Colombian Victims Research Articles

Effects of a Contextual Adaptation of the Unified Protocol in Multiple Emotional Disorders in Individuals Exposed to Armed Conflict in Colombia

A transdiagnostic treatment, the Unified Protocol, is as effective as single diagnostic protocols in comorbid emotional disorders in clinical populations. However, its effects on posttraumatic stress disorder and other emotional disorders in individuals living in war and armed conflict contexts have not been studied. To evaluate the efficacy of a cultural and contextual adaptation of the Unified Protocol (CXA-UP) on posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression compared to waitlist control in individuals exposed to armed conflict in Colombia. From April 2017 to March 2020, 200 participants 18 years and older were randomly assigned to the CXA-UP or to a waitlist condition. CXA-UP consisted of 12 to 14 twice-a-week or weekly individual 90-minute face-to-face sessions. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, posttreatment, and 3 months following treatment. Analyses were performed and compared for all randomly allocated participants (intent-to-treat [ITT]) and for participants who completed all sessions and posttreatment measures (per protocol [PP]). The study took place at an outpatient university center and included individuals who were registered in the Colombian Victims Unit meeting DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, or depression or were severely impaired by anxiety or depression. Individuals who were receiving psychological therapy, were dependent on alcohol or drugs, were actively suicidal or had attempted suicide in the previous 2 months, had psychosis or bipolar disorder, or were cognitively impaired were excluded. CXA-UP or waitlist. Primary outcomes were changes in anxiety, depression, and somatic scores on the Patient Health Questionnaire and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5. Among the 200 participants (160 women [80.0%]; 40 men [20.0%]; mean [SD] age, 43.1 [11.9] years), 120 were randomized to treatment and 80 to waitlist. Results for primary outcomes in the ITT analysis showed a significant pretreatment-to-posttreatment reduction when comparing treatment and waitlist on the posttraumatic stress disorder checklist for DSM-5 scores (slope [SE], -31.12 [3.00]; P < .001; Cohen d, 0.90; 90% CI, 0.63-1.19), 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) (slope [SE],-11.94 [1.30]; P < .001; Cohen d, 0.77; 90% CI, 0.52-1.06), PHQ-anxiety (slope [SE], -6.52 [0.67]; P < .001; Cohen d, 0.82; 90% CI, 0.49-1.15), and PHQ-somatic (slope [SE], -8.31 [0.92]; P < .001; Cohen d, 0.75; 90% CI, 0.47-1.04). In this study, significant reductions and large effect sizes in all measures of different emotional disorders showed efficacy of a single transdiagnostic intervention in individuals exposed to armed conflicts. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03127982.

What is the Place of My Rest? Being Migrant People(s) of the God of All the Earth

Abstract This article provides a theological reading of Acts 6–7, combining biblical and social-scientific insights to support constructive Christian engagement with the phenomena of twenty-first century migration. It responds broadly to US-American migratory phenomena, while drawing on insights from the Bible, migration studies, and the author’s own work with Colombian victims of forced migration. The article begins with an exegetical examination of the dispute between Hebrews and Hellenists in Acts 6 and Stephen’s speech in Acts 7, arguing that migratory issues underlie both the conflicts in these texts and the theological arguments Stephen adduces in his own defense. These biblical-theological reflections are then supplemented with an introduction to two social-scientific concepts that have been influential in migration studies, specifically, the notions of identity hybridity and migrant integration (as opposed to assimilation). The article demonstrates how the book of Acts reflects the benefits of healthy forms of identity hybridity and migrant integration and commends similar approaches for contemporary migrants and Christian communities in the Americas (both the United States and Colombia).

Social solidarity as a dimension of transitional justice: the case of Cartography and Identification of Mass Graves in post-conflict Colombia

ABSTRACT The field of transitional justice lacks a comprehensive understanding to the role that social solidarity plays in transitional justice contexts. There is a lack of knowledge of the means through which victims can exercise their social agency to explore mechanisms of reparation beyond truth commissions, tribunals, and trials. This article argues that social solidarity is a crucial dimension and a novel perspective from which to develop transitional justice processes from a victims’ point of view in post-conflict societies. Employing a participative action research method, this article’s importance rests in the idea that Colombian victims’ groups from Eastern Antioquia view social solidarity as a crucial dimension of transitional justice in developing the project Cartography and Identification of Mass Graves. It establishes that this effort is a powerful novel mechanism to claim justice, reparation, recognition, and guarantees of non-recurrence from an unofficial angle. It demonstrates that comprehending social solidarity as a vital dimension of transitional justice stresses the importance of victims’ social agency to conduct collaborative collective actions in order to support inclusive processes of disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration (DDR) beyond official agendas and narratives.

