A Colombian research centre, the National Centre for Historical Memory, recently published a landmark report that aims to give a voice to the country’s war victims and examines the impact of five decades of conflict on civilians.
All the main players in the conflict - the leftist rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), drug traffickers, government troops and right-wing paramilitary groups which began laying down their arms from 2003 onwards - have been responsible for war crimes and human rights atrocities, the report said.
Following are some facts about the human toll of the conflict based on the report.
- 177,307 civilians and 40,787 members of Colombia’s armed forces have been killed since 1958.
- 25,077 Colombians have disappeared since 1958.
- From 1985 to 2012, 5,712,506 Colombians have been displaced. Families have fled their homes to escape violence and threats by warring factions.
- From 1970 to 2010, 27,023 Colombians have been kidnapped. FARC rebels have been responsible for 90 percent of those kidnappings.
- From 1999 to 2012, 5,156 boys and girls have been used as child soldiers by rebel and paramilitary groups.
- Nearly 40 percent of all registered targeted killings of civilians - 8,903 people - were carried out by paramilitary fighters since 1981.
Sources: National Centre for Historical Memory, Colombian government
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