Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I thank our witnesses. I appreciate your perspective.
I just want to clarify whether all three of you have been to Colombia.
We had an excellent trip. It was definitely eye-opening for me. We had an excellent cross-section of witnesses. We heard from both independents and government and from NGOs who were very frank and honest. From some of the information we received, it's definitely a country still in a transition state. They're in the middle of a war. I don't know if you heard the witnesses who came here before you, approximately an hour prior. Their comment was that they're getting it right, but it's taking time.
We had an excellent meeting with President Álvaro Uribe Vélez. He's served six out of his eight years. He's running with an 80%-plus approval rating. I think any politician in this room who could run that percentage of popularity would think they were doing something right.
I think my colleagues have generally the same perspective as far as the fact that 70% of Colombians are now receiving health care, which is up from 30%. All types of crime are trending down, including a significant reduction in kidnapping and murder. They have a family-in-action program where they're providing education and vaccinations for children and ensuring they are properly fed. It's a huge step forward. Is there room for improvement? Definitely. What we saw was a snapshot in time of where they're going.
I was speaking with the ambassador, and at his home we had a good cross-section of people who have been in business. I represent an area in the interior of British Columbia, and there was a gentleman who was in forestry for over 27 years in B.C. Five years ago he decided to move to Colombia. He said it was the best move he's made. He recommends it for any forester--obviously we have a downturn in our economy here--to take some of their skills, work ethic, and environmental practices and implement them in their work field.
I look at what we saw and where we're going, and I guess the question I have is this. Mr. Paradis, you can start off with this. We talked about human rights violations. One statistic we've heard over and over--and I asked several people--is that 95% of the human rights violations are caused by paramilitary and guerrilla groups such as FARC. There have been hundreds of thousands of people who have been displaced. We went to Soacha, which, as you said, is at the edge of town, approximately 45 minutes' to an hour's drive, and we saw these displaced people. It was a result of groups like FARC. I don't know if that's a concern of your organization. It sure is a concern of mine.
You also mentioned the human rights violations by the state. Yet, we were told that 95% of the violations are by these other organizations. Do you have any examples of human rights violations by the state?