Mortality from anti-personnel mines before and during the Colombian peace process

Introduction: Although the peace process in Colombia resulted in a significant reduction in the number of anti-personnel mines across the country, there are no reliable data on the effects of this phenomenon on outcomes for patients who were victims of these devices.&#x0D; Objective: The objective of this study was to assess mortality from landmine injuries before and during the Colombian peace process. Furthermore possible associations between peace negotiations and mortality were explored.&#x0D; Methods: For this study, we used the "Colombian Victims of Antipersonnel Mines Injuries registry" (MAP/MUSE database) data from 2002 to 2018. This registry was launched in 2001 by the government of Colombia with the aim of prospectively and systematically collect information on all the cases of anti-personnel mine injuries in the country. The period between 2002-2012 was classified as the pre-negotiation period (war period), and 2014-2018 as the peace negotiations period, with 2013 classified as a washout year. Multivariate logistic regression was used to explore the association between peace negotiations and mortality among anti-personnel landmine injured individuals.&#x0D; Results: A total of 10306 landmine injury cases were registered. Of these, 1180 (11.4%) occurred in the peace-negotiation period. Mortality was significantly lower during the period of peace negotiations. After adjusting for sex, age group, race, active duty soldier status, rural area, and geographic departments case volumes, the peace negotiation period was found to be associated with lower risk-adjusted odds of mortality after suffering a landmine injury (OR= 0.6, 95% CI, 0.5-0.7; p&lt;0.001).&#x0D; Conclusion: Our findings suggest an association between the period of peace negotiation and a lower likelihood of mortality among victims of anti-personnel landmines.

Inclusion and Political Representation in Peace Negotiations: The Case of the Colombian Victims’ Delegations

This article discusses the issue of inclusion in peace negotiations, in particular the Colombian peace process with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionárias de Colombia, with special emphasis to a perceived tension between “direct” and “indirect” inclusive initiatives. It argues that, as currently discussed by the Peace and Conflict literature, inclusion tends to be seen as neutral and benign, which leaves little room for critical discussions about the political contention behind peace negotiations deemed “inclusive.” It thus proposes to discuss inclusion through the theoretical lens of political representation and apply such reflections to the specific case of the Colombian victims’ delegations that travelled to Havana in 2014 in order to take part in the table’s discussions on the victims and transitional justice topic. Ultimately, I will argue there was simultaneous utilisation and rejection of the language of representation.

Victims’ collective memory and transitional justice in post-conflict Colombia: The case of the March of Light

The construction of victims’ collective memory in post-conflict Colombia is crucial to understanding the violent past and its social consequences. This article argues that victims’ initiatives, such as the March of Light, are facilitating an active role of local communities in the configuration of their memory regimes after the war. Addressing a participative action research approach, this article’s significance rests in the idea that Colombian victims’ groups from Eastern Antioquia are establishing three particular types of collective memory developing the March of Light every week. It establishes that this effort is a powerful instrument to claim truth and reparation in Colombia, helping the ongoing process of transitional justice in the country. It demonstrates that the tension between official and non-official narratives of collective memory is an essential part of transitional justice scenarios in which the clash of values defines positions of power, visibility and recognition inside contexts of social transition.

Transdiagnostic Evaluation Protocol for Stress, Anxiety and Depression: An Analysis with Colombian Victims

Transdiagnostic Evaluation Protocol for Stress, Anxiety and Depression: An Analysis with Colombian Victims

Is it Already Too Late for Colombia’s Land Restitution Process?

Approximately five million people were forcefully displaced by the civil war in Colombia. The 2011 Colombian Victims’ Law is intended to provide property restitution to some of the individuals displaced as a result of human rights and humanitarian law violations. During the conflict, however, land titles and property rights were transferred to corporations, including foreign corporations protected by international investment law. The impact of the restitution process outlined in the Victims’ Law on foreign corporations raises concerns that international investment law may inhibit the full realisation of the Victims’ Law’s restitution process. This article uses the Colombian context to explore broader issues of the impact investment law’s protection of foreign corporations can have on transitional justice initiatives aimed at remedying and redressing serious and systematic human rights and humanitarian law violations.

