Pro-Government Militias
Paramilitary Self Defense Groups/Death Squards (informal) (Colombia)
Basic Group Information
| Name assigned by coder: | no |
| PGM ID Number: | 643 |
| Country: | Colombia |
| Date formed: | April 1, 1989 |
| Accuracy of date formed: | month |
| Details of Formation: | The Paramilitary Self Defense Groups/Death Squads were outlawed in April 1989. The group did not cease to be a PGM, because it continued to have a close relation to the Colombian military (Wikipedia). The outlawed Paramilitary Self Defense Groups (informal) are therefore the successor PGM to the semi-official Paramilitary Self Defense Groups. |
| Date dissolved: | April 22, 1997 |
| Accuracy of date dissolved: | month |
| Details of Termination: | The paramilitary groups joined the newly created Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) in April 1997. About 90% of paramilitary groups joined the AUC (Wikipedia). Some groups did not join, but later government links were reported to AUC, not to the remaining independent paramilitaries, which therefore do not count as PGM. The Paramilitary Self Defense Units (informal) were thus succeeded by the AUC as PGM. |
| Termination Type(s): | none |
Former and Successor Group Information
| Predecessor group(s): | Paramilitary Self Defence Groups/Death Squads (semi-official) |
| Successor group(s): | The United Self Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC) |
| Private Military Company? | noinf |
| Former Group? | yes |
| Former Armed Group? | yes |
| Former Rebel Group? | no |
| Former Rebel Group UCDP ID: | none |
| PGM Becomes Rebel Group? | no |
| Successor Rebel Group UCDP ID: | none |
Government Relation, Support, and Training
| Government Relation: | informal (type 1) |
| Created by the Government?: | no | Main Creating Government Institution: | none |
| Government Link(s): | military (institution) |
| If link to party, name of party: | None |
| Training and Equipment: | yes |
| Shared Information and Joint Operations: | yes |
| Shared Personnel: | unclear |
| Type(s) of Material Support: | corporation; landowner; military; drugs |
| State Sponsor(s): | none |
| Other Connection(s): |
Group Characteristics
| Membership: | ideology; security forces |
| Primary Membership: | no information |
| Alternative Primary Membership: | no information |
| Location: | Nationwide |
| Force Strength: | [unknown, unknown] |
| Target(s): | civilians; unarmed political opposition, government critics; peasants |
| Purpose(s): | self-defense and security; intimidate political opposition |
Ethnic Characteristics
| Ethnic Target(s): | none |
| Quality of Information for Ethnic Targeting: | not applicable |
| Ethnic Membership: | none |
| Quality of Information for Ethnic Membership: | not applicable |
| Ethnic Purpose: | none |
| Quality of Information for Ethnic Purpose: | not applicable |
Other Information
| Other Information: | The Paramilitary Self-Defense Groups comprised more than 130 groups, including for example the PEPES, the Black Hand, Love for the Homeland and Death to Revolutionaries. |
New Variables from Meta-Analysis
Purpose
| Purpose: | The main purpose of the informal paramilitaries remained the same, i.e. to combat insurgents. They were also used for intelligence gathering and committing murders. The informal PGM allowed the government and military to deny links and responsibility for paramilitary human rights abuses. (Wikipedia) |
| Relative Benefit(s) of PGM Use | deniability of violence |
Treatment of Civilians
| Treatment of Civilians: | Paramilitaries are considered to have dramatically increased violence in Colombia. They were involved in “social cleansing” operations against homeless people, drug addicts, orphans, and other “undesirables” (Wikipedia). By 1994, several thousand civilians had been killed by paramilitary groups over the past five years, as paramilitaries continued to kill and disappear civilians with impunity (Amnesty International). A news source adds that they were also involved in arbitrary arrests and torture of civilians. Civilian courts found that regular security officers organized (political) killings committed by the paramilitaries. A news source of 1991 said that civilians were not longer under regular attack, but that the paramilitaries were still hunting down suspected left-wing sympathizers. |
| Type(s) of Violence against Civilians: | kidnapping/abductions; killing; torture |
Reasons for Membership
| PGM Members Coerced? | no information |
| PGM Members Paid? | no information |
| Reasons for Membership: | |
| PGM Members Killed? | no information |
PGM Size
| Size: |
Weapons and Training
| Weapons and Training: | Paramilitary group received training and weaponry form the Colombian military (Wikipedia). They were described as “heavily armed” (Amnesty International). A news source adds that they also received training and intelligence support of local police; another news source, dated 1989, mentions training received by the Medellin drug cartel. |
Organisation
| Organisation: | After the paramilitary groups had become informal, covert intelligence networks to combat the insurgency were created by the Armed Forces Directive 200-05/91. They laid the groundwork for continuing illegal, covert partnership between the military and paramilitaries: Paramilitary members were incorporated into local intelligence networks and cooperated in activities, which solidified linkages with the military (Wikipedia). In late 1989, the paramilitaries declared that they were always taking orders from the security forces. Paramilitary groups were financed by the military, but also by landowner and drug cartels. |
Reference(s) for Meta-Analysis
Evidence
- Examine the evidence for this coding.