E/CN.4/1995/111 page 18 reserves. Attracted by the possibility of extracting money from companies engaged in petrol production and the strategically interesting location (between Venezuela and the department of Casanare, the richest in oil reserves), both the FARC and the ELN became active in the department. The response of the security forces consisted in establishing a heavy presence of the military in the areas of armed conflict, with battalions or military bases in almost all municipalities of the Piedemonte Araucano (the eastern part of the department, including the municipalities of Saravena, Tame, Fortul and Arauquita). The Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, who visited Arauca during the mission, was informed that, since 1989, the armed conflict had intensified, giving rise to an increasing number of violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, whose principal victim had been the civilian population. Continuous control of the region on the part of the security forces through roadblocks and patrolling in rural and urban areas has reportedly created an atmosphere of permanent armed conflict in Arauca. The insurgents, in turn, are reported to control the population through a system of militias and intelligence services, and attacks against installations of the security forces and petrol companies. Thus, Arauca is said to have become one of the most violent departments of Colombia, with entire municipalities constantly living in a climate of terror. According to figures published by the Comisión Andina de Juristas-Seccional Colombiana, 1,115 violent deaths were registered in the department of Arauca for the period from 1989 to 1993, an average of two per day. Between 80 per cent and 90 per cent of these violent deaths are said to have political motives and may be attributed to the three main armed actors in the area: armed insurgents, the armed forces and paramilitary forces said to be cooperating with them. In its annual report for 1993, the Procuradoría General de la Nación listed the department of Arauca among the areas with a preoccupying increase in complaints of abuses by State agents, with a total of 71 registered complaints of human rights violations by State agents in the department, 32 per cent more than in 1992. With 18 complaints brought before the Procuradoría, Saravena is among the 10 municipalities with the highest record of denunciation of such abuses. 57. Most of the violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Arauca are reported to take place in situations other than armed confrontations. The municipalities of Saravena, Tame and Arauquita are particularly affected. The civilian population in these areas faces constant threat to their lives and physical integrity from both sides. The Special Rapporteur received numerous accounts of abuses by the guerrillas, including killings of members of the security forces or civilian authorities; assassinations of persons accused by the guerrillas as being informers of the security forces; and killings of several women for being girlfriends of police or military personnel. A number of persons abducted by members of the FARC or the ELN in order to obtain ransom payment for their release were also reported to have been killed. In addition, the Special Rapporteur was informed of death threats on the part of the ELN against public officials and journalists and of killings by the ELN of persons violating its moral code by committing theft or adultery, or by consuming drugs. 58. In rural areas, the guerrillas are said to force peasants to provide them with young men and women to fight in their ranks and with food. In turn, the security forces reportedly regard the entire civilian population living in