FORMULARIO DE LA DESCRIPCIÓN DE LA TESIS DOCTORAL O DEL TRABAJO DE GRADO

By attacking civilians, the FARC is showing a lack of respect for the right of the civil population to stay out of the conflict. Often the use of terror against civilians turns out to be