provided vital support to the communities were CINEP, Justicia y

Paz, Caritas, the diocese of Apartad and the Lauritas and Dominican communities of religiouswomen. For more on this, see HERNNDEZ (1999).



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Because the zone of Riosucio has traditionally been inhabited not only by the Black communi-ties, but also by the chilapos (mestizos) and paisas (white immigrants from Antioquia or Crdoba),

from the very beginning, the difficult experience of the settlement led all the displaced persons toconsider communal life as a way of organizing their subsistence processes and their struggle for

political and social recognition.Precisely because they shared the traumatic experience of being forced to break their ties with

the land on which they had forged their livelihoods over long periods of time, the members of thedifferent ethnic groups understood the importance of, and the need for, solid community organiza-

tion. In the words of one of the settlements inhabitants:

(...) [T]he violence caught us alone, by ourselves; each one of us was out there on our farm. Welived peacefully and quietly but it caught us and destroyed us. And the reason is that wedidnt have a community to support us. Then we all became aware of the importance of acommunity that supports you, and thats what we started talking about in Paravand (CINEP

2000).

In this way, the role of the aforementioned committees was to organize communal life in the

settlement through rules which regulated the most common practices in the community, such aswashing clothes or bathing in the river or going out to search for firewood or food. All of the

members of the settlement were familiar with the rules and had to follow them strictly, since theythemselves had developed them. Moreover, the settlement was surrounded by the Army to guaran-

tee the communitys safety. Thus, the rules also stated that no resident of the refuge could leavewithout permission, and especially not alone or at night.7 These normative systems also stipulated

that no inhabitant could be armed or have business or conversations with outsiders or armed groups,or sell them food or drink. They also established penalties and punishments consisting of commu-

nity service for those who violated the rules (Saint Francis of Assisi Peace Communities 1997).It is important to highlight how the processes of displacement, the foundation of the settle-

ment, community formation and even the initiation of the process to return to community lands, aremarked by the terror caused by the continual pressure of the armed groups, which constantly

intimidated and harassed the settlement by assassinating or disappearing its members, offering

money to residents who abandoned their communities, and intimidating the leaders. Communitylife was always threatened by possible attacks, either by the guerrilla or the paramilitary. Paradoxi-cally, these methods of pressure led to the continued consolidation of even stronger ties of solidar-

ity, loyalty, and faith in the social project underway. In the actions that denied the rights of thecommunity, the residents found the catalyst which strengthened their unity, solidarity and frater-

nity.

I think that part of the work of the peace communities, this work of community participation,

comes from the notion that we peasants acquire a collective responsibility. We think we needa project [based on] communal living. And that, the way things are, individuals and thecommunity in general need to have that really clear in order to defend [themselves] and moveahead. So, if you have a community with rules, with representatives and different work com-

mitteesa community that is organized in some way, then you can talk about any aggres-

sor or at least you can say what their agenda is, what their program is, and what their inter-ests are (CINEP 2000).8

7 These measures, along with the permanent pressure the settlement was subjected to by thearmed actors over a period of months, practically turned the settlement into a jail for the inhab-itants. On the other hand, this extreme situation allowed them to develop a strong sense ofcommunity.

8 There are many studies on the project of the Peace Communities as a form of community orga-nization which allows for the vital reconstruction of [the lives of] those who have experienceddisplacement. These studies come from such varied fields as psychology, social work, andpolitical science.



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For the residents, the settlement was not just a space in which to maintain their physicalsubsistence, but rather a place where they could begin the vital process of reconstruction to fight for

their rights, which was marked by experiences which taught them to respect their differences andto see themselves as a united group. Hence, the deep wounds of war began to be healed through

encounter with other people and the construction of a project of communal living.

When you have to be displaced, it rips you out of your homeland. A displaced person doesnteven know who he is. But maybe you find out that you live with your family, that you havea community and people who you can struggle with and work with. When people trustnot even believe so much as trust, when people put their faith in others who come to help

out, who are working out an entire process, then they rediscover that they exist (CINEP 2000).

In this sense the deep nostalgia for the land and the pain caused by the loss of daily life began

to propel the reconstruction through a communal process that started to shape the settlement. Inconclusion, the processes of communal living which arose from the painful experience of displace-

ment, overcrowding and near imprisonment in the settlement of Paravand made its residentsaware of the importance of community organization as a way of rebuilding the processes of indi-

vidual and communal lives, as well as [its utility] as a way for demanding their rights. Based on thecultural and social practices that existed before displacement, they established rules whichas nor-

mative systemsreflected the autonomy of the communities to self-regulate their communal lifeand adopt neutral practices to face the armed actors.

The Peace Communities of Saint Francis of Assisi

We can understand the meaning of the peace communities in the context of communal life, com-bined with processes of normative organization. These processes were born as a strategy of the

communities of the Pavarand settlement to be able to return to their lands and to obtain respectfor their lives and property from the armed actors, as well as to prevent further displacements.

How can territorial control and mechanisms for civil protection be established without arms? Thatis the complicated question posed by these communities, keeping in mind their fragility in the midst

of the surrounding war. At the same time, their profound political force is rooted in this search for

solutions.The path chosen by the 53 communities 49 initially and 4 that arrived in 1997, as laid out in

their declaration of October 19, 1997, was to isolate themselves from the armed conflict. Their

members made a public commitment not to carry arms, not to give out information, not to give anystrategic advantage to any group, not to receive any member of an armed group onto their land,

and to seek a negotiated solution to the conflict (Saint Francis of Assisi Peace Communities 1997).In this way, by assuming a position which actively denies their participation in the conflict,

they were able to identify their interests as [members of] civil society: to be able to occupy theirlands, to have autonomous control over their internal organization, to develop their culture and

customs with the hope of having their sovereign decisions respected by all the armed actors in theconflict. Hence, the peace communities strategy is to find protection not through arms, but through

their neutrality, by actively denying the war tactics used by the surrounding armed actors.This proposal was not an attempt to violate the Constitution or its laws, nor to oppose the

state; it was rather a methodology emerging from communal living to reclaim an autonomous terri-torial space in which it would be possible to exercise fundamental constitutional rights. 9 That is

why, prior to the proclamation, the communities convened an in-depth process of formation inwhich all of their members were instructed on the meaning and implications of the declaration.