Victims of the Colombian Armed Conflict: The Birth of a Political Actor

A significant addition to the Colombian political landscape over the past ten years is the participation of victims in the debate over the country’s model of transitional justice. This stands in stark contrast with previous periods in Colombian history, when victims -- despite their already growing numbers -- were largely invisible both in the more than twenty successful and unsuccessful peace negotiations that have taken place in the country as well as in the overall political debate. This paper seeks to explain this shift in public attention to the plight of millions of Colombians. It also asks how the average Colombian population evaluates and in what way these opinions reflect tensions between the overall goal of repairing victims and other goals of the Colombian peace-building and development agenda. In brief, the paper argues that international and domestic factors combined to make visible the plight and number of victims in the country and to develop a vast and ambitious transitional justice institutional framework, which will set the tone of transformations for years to come. Like other policies, this has not occurred in a political vacuum: Victims as well as other actors concerned with the shape and scope of transitional justice in Colombia have become mobilized in the pursuit of their interests, endowed with political preferences and a more or less effective repertoire of political strategies. As a result, the discussion about the role of victims and the state and society’s responses to their needs is likely to become a central issue of public debate in the near future. However, the debate has occurred predominantly among a small group of experts, ignoring or underestimating some of the prevailing opinions and attitudes about transitional justice held by the general Colombian population. This may prove problematic as several features of the trade-offs and bargains involved in transitional justice mechanisms will impact large parts of the population via elections, taxes, and processes of community integration of victims and perpetrators, all of which are challenges to the ultimate viability and success of transitional justice mechanisms. For these reasons, this chapter argues that it is important to complement the normative statements of policymakers, activists and organizations with data on the overall victims’ population and on the opinions and attitudes of the average Colombian. In order to so, it resorts to data from the Registro Unico de Victimas (RUV) -- the first attempt to unify information on all types of victimization in the country conducted by the Colombian state -- and from a 2012 survey conducted by a consortium of public and private entities. The RUV data serve to underscore the extent of the suffering. The survey results illustrate some of the structural impediments faced by Colombian victims (such as poverty and little education). In addition, the survey shows that almost a decade of transitional justice pedagogy has paid off in the country: In general, the Colombian population is more aware and understands the magnitude of people impacted by the armed conflict as well as the plight of victims. As a result, a majority of Colombians endorse the wrongfulness of the victims’ experience and the need for reparations. At the same time, the long duration and the complex nature of the Colombian armed conflict -- especially the simultaneous presence of multiple illegal armed actors who have fought over territories over many years, and the similar socio-economic and often geographic origin of victims and combatants (referred to here as social proximity) -- have had an impact on people’s opinions and attitudes. Important fractions of the Colombian population, including victims, are fearful of opportunism in accessing state-provided privileges associated with the status of victims and are reticent to accept privileges for victimized populations to the detriment of larger development goals benefiting all Colombians, illustrating the classic peace-building versus development dilemma that has historically haunted the peace-building community. The chapter also explores the organizational dimension of the victims’ population: According to available data, 7 percent of the more than six million victims are organized in more than 3,000 organizations. This level of dispersion is a result both of heterogeneous experiences of victimization and, so far, of a severe incapability of producing collective action. The small percentage of organized victims raises questions about representation in the political debate. The findings presented here aim to contribute to the developing academic and empirical literature on transitional justice which is still incipient in Colombia, and provide elements for testing some of the prevailing opinions and attitudes about victims in Colombia. It also aims to provide useful insights for practitioners in the global field of transitional justice as many of the findings about the Colombian case are relevant to other transitional contexts around the world.

La “perspectiva relacional” y el “enfoque de redes” en el análisis de los movimientos sociales. Aproximaciones preliminares a un estudio de caso

&nbsp; The relational perspective and networks approach offers a novel platform in the sociological analysis of relationships and transactions that take place in several scenarios of social life. This article describes some of the theoretical contributions that provide both, as well as its analytical potential in terms of understanding social movements. Returning some postulates of networks approach, to highlight in a preliminary way, how the National Movement of Victims of State Crimes in Colombia (MOVICE) can be understood under the logic of a heterogeneous and dynamic network of relationships and actions of resistance and political mobilization counter hegemonic. While his flag fight is against state impunity, specifically for a significant sector of Colombian victims of historical conflict, can also be considered an example of national defense network that increasingly covers more social and political demands, and builds a subaltern struggle by the radicalization of a more inclusive democratic project in Colombia.