SUMMARY

ELN (Ejército de liberatión nacional; National Liberation Army) was a guerrilla group formed in 1964 to wage a revolutionary conflict against the Government in Colombia (see Colombia: Government. In connection to the intra-state conflict with the government, ELN has also targeted civilians. Targets of one-sided violence included perceived supporters of other armed groups, political figures representing ideologies other than that of ELN, and people working for oil companies. Pipelines and oil companies were targeted because they represented neoliberal politics and supplied funding for paramilitary groups according to an ELN statement. Regarding attacks on people supporting other groups, a representative of ELN stated in 1995 that “giving information to the enemy makes you a legitimate military target”. ELN also killed people for not paying so-called “war taxes”, levied by the guerrillas on the local population.

Most of the one-sided violence committed by ELN was concentrated to the areas in northern Colombia where ELN had its origins and major sources of support, but there were also acts of violence against civilians committed by the group in other regions. Often, victims were shot, while on occasion bombs and landmines were used.

ELN first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 1998, when the one-sided violence resulted in over 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached in October that year, when ELN bombed an oil pipeline and killed over 70 people.