9 In order to understand the spirit of the proposal, see ENCUENTRO NACIONAL POR LACONSTRUCCIN DE LA PAZ, Neutralidad Activa, Declaracin Final, Medelln, May 22 and 23,1997.



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Furthermore, the communities informed the different armed actors of their intentions, and each ofthose groups agreed, in one way or another, to respect the decision. Later the communities, which

were each in agreement with the internally defined processessome through collecting the signa-tures of each of their members, some through representativesdecided to undertake the commit-

ment of becoming Peace Communities (Hernndez 2000).After the declaration, a board was set up to negotiate with the state in order to define the

conditions of return [to the land and their abandoned homes]. This first board was supposed topostpone discussion of the other points surrounding the formation of the settlement.10 In this pro-

cess the communities prepared a proposal of a socio-political package encompassing all of the as-pects involved in their return, such as title to their lands in fulfillment of Law 70 of 1993, the

organization of the different groups, the selection of the exact zones where they would begin andthe characteristics of the settlements.

After a process of careful reflection, the communities decided not to return directly to theirparcels of land, but to instead move to seven different sites on their territory with the goal of

advancing little by little and covering as much ground as possible until they could relocate ontotheir original property. In December 1997 the negotiation process began between the Peace Commu-

nities and a commission made up of the Church, CINEP [Center for Research and Popular Educa-

tion], the Presidential Counselor for the Displaced, the Ministry of the Interior, INCORA and otherswho were accompanying the process. During this same period before the accords were signed, thecommunities began their process of return, which would continue until September 1998. The com-

munities return to their lands was marked by intense guerrilla and paramilitary attacks, both onthe settlement and on the communities that had returned.11

In conclusion, the declaration of the Peace Communities allowed them to establish social prac-tices which restored the lifestyles of the displaced and to fight for their rights. As a result, the

communities designed a normative system and, through their public declaration, established anactive political position which affirmed their neutrality with regard to the political-military agendas

of the various armed groups. Those groups, in turn, committed to respecting the decisions of thecommunities, although to this day they continue to harass them and pressure them to disband. With

regard to the state, its political status allowed it to negotiate the return. For the first time thesehistorically excluded communities gained social visibility.

THE CLASH BETWEEN LEGAL SYSTEMS AND THE CONSTRUCTIONOF THE STATE WITH REGARD TO THE PEACE COMMUNITIES

In a theoretical reflection that allows us to understand how law is shaped in the midst of a politico-

military struggle for land, it should become clear how, in this case study, there is a juxtaposition of,and a confrontation between, normative systems emanating from the state and systems guided by

the concept of self-defenseeither guerrilla or paramilitary, thereby devolving into a clashbetween different forces. Displacement and the creation of the Peace Communities are part of a

context of regional conflict marked by law, in which the law itself is also an instrument of war. I will

show how displacement becomes one more strategy in politico-military confrontation and how thePeace Communities organized valid normative productions, as well as how they shaped the pro-cesses of negotiation and political recognition of the communities in the face of the armed actors.

I will show that one cannot propose a defined and stable concept of law. Rather, I reveal acartography or framework in which several concepts of law overlap in a clash which is symptomatic

10 Subdivided into three other boards: Security, Return, and Title to Land. Drawing upon Law 70,the board drew up 16 points of organization.

11 For more on this period in the process, see Batalla a las puertas de campo de desplazados,in El Colombiano August 6, 1998, p. 8A.



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of the political confrontation over sovereignty which is at stake in the region. In the confrontationof legal forms which embody the interests defended by the different armed groups, the community

efforts toward the vindication of their social and political rightsthrough an active and sovereignattitude against the warbecome vital.

Strategic Colonization and the War in the Construction of the State

In the Urab region, and specifically in the Riosucio zone, the traditional presence of Black andindigenous communities with a distinct cultural identity has allowed for the consolidation of land

holdings. Nonetheless, as has already been discussed, after the 1960s, the FARC carried out pro-cesses of colonization in which poor peasants began to occupy land with the intention of working

under better conditions in the most lucrative agricultural sectors in the region, such as the bananaplantations. Along with the peasant colonization came the ideological activity of the Communist

Party.During this time the FARC adopted a self-defense role within the communities, meaning

they acted as private, armed defenders of the community in order to protect their social rightsagainst the arrival of large, industrial banana companies into the region. Meanwhile, the EPL [Peoples

Liberation Army, a smaller guerrilla group] used the same tactic in the northern part of the region to

spur peasant invasions of large tracts of land.12

This process, which according to Mara Teresa Uribe (2001) could be described as strategiccolonization, 13 sought peasant control of the land, developed agricultural production and orga-

nized social practices under the leadership and territorial defense of an armed group, therebyallowing the guerrilla to form social bases by defending the rights of poor peasants in their de-

mands for land and by stimulating the very development of the communities. 14

In this sense, the population, organization and control of the region were of major importance

to the FARC, as they relied on a tactic of territorial domination which guaranteed the strategiccollaboration of the communities and, at the same time, sustained the legitimacy of their political

struggle.

Politico-Military Power and Normative SystemsThe guerrillas normative systems, based on the concept of self-defense, played an important role

in the development of this politico-military project of colonization and territorial control, since theeffective and efficient regulation of daily life by private or insurgent groups stood in contrast to the

inefficiency and distance of the official legal order.

The guerrillas have politico-military control in the zone. But they want the communities toorganize themselves, too. And since they were the authority, they demanded that the com-munities work on things like cleaning the rivers, learning how to live together, and that sortof thing. Their idea is that the community should be organized to achieve its objective, what-ever that may be. The problem was the people who didnt want to work in the community, or

12 Hence, as Mara Teresa Uribe (2001) points out, the concept of self-defense cannot be asso-ciated exclusively with the current right-wing armed groups. It is rather an idea that attempts tojustify regional military activity based on the defense of the interests of the regions inhabitantsin order to achieve not only logistical support, but also legitimacy and social recognition. SeeURIBE (2001).

13 See Uribe (2001).14 These processes of consolidation of community leadership are made clear through the influen-

tial activity of the Patriotic Union Party (Unin Patritica-UP) in the 1980s. For example, the UPhelped 1,000 peasant families invade the outlying areas of the Sena and the daycare inApartad. The peasants were later relocated to the La Chinita hacienda. In the same way, theUP also participated in the formation of the Policarpa Salavarrieta de Bogot barrio. The UPshowed its political force in the first popular mayoral elections of 1998, in which the UP won themayorship of several municipalities in the Choc and Antioquia. See URIBE (2001).



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especially the people who made mistakes, like stealing, for example, and they would be caught

and judged (...). But, what happened was that they became like the law; they were basicallythe law out here in the rural areas. Like they said: were the peoples army (CINEP 2000).

As occurred in other parts of the country where FARC guerrillas have exercised their powerfor many years and where the peasants acknowledge their authority, the armed group designed

norms to consolidate the legitimacy of their political agenda (Molano 2001).

At this point it is important to refer to the research of Alfredo Molano on guerrilla justice to

see what contributions he offers for understanding such forms of law, in order to determine whetherthere are any contrasts between that form of law and the image of law revealed in the displacement

case.Molano points out that the guerrilla, after achieving military dominance in the area, orga-

nized legal systems which were respectful of the communities, such that they allowed the commu-nities to study their own conflicts and establish sanctions based on their belief systems. Once the

community established a process and defined a sanction, the guerrilla monitored its enforcement(Molano 2001).

Such forms of law are based on a concept of customary justice (justicia consuetudinaria),meaning that they are founded on the traditions and values of peasant life. According to Molanos

study, these legal forms are able to guarantee social stability in the regions under guerrilla hege-mony and are a community achievement that supercedes the arbitrary judgments made by the

guerrilla commanders during their attempts to consolidate their sovereignty. This was partiallyrealized in the case studied here, since the guerrillas had influence in the organization of commu-

nity life of the Black and mestizocommunities dating back to the 1960s; in this respect the commu-nities didnt just learn from the guerrilla how to live together, they also saw in their norms the tools

to solve daily conflicts.

It is imperative to stress that the organization and configuration of the systems of guerrillalaw followed a military agenda which sought control over land through the formation of social

bases. That is why the anti-state groups went to great lengths to ensure that their forms of justicewere not arbitrary or capricious, as that could lead to social rejection which might in turn endanger

their fundamental objectives.Such forms of law have strategic colonization as their objective in that they entail the submis-

sion of the peasants to the norms and, ultimately, their adherence to the political ideologies associ-ated with [the guerrillas] national agenda. The peace established by guerrilla justice presupposes

and establishes social homogeneity, as it is based on an idea of the law as rigid and stable over time,and in which norms should be accepted without hesitation by those living under them. As a result,

community decisions are not autonomous, as they are only respected provided that the guerrilla isfirst recognized as the authority.15

Once regional military power is consolidated and the social bases which legitimate this powerare established, it is understandable that normative systems might appear which distance them-

selves from the initial arbitrary and contingent actions. Hence, once the guerrillas military hege-mony over an area is called into question, the social organization becomes shaky and the relation-

ship between the guerrilla and the population reverts to practices of territorial combat. The guerrillaslegal forms become contingent, given that the social order defined by the normative system presup-

poses the hegemony of a single armed power and, therefore, the submission of the community willto a single groupall of which is called into question once the paramilitary invade a region.

With regard to this case study, in the scenario of the struggle for land between the NationalArmy and the guerrilla and paramilitary groups in the late 1990s, the legal processes which imposed

15 This reveals how the guerrilla struggle assumed the establishment of a homogeneous statedefined by respect for guerrilla authority and customary law.



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punishment were at the same time compensatory and instructive, in that they neither sought a clearjustice, nor demanded the respect of the communities.16 Thus, recognition of the guerrilla norms

and fulfillment of their demands do not ensure full recognition of individual rights, such as free-dom of opinion, so that people could be forced into silence. In effect, it is not a normative system

that respects the rights of its subjects; rather, it is an imposed system which manipulates its subjectsthrough fear.

Hence, in this context we can understand how the guerrillas active processes of communitydevelopment served a clearly strategic purposeboth politically and militarilyand did not, in

any clear or defined sense, involve the development of autonomous social and communal institu-tions.

In this context, the state or para-state strategy involves political and military confrontation, ofwhich displacement is one of the most important tactics. Displacing a population is part of the war

waged not only against armed groups, but against the social bases which (allegedly) sustain theirpresence in the region. As a consequence, the processes of displacement, as a strategy of war, are

not caused by any specific armed actor, but rather by all of the groups involved in the struggle. Inthis case the attacks by the Army and the paramilitary were accompanied by processes of intimida-

tion, threats, and efforts to fill the population with terror in order to induce displacement, makingway for resettlement of the region by groups who were supported by the victorious armed actors.

To the extent that war is played out through different, opposing norms that directly violatethe communities way of life, the conflict also represents a struggle between the different normative

forms fighting for social recognition. For example, if a community is displaced by a paramilitaryorder which contradicts a guerrilla norm, this is interpreted by the guerrilla as a betrayal which

merits the sanction of exile.17The war for territory turns the civilian communities into tacticalresources in the confrontationsometimes as human shields, sometimes even as instruments of

war, thus the norms which regulate their behavior become instruments of displacement.18 As asymbolic and tactical form of territorial displacement, normativity also explains displacement. War

is not, therefore, reduced to armed confrontation, but rather adopts forms of intimidation basednot necessarily on bloodshed, but also on norms.

Hence, even though it is possible to find normative systems under the hegemony of the guer-rilla which ensure peace, it is also possible to find an image of norms of war that emerges from the

dynamic of combat over territory in which the different warring groupsno longer just the guer-rillagenerate displacement. This type of aggressive norm appears precisely when the military

hegemony of the dominant group is at risk.

The condition of the forcibly displaced in Colombia does not place them outside of the graspof the law (...) their luminal situation is due to the fact that, due to the dispute over sover-

eignty, they live under several [legal] orders capable of sanction and punishment, but withlimited capacity for protection and no effective recognition of rights. Hence the complicationof punitive, authoritative and patronizing norms ends up replacing the certainties provided

by law due to the permanent incertitude of arbitrariness and randomness. Security is traded

in for permanent risk as territory changes hands. The environment of mistrust is accentu-ated; activities in the public sphere are restricted to the opaque world of the private and the

16 On this point, Molano explains that: Beyond execution, there are compensatory punishmentsthat are imposed both on the guerrillas and the civilians. For example, a guerrillero found sleep-ing on his or her watch must carry logs or dig trenches as punishment for the danger to whichhe or she subjected the community. There are also punishments that are intended to set anexample. In the case of infractions committed by community members, for example, a thief maybe forced to build the community school (Molano 2001). Our study shows that these conceptsof guerrilla law become problematic in the process of displacement, as displacement impliesthat the dominant armed group in the region has lost its hegemony.

