E/CN.4/1995/111 page 7 17. On 7 August 1994, the newly elected President Ernesto Samper Pizano took office. In his inauguration speech, President Samper acknowledged that Colombia was facing a human rights problem and identified the question of impunity and so-called paramilitarism 3/ as main causes for persistent human rights violations. He also avowed his Government’s commitment to finding solutions to the human rights crisis. In an address delivered on 9 September 1994, the Colombian Human Rights Day, the President presented the measures his Government intended to adopt to fight impunity, provide better protection and defence of human rights, eradicate paramilitarism, deal with the problem of displacement because of political violence, propagate human rights education and improve the security situation in Colombia. With a view to consolidating peace, President Samper appointed a High Commissioner for Peace with the mandate to explore possibilities and formulate proposals for a negotiated solution of the armed conflict in Colombia. 18. Despite these steps and declarations, the level of violence referred to in the reports of the above-mentioned mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights has not decreased. Mr. Wako’s comments of 1990, for instance, are still pertinent in 1994: "It is by no means an easy matter to account for the complex problem of violence and its causes and forms. The complexity of the problem is explained by a large number of factors, such as the variety of conflicts it covers and therefore the multiplicity of persons involved, the diversity of patterns of violence and behaviour, regional differences that make any generalization difficult, and the constant volatility of the political and military alliances among the various persons responsible for acts of violence." 4/ 19. The ongoing armed conflict, the continuing existence of paramilitary groups, urban violence, in particular directed against marginalized sectors of the population, the phenomenon of drug-trafficking and the defence of economic interests stemming from the exploitation of natural resources, such as oil, gold, coal, emeralds, etc., continue to give rise to multiple forms of violence. II. THE RIGHT TO LIFE AND FREEDOM FROM TORTURE: FINDINGS AND CONCERNS 20. Colombia, a country of 1,200,000 km2 and 36 million inhabitants, has one of the world’s highest record of homicides: according to official figures, during the past 15 years, figures increased from approximately 10,000 homicides in 1980 to 20,000 in 1988, and came close to an estimated 30,000 in 1994. According to data published by Justicia y Paz, during the administration of President César Gaviria, between June 1990 and June 1994, a total of 9,497 persons were killed for political or ideological motives: 3,202 were said to have lost their lives in political killings, 4,971 in presumably political killings and 1,324 fell victims to "social cleansing". A further 5,358 are reported to have died during armed confrontations during the same period, including civilians (438), State agents (1,478) and persons presumed to be combatants (3,442). For the period from July 1993 to June 1994, more than 4,000 people were said to have been killed for political or ideological motives. This means an average of 10 victims of violence