E/CN.4/2005/88/Add.2 page 8 of education, the environment and health, in response to the needs and demands of Colombia’s indigenous peoples. He was given information on programmes to aid internally displaced people, to extend the public health system to cover the entire country and to address outstanding issues relating to the protection of reserves. 21. In addition to these efforts, a dynamic indigenous movement has emerged in the last few decades and has made Colombians in general aware of indigenous concerns, aspirations and claims; it has been instrumental in the legislative advances described above, and is now campaigning for peace and respect for indigenous human rights. The Special Rapporteur was told of various organizations, such as the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC), the Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the Colombian Amazon (OPIAC), the Associations of Traditional Indigenous Authorities (AATI) and the Colombian Movement of Indigenous Authorities (AICO), as well as the regional councils such as the Cauca Indigenous Regional Council (CRIC) and many cabildos and local associations, all of which are now key interlocutors of the government authorities, political actors and civil society. 22. Yet, despite this extensive legal and institutional framework, the country still faces serious human rights problems that affect its indigenous peoples on a daily basis. III. HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IN COLOMBIA: PRIORITY ISSUES A. The armed conflict in indigenous areas 23. Although Colombia has a long history of political violence in rural areas, indigenous regions were, until around 20 years ago, relatively free of armed conflict. Beginning in the 1980s, however, the guerrilla fronts of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia Ejército del Pueblo (FARC-EP) (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People’s Army) and the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) (National Liberation Army), and the paramilitary groups belonging to the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) (United Self-Defence Groups of Colombia), stepped up their operations in the indigenous regions as they became involved in the spread of illicit crops to those areas. Military pressure from the Colombian army also forced them back into indigenous areas. This development is illustrated by the violence and serious violations of indigenous human rights in the Cauca region, of which the Special Rapporteur has been given ample evidence and documentation. 24. According to the High Commissioner’s office in Colombia, numerous violations of human rights aimed at indigenous peoples were reported in 2003. During this period, more than 100 members and leaders of indigenous groups were murdered; one of the worst affected groups in this regard was the Kankuamo people of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. There is also a disturbingly high incidence of forced displacements, whose impact on indigenous communities increased during 2003. 25. Political violence against indigenous peoples increased during the 1990s, prompting increasing opposition to the war. Over the past 15 years, more than 2,660 cases of violations of