17 Ibid see supra.



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domestic. All of this shapes a climate of collective fear sufficiently overwhelming to induce

exodus and the diasporas of the population (Uribe 2001, Vol. 0: 67).

Hence, displacement is shaped by the confrontation between different political-military agen-

das that express their conflict through norms. Law, in the case of forced displacement, is a strategyof war, the main point of which is not the defense of the life and autonomy of the communities or

respect for their rights, but rather to instill terror.

Sovereignty in the Balance and the War for the Construction of the State

With regard to the meaningful presence of the state and the legitimacy of its institutions and pow-

ers, it can be deduced from everything said thus far that the formation of state structures in theregion is marked by an intense politico-military conflict and by strategies of territorial domination

and the negation of due recognition for the communities.In this process it may be said that the presence of the state throughout the 20 th century has

been formal or administrative or military, and rather than instituting legal systems for social rela-tions and political control, it has enacted counter-powers or para-powers outside of the institutions of

the state apparatus (Uribe 2001). Thus, even though formal institutional structures have long ex-isted in the regionthe mayors office, the police station, etc., these institutions have not been

able to generate practices over time that allow the local residents to exercise their rights as citi-zens.19The residents, therefore, do not view the state as the guarantor of their rights, but rather as

a bureaucratic structure far removed from their daily community life and therefore ineffective inthe legal regulation of their conflicts.

The people of Urab do not see in the legal system the notion of balance for the resolution oftheir conflicts. On the contrary, mistrust and indifference are notorious and contribute to theincreasing levels of impunity (CINEP 1995).

It is precisely this incapacity on the part of the states legal systemand the vacuum left bythis incapacitythat prevents the state from regulating the concrete social lives of the inhabitants.

[This absence of the state] also allows for the incubation of the armed actors, who justify theiractivities by claiming to defend the isolated communities. Moreover, the state, rather than being the

guarantor of the populations rights in the region, is one more actor in the war. 20 Its tactics haveconsisted not just in taking part in the military confrontation, but also in unsuccessfully seeking

territorial dominance in the region, which has also included, in the words of Mara Teresa Uribe:

[T]he de-institutionalization of the monopoly of force [through] a selective absence of thestate. [This can be seen] in the legislation relating to criminal penalties for the violation ofhuman rights and when the state gives a green light to delinquency in joint military-para-military operationseither simultaneous or successivesuch as the case of the Army bomb-ings that preceded the arrival of armed paramilitary forces. All of this de-institutionaliza-tion of the monopoly of force by the state reverts directly to the conditions of its politicallegitimacy (Uribe 2000, 2001).

The phenomenon of the de-institutionalization of armed force in which the state supports

paramilitary groups is not an attempt to reinforce its military power or sovereignty, since in theareas under their conquest the para-state groups impose a normativity with the same self-defense

characteristics examined above. One of the most common practices of the paramilitary groups is toput themselves above the civil authorities by imposing their law, which violates the stability and

legitimacy of the state in the region.

18 The reference to instruments of war implies the use of civiliansin some cases minorstocarry bombs to be detonated against members of the armed forces.

19 An example of this is the large number of grown adults without national identification cards(cdulas de ciudadana), many of them women. See ACNUR (2001).

20 See COMUNIDADES DE LA CUENCA DEL CACARICA (2002).



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On the other hand, the economic and social inclusion of the region in the nation has beenmediated by the development of private companies, especially in the banana industry; a process in

which the state has opted for the interests of the industrialists and not for the communities inter-ests.

The Black, peasant and indigenous communities in these zones have been fully and effec-tively recognized or included into the nation as such. The ancestral traditions, customs and mores

of the inhabitants have been left aside in the midst of the process of strategic colonization, alongwith the political and military processes that have paved the way for such a process.

Apart from the processes of territorial war which we have already describedwith the manyproblems this entails for community recognition and the definitive recognition of the institutions of

the state, we could say that the armed confrontation that we are experiencingof which Urab isbut one regional manifestationreveals the open dispute for state sovereignty in the regions. It is,

therefore, a political-military struggle in which the sovereignty of the state is permanently in thebalance. In this process, different agendas for national construction, including that of the guerrilla,

the paramilitary and the state itself, are intertwined in a war which uses the regions as its stage andforced displacement as one of its cruelest strategies.21

The confrontation for territorial dominance involves a complete juxtaposition of norms, in

which state sovereignty permanently totters, in which there is a war over different conceptions ofnation and in which the state structurefar from fulfilling its legitimizing function as guarantorof fundamental rightsends up participating in the very strategies of war which violate those

rights.22 Moreover, through its military plan, the state calls into question its regulatory function byde-institutionalizing the monopoly of force through its relationship with paramilitary groups. As a

consequence, the state is unable to unite and define the social order in a given territorial sphere.

Legislation and Recognition of the Political Agenda of the Peace Communities

The common factor in the laws of the actors in the conflict is the lack of acknowledgment of

individuals subjective rights and the denial of the communities full autonomy in the attempt toestablish a homogeneous and disciplined society. Yet, starting from this core aspect, I would like to

demonstrate that the Peace Communities display a political agenda whose richness is based on thenon-violent affirmation of their condition as citizens, which constitutes the basis of their struggle

for recognition. In the face of the juxtaposition of armed normative structures seeking to establish anational agenda, the Peace Communities organize themselves as a space for human action that

seeks the concrete construction of a state which recognizes and represents the ethnic and culturaldiversity of all Colombians. It is, therefore, a form of political organization that attempts to turn

constitutional principles into concrete realities (1991 Political Constitution of Colombia).

The 1991 Constitution: Political Recognition of the Black Communities

At this point I would like to present the fundamental constitutional and legal principles that serveas the basis for the Peace Communities, in order to clarify the meaning of their proposal for the

construction of a pluralist state based on ethnic diversity in the face of the military agendas of the

nation-state. I will show that one cannot separate the formation and meaning of the Peace Commu-nities from the process of building a social movement of Black communities as social and politicalactors, as recognized by the 1991 Constitution.

The participatory way in which the 1991 Constitution was written allowed many marginalizedsectors and groupssuch as the Black and indigenous communitiesto be recognized as political

and social actors. This process realized the longings of these groupsand of the stateto develop

21 See URIBE (2000, 2001).22 One of the risks of executing Plan Colombia is the intensification of internal displacement as a

consequence of the worsening of state militar y activity. On this point, see VERGEL (2002).



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a democratic modernization, meaning the construction of political and social spaces based on theneed [to guarantee] the fundamental rights of citizens, spelling out the social, economic, cultural,

environmental and political aspects of such rights (Agudelo 2001).As a result of this effort, the National Constitution expresses in its principles that Colombia is

a social state of law, organized as a united and decentralized republic which is democratic, partici-patory and pluralist and which provides autonomy to its various territories. Article 7 adds that

the state recognizes and protects the ethnic and cultural diversity of the Colombian nation, as isits obligation, as affirmed in Article 8, to protect the natural and cultural riches of the nation. 23

Additionally, Article 70 of the Constitution affirms that culture in its diverse manifestationsis the basis of nationality. The state recognizes the equality and dignity of all those living in the

country. The state will promote the research, study, development and diffusion of the cultural val-ues of the nation.

Based on the above, the Black communities, whose organization is the origin of the PeaceCommunities (Hernndez 2000), have utilized the constitutional process to defend their own cul-

tural and ethnic identity, which also implies the need for full state recognition, protection and culti-vation of their values, traditions and customs. Following in the footsteps of the indigenous groups,

the Black groups have achieved constitutional recognition as communities24 with specific cultural

characteristics that differentiate them from the rest of society. This cultural identity is manifest inthe oral tradition used to express history, traditions, magical-religious beliefs and the specific formsof social relations within these communities (Agudelo 2001). Hence, we can see that the political

constitution and the legal system which it establishes are motivated by a pluralist political spiritwhich respects and promotes the different cultural entities and forms in existence within Colombian territory.

Thus, there is no presumption or promotion of a single cultural identity which creates a homoge-neous social life.

Ethnicity and Property: The Political-Legal Origins of the Peace Communities

The demands of the communities are made manifest in their political struggle for ownership of

their land and for their ethnic and cultural identity. Defense of the land, as a geographic space inwhich the Black communities have developed their lives over time, becomes a claim with a basis in

transitional Article 55 of the 1991 Constitution and serves as the legal basis for the struggles of thePeace Communities. For the first time, the Black Communities of the Pacific are made visible as a

social movement; hence we discover that the ethnic and cultural demands become a fundamentalelement in this case study, in that they determine the shape of this new social and political actor.

For the first time the Black population of Colombia (of the rural Pacific) was the subject ofspecific rights and recognition. In general, the factor that motivated the launch of this greatmovement along the rivers of the Pacific was, for the populations there, related to the possi-

bility of accruing concrete benefits (land ownership) and linked to a process of identity affir-mation; that is, to the act of recognizing themselves and being positively recognized by thewider society which had always considered them inferior. The self-recognition of their cul-tural identity became a prerequisite to obtaining territorial rights, as laid out by the Choc(ACIA) and indigenous models (Agudelo 2001: 3-31).

Hence, in transitional Article 55, the constitution ordered the state to enact a law which

recognizes the Black communities that have occupied uncultivated lands in the rural zones along theriver banks of the Pacific Basin, and to grant them the right to collective ownership over the areas

stipulated by the law itself in accordance with their traditional production practices. The political

23 See Political Constitution of Colombia.24 This term is only utilized to define those organized groups [...] made up of the Black population

which link their particular claims to the specificity of being Black, as stated in the 1991 Consti-tution. See Agudelo (2001).



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charter also established that the law define mechanisms for the defense of cultural identity and therights of the communities in order to encourage their economic and political development.

In compliance with this constitutional mandate, Law 70 of 1993 recognizes the rights of theBlack communities to communal ownership of the uncultivated lands that they have traditionally

occupied, in accordance with their traditional practices of production.25 This concept is an attemptto defend the communities traditional customs and labor practices in the face of the many private,

industrial techniques which place their land ownership at risk. The communities work on the landshapes their identity, their way of building their houses and of living their lives; thus the defense of

these production practices is the struggle for cultural life itself.This norm also establishes the different public policies designed to protect the cultural iden-

tity of the communities as an ethnic group, as well as their social recognition in the national context.In this sense, the law stipulates that, as a pluralist nation, Colombia create effective recognition of

the Afro-Colombian culture as a valued part of society, avoiding segregation, racism and socialdiscrimination (Law 70, 1993).

On the other hand, the law stipulates that collective ownership of the land is ruled by theprinciples of ecological care of the areas resources. Hence, the state must ensure that the different

projects of environmental and forest-based exploitation are guided by these principles and must see

thatin the process of developing traditional forms of productionthe Black communities havepriority in the adjudication of contracts or the distribution of permits for exploitation in the area. Inthis perspective, the state is obliged to encourage the economic and social development of these

communities by attempting to guarantee conditions of equal opportunity with the rest of society.26

The crucial idea established by this law is that each community should be legally recognized

and represented within the Community Council, which is the highest internal authority and isresponsible for the administrative organization of the communitythat is, the internal adjudication

of land to individuals or familiesin accordance with the social and ecological function of owner-ship. Moreover, the Council defines an internal regulatory code that assures the protection of cul-

tural identity, the environment, and social organization.27 Decree 1745 of 1995 establishes the orga-nization of the Community Councils in greater detail and the necessary procedures for granting

land titles.28

This last norm means that the community, as a legal entity, defines its internal rulesbased on the constitution, legal norms, and its own system of law.29 In this sense, the decree recog-

nizes the legal validity of the community norms and regulations. The Colombian normative systemgrants legitimacy to the forms of law based on the communities culture, history and customs;

thereby validating a central element of community life. Precisely because of that fact, as soon as thePeace Communities establish Community Councils, the norms and regulations that organize their

social life in the face of armed groups obtain legal validity.The decree in question establishes that the legitimacy of the decisions of the Community

Councils is based on the will of the majority of its members, either by consensus or, when that is not

25 SeePolitical Constitution of Colombia (1991), Law 70 (1993).26 SeePolitical Constitution of Colombia (1991), Law 70 (1993).27 It is relevant to see how this law recognizes the Black communities right to a system of educa-

tion whose goals and curricula harmonize with their own culture, history and religion. It alsorequires the state to sanction discrimination and racism against members of the community andimplement the principles of social equal ity. Additionally, it requires the state to advocate for theinclusion of a department of Afro-Colombian studies into the national education system, withthe goal of exposing students to the unique practices of the Black communities and their con-tributions to Colombian culture (...). See Articles 6 and 7 of Law 70 (1993).

28 By 1996, six of the communities already had their titles, two were in the process of receivingthem, and between forty and fifty were in the process of turning in their requests (SeeCINEP2001). Moreover, according to Incoras data, during the period between 1998 and 2002 (inclu-sive), the Black communities of the Colombian Pacific received title to 2,968,000 hectares ofland, which have benefited 785 communities, totaling 31,566 families (See www.Incora.gov.co).

29 See Decree 1745 (1995).



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possible, by majority. This means that even though the communities have a recognized right to self-determination through their internal regulations, their normative system must harmonize with the

general legal system; that is, with the democratic social state of law.30

In this sense, the legal norms arising from the 1991 Constitution propose the recognition and

protection of these communities, as well as respect for their cultural life in all its worth, dignity andintegrity and, therefore, their right to autonomous self-determination. This also includes the pro-

tection and promotion of their productive systems, in accordance with their ancestral relationshipto the environment and their lands.

Hence, it is clear that we cannot consider Colombia to be a homogeneous nation. Far frombeing uniform, the Colombian political landscape is defined by differences and the multiplicity of

cultures. Thus, attempting to impose a national political agenda that disregards such diversity sowsthe seeds for forms of violence whose intent is to make the different forms of social movements

invisible. The Peace Communities are a legitimate social and political project, and the norms thatregulate their internal life are based on the constitution and on law. The movement is based on a

pluralist conception of the nation and it thereby incarnates an alternative towards the effectiveconstruction of a state that recognizes cultural diversity.

TOWARD AN UNDERSTANDING OF FORCED DISPLACEMENTAND THE STRUGGLES OF THE PEACE COMMUNITIES

At this point I would like to reflect on the phenomenon of displacement to unravel its socio-political

meaning; that is, the way in which it reveals the crisis of the state as a political community whichexists so that citizens may have rights.

It is only when an effective community exists to afford social and political recognition tosocial groups that citizens have the possibility of having a place in the world that allows them to

express their opinions, defend their property, fully develop their cultural identity and make theirown life choices. One could therefore say that displaced persons do not possess full citizenship due

to the deficiencies and deviations in the construction of the state. Displaced persons have been put

in a position in which it is not effective to belong to a political community and in which theircitizenship is merely formal; they are not part of a community in which their opinions can be ex-pressed and heard and their actions can be meaningful.

With this in mind, I would like to show how the concrete case of the Peace Communitiesproposes a form of community struggle for social and political recognition that seeks the construc-

tion of a state which recognizes the communities potential to defend their property, their cultureand their traditions; and that by defending their rights as citizens, the Peace Communities are a

valid path toward the construction of a pluralist state.This reflective process is guided by the thought of Hannah Arendt who, in several of her

works, offers categories, concepts, and methodological suggestions that shed light on this pathtoward understanding.31 First, I will sketch out a basic idea of the concept of understanding, such

that it will be possible to identify the importance of this category in the essay. Then, I will return tothe case study to attempt to understand its meaning and the condition of the displaced as citizens

30 This becomes clear in the discussion of how collective ownership of land should be adminis-tered and utilized based on the principles of its social and ecological use, in accordance withthe Constitutional norm. SeeDecree 1745 (1995); Law 70 (1993); Political Constitution (1991),Art. 58.

31 The use of Hannah Arendts thought, in the reflection on the phenomenon of forced displace-ment, has also been developed in the research directed by Mara Teresa Uribe de Hincapi,who also makes reference to Arendt. SeeUribe (2001) Vol. 0. In some specific aspects I differfrom Uribe in my interpretation of Arendt for the purposes of this study.



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who have lost the right to have rights, so as to allow us to discern the full meaning of the PeaceCommunities proposal.

Understanding Forced Displacement

Imagination (...) is merely another name for (...) the clearest of visions, the breadth of spirit/

and Reason in its most exalted form.Hannah Arendt

As pointed out at the beginning, this article is an attempt to be philosophical. Thus, under-

standing32 is a category with particular relevance in the development of this work, as it deals withthe perspective from which it is possible to approach a concrete problem in order to discover its

meaning.33 Hence, at this point I will be explicit about the theoretical position I have used to ap-proach the problem.

When Hannah Arendt attempts to understand the emergence of totalitarian movements inEurope in the first half of the 20thcentury, she discovers that the accepted political and moral cat-

egories and concepts have been pulverized by this phenomenon, meaning that she cannot in somenaive way refer to the old wisdom of the past as a way of understanding the problem. Faced with

the impossibility of making a univocal connection between the traditional categories of thought andcontemporary political phenomena, such as the situation of minorities and stateless people (aptridas),

the philosopher demonstrates that her efforts at understanding spring from human action as theoriginating principle. Action is the start of something new; the excellent manifestation of human

freedom (Arendt 1998: 43).Freedom, as manifested in actions, creates the political world, creates [social] relations and

thereby defines their meaning: through his actions, man shapes the meaning that defines his world.

On this point, Arendt remembers what Saint Augustine said on the origin of history: man wascreated so that there might be a beginning; before which nothing existed.34

Although it is extremely difficult to understand the phenomena of the contemporary worldusing traditional concepts and categoriesas they are not equipped to address these new phenom-

ena, understanding is revealed as the other face of action. It is a cognitive activity that comesinto being as the counterpart of action and is capable of confronting and assuming that which has

painfully occurred in the social and political life, with the goal of achieving some form of reconcili-ation with it (Arendt 1998: 30-44). Thus, this exercise alone immediately implies a process of self-

understanding. With respect to forced displacement, the question of its meaning is, at the sametime, the question of the meaning of political life in Colombia, and of the daily world in which such

a terrible situation is possible.However, understanding the meaning of political actions is not limited to the search for causal

explanations, in the model of the empirical sciences; nor does it consist in explaining facts by usinglogical theoretical models whose validity is independent of the political world (Arendt 1998: 40).

Hence, this theoretical effort at understanding is not reducible to a discrimination of which factsoffer us correct information, nor does it propose to opt for a scientific law that defines a univocal or

definitive vision of the problem of displacement.

32 A broad discussion has developed within contemporary philosophy around the problem of un-derstanding (See Heidegger, Martin 1993; Gadamer, Hans- Georg 1975). Despite the impor-tance that I place on this category, I will not present an exhaustive overview of that discussionhere, nor examine its conditions in-depth, since the limits and objectives of this study do notallow for such an examination. Nonetheless, I have opted to describe Hannah Arendts inter-pretation of the phenomenon, as her work is especially enlightening for this study.

33 Hegel also points out that the task of the philosopher is to penetrate into the concrete andhistorical Law and Ethos of his or her community in order to disentangle the deep, rationalmeaning of Law as a manifestation of human freedom. See HEGEL (1997) 3, Observation.

34 As quoted by Arendt. SeeArendt (1998).



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For Arendt, understanding is a complex process that starts with a preliminary understandingwhich is uncritical, common-sensical, and serves as an Arachnids thread to guide the philosopher in

her or his work, define the path of his or her discoveries, and attribute meaning to them. Prelimi-nary understanding comes before deeper knowledge and cannot be demonstrated, but only be

unwrapped and made explicit. After this initial intuition, the scholars activity consists in distillingthe immediate considerations and revealing the meaning already present in them; that is why Arendt

affirms that understanding is a strange circular task which seeks to articulate and confirm primi-tive understanding (Arendt 1998: 44).

Along these lines, our work parts ways with the common sense assumption that a subjectpossesses rights based on her or his existence in a common, concrete world in which the different

members have their own space. For the ordinary man, subjects are not intellectual entities or natu-ral resources, but rather individuals with a face, a history, a right to property and to develop their

ways of life and seek their well-being in a country shared by all. In this work, I have reconstructeddifferent empirical facts and assumed that only in a political community are subjects free; that it is

only in such an environment that men will act in recognition of laws and state authoritiesgrantedthat such authorities in turn protect the rights of their members.

However, this work shows that different national agendas are in conflict in Colombia, and

that there is a dispute between different groups over the imposition of their law and the socialrecognition of their political vision. It also reveals how the struggle over norms impedes the effec-tive protection of the rights of citizens and generates displacement. Thus, the meaning of this phe-

nomenon [of displacement] is linked to the crisis of citizenship and of the state.On the other hand, Hannah Arendt shows us that understanding is not passive, but rather a

task that is always creating itself alongside the actions that shape life. It is a cognitive activity thatproposes and re-elaborates its problems in the light of new actions and which, therefore, only stops

with death. Understanding is an imaginative exercise whose skill lies in always reconfiguring factsin a new way and pursuing different clues, trying to capture one small glimmer of the truth, of the

dense, hidden human meaning (Arendt 1998: 45). As a result, this work starts with empirical factswhich appear as pieces of a puzzle which we would like to decipher; not in order to have a defini-

tive answer, or to instruct the victims, but rather to have an image that does justice to the conditionof the displaced and the community that expels them from their homes, segregates them and dis-

criminates against them.Hence, understanding displacement does not offer definitive solutions. Just as in everyday

life finding meaning is not a precondition for solving difficulties, nor are solutions a necessaryprecondition for understanding. [Understanding] is rather an activity that amounts to the self-

recognition of the task of citizens and therefore extends throughout the life of the community;understanding is a task that unfolds throughout the history of a people. Nonetheless, this does not

mean that the reflective endeavor is unimportant, as it constantly reminds us of the reasons for thestruggle against the causes of displacement. One cannot demand that an understanding of this

phenomenon yield answers or solutions, yet the task emerges as the other side of the struggleagainst this terrible problem. One cannot demand solutions from the philosopher, nor ask him or

her to walk ahead on the path in order to serve as a guide from the finish line. As a result, theusefulness of understanding lies in the fact that it allows one to deeply penetrate the problem and

bring to light the matter of who we are and what we are struggling for.

In this sense, the activity of understanding is necessary. Despite the fact that it can neverdirectly inspire the struggle or provide it the objectives it lacks, it can only give meaning and

provide new resources to the human heart and spirit, [resources which] perhaps only mani-fest themselves once the battle is won (Arendt 1998: 32).

35 In our country, the illegal takeovers of public or NGO offices by groups of displaced people havebecome actions to denounce the situation or to demand compliance with the law.



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With these theoretical elements and suggestions, I will attempt to understand the meaning offorced displacement and the struggle of the Peace Communities as an attempt at the construction of

the state.

Forced Displacement and the Paradox of Human Rights

It is appropriate to ask what elements allow us to discover the social and political actions within theexperience of the Peace Communities that are directed at the construction of the state. To this end,it is vital to break with the opinion that forced displacement is a multiple violation of human rights.

Even though this common idea perceives the problem in a general sense, it is by nature vague anddoes not reveal the concrete content of such rights.

When Hannah Arendt reflects on the situation of post-World War II Europe in Chapter 9 ofThe Origins of Totalitarianism (Arendt 1987), she examines the condition of minorities and stateless

people to show how they reveal the decadence of the Nation-State, the crisis of which stems fromthe fate of the human rights regime.

For the author, the Declaration of the Rights of Man constitutes one of the most importantmoments in history, as it meant that the source of law was no longer based on the commandments

of God or on historically defined customs, but rather to be found in Man himself. From this per-

spective, such rights appear as formal, abstract principles based on the assumed existence of humanbeings as such, rather than being dependent on men belonging to a certain political community(Arendt 1987: 368). With regard to origin, these rights are not deducible to any other principle;

while the legal order upholds these rights, it is assumed that no specific laws are necessary toprotect them.

Confusion over the nature of rights nonetheless surfaced over the assumption that, if theRights of Man served as the basis of law, then they must also be part of the rights of people orga-

nized into a state and, consequently, it was assumed that only a fully emancipated and sovereignpeople could effectively guarantee such rights. In political practice, this produced the identification

between the Rights of Man and the Rights of the Citizen, such that the protection of the former wasleft in the hands of the state in relation to its own citizens.

The arbitrary link between these two types of rights only became evident after the FirstWorld War with the appearance of groups of pariahs who fled their country of origin because their

ethnic characteristics made them targets for extermination. Such people therefore were no longerassociated with any nationality, meaning that they now had nothing more than their basic human

condition and, as a result, no government would commit to guaranteeing their rights.

