Case 10 “On Civilian Harm”: Forced displacement

Land disputes have been one of the central features of conflict in Colombia since the 1980s. Paramilitaries executed and abducted community leaders in order to instil fear in the Cesar region’s peasant communities, and to compel civilians to flee their homes and lands. In so doing, the paramilitaries cleared the lands for their supporters or could sell the land at great profit to multinational coal-mining companies. To this day, many people suffer psychosocial distress from past events and continue to be displaced. The chapter "Forced displacement: Paramilitary violence against the campesinos of El Toco (Colombia, 1997)" shows both the overall impact of the conflict, as well as its effects on civilians. It brings into focus the too often neglected impact of long-term displacement as a direct result of violent conflict, and shows how violence in the late nineties continues to negatively impact people’s lives to this day.