The Rights of Man had, after all, been defined as inalienable because it was assumed thatthey were independent of all governments. Yet it turned out that, when human beings were

left without their own governments and had to resort to their minimum rights, there was noauthority left to protect them and no institution with any desire to guarantee them (Arendt1987: 370; Agamben 2000: 81).

The proclamation of Human Rights as the basis for the nation-state in the first modern consti-

tutions is essentially linked to the specific individuals association with a concrete political commu-nity: a certain nationality. That is precisely why a strategic understanding of the problem of forced

displacement implies the knowledge thateven if at first sight this phenomenon appears as a pro-found and multiple violations of human rightsit should be approached from a civic perspective, as

rights are generally only exercised and guaranteed in a concrete political community. In this per-spective, the simple demand for human rights outside of a political community is an empty state-

ment that lacks mechanisms for enforcement. Accordingly, only in an emancipated state that canexercise its sovereignty based on political recognition of different social actors, is it possible to

ensure citizenand therefore humanrights.



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To the extent that we can consider internal forced displacement as a perversion of the cat-egory of citizenship, we can understand that the dilemmas and contradictions implied in this phe-

nomenon are not only humanitarian in nature, but also fundamentally political. What is at stakewith forced displacement is the very political condition of citizens and therefore the efforts at

resisting such a terrible social event can be understood as a struggle for political recognition and thesocial inclusion of the displaced communities.

In the concrete case of the Peace Communities, their justifications are aimed at the construc-tion of an organized community structure based on the sovereign will of their members, in which

the structure also serves as a medium for the protection of human rights. The arguments employedto this end are an expression of the struggle for socio-political recognition of their culture and

traditions.

The Condition of the Displaced Person

As noted above, internal displacement is generated in an experience of profound terror. This is not

limited to the fear of losing ones life, but is also usually fed by methods of persuasion such astorture and public execution in front of family members and friends, threats and selective assassina-

tionswhich in some cases take on their own symbolic forms.

Uncertainty and fear propel the flight from ones land, thus the future of the individual andfamily life is put at risk. Like a patriots (aptridas), the displaced have lost their homes, that is, thesocial framework into which they were born and built their lives. When they abandon their prop-

erty, customs, habitual forms of relationships and the social ties that had allowed them to definethemselves, the displaced lose their place in the world.

In contrast to those who die in conflict, the displaced are living victims who in their flightbring with them the pain of having their place in the world snatched away from them. They carry

into their displacement all of the painful weight of what is lost, that is, of the violent deaths of theirfamily or friends, of the loss of their home and their land. It is precisely this condition that reveals

that their citizenship is not effective, and that the general laws that organized their everyday worldno longer apply.

The condition of the displaced, as is true of the condition of people in other persecuted cat-egories, reveals their nakedness, their purely human naturenuda vida. Hence, the internally dis-

placed person, according to Agamben, shows man without the mask of citizenship that constantlyconceals him (Arendt 1987: 370; Agamben 2000: 84). Nonetheless, in contrast to a patriots , this type

of persecuted person has state citizenship. It is precisely because of that that the displaced person isa manifestation of the political crisis that makes his or her position possible: her citizenship does not

assure the real recognition of her rights, meaning that it is a formal citizenship that is not basedon concrete and effective recognition. Through their tragedy, the displaced show the precarious-

ness of the national political construction. In spite of their supposed condition as full legal citizens,they have not only been expelled from their homes without recourse to the protection of the state,

but they also have no opportunity after the fact to establish a new home in their own country. As a

result, they are de facto a patriots . To paraphrase Arendt, the displaced become the dregs of theirown society.As shown above, displacement is generated through norms of war that appear when the

military hegemony of the dominant group in the region is at stake. In this way, the condition ofdisplacement is generated not by acting outside of the law, but rather by finding oneself in the

middle of a clash of legalities that demand submission and offer no rights (Uribe 2001: 67).Displace-ment is shaped by the confrontation between different politico-military agendas that express their

dispute through norms. We can, therefore, trace the norms that express strategies of war, the aim ofwhich is not the defense of the life and autonomy of the communities or respect for their rights, but

rather terror.



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Furthermore, enjoyment of a home is closely linked to the protection that the state offers itscitizenry. In the case of a patriots , state protection has been denied through a legal norm that strips

them of their nationality. Hence, they have lost their citizenship de jure. These persecuted personshave been expelled from the purview of the law, such that they cease to belong to a political

community that would allow them to exercise and demand their rights. Such expulsion is not at thispoint determined by their ideas or political opinions, which might allow them to seek political

asylum in another country. A patriots are persecuted not for their thoughts or actions, but ratherfor having been born into a certain race, class, religion or condition. This defines one of the central

characteristics of this category of persecuted peoples: their innocence.

(...) they were and appeared to be nothing more than human beings whose very innocencefrom any point of view and especially from that of the government persecutorwas theirgreatest disgrace. Innocence, in the sense of a complete lack of responsibility, was the markof their condition of being outside of the law, as well as the sanction of their loss of political

status (Arendt 1987: 373).

This innocence, which defines their status as victims, is a common characteristic among a

patriotsand internally displaced Colombians. The innocence of the displaced makes the enormouspain of their loss even more profound and overwhelming, given that as innocent victims they can-

not identify a precise cause that allows them to explain their situation: they are persecuted formerely having lived in a certain part of their country. The displaced people of Riosucio have been

persecuted for living on their lands and for developing a life that is consistent with their culturalcustoms and traditions; that is, for being innocent citizens. The conflict between the different armed

groups for control of their land became so intenseand the precariousness of the state institutionsthat could protect them became so evidentthat the only way they found to protect their lives was

to leave their lands and organize an internment camp. Nonetheless, what was most notable aboutthis situation was the ability that the displaced developed to resist the merely disciplinary practices

of the camp and to transform them into forms of autonomous organization and convert the intern-ment camp into peace communities. The restoration of their condition as citizens was possible

thanks to the genetic reconstruction of their cultural practices.

Despite deficient sanitary conditions and constant threats and harassment by the militaryauthorities and armed groups, the Pavarand settlement became an environment in which the dis-placed could reconstruct a humane world; a public space in which it was possible to develop actions

directed at the recovery of their lost homes.

Documents

The Law Forced Internal Displacement and the Construction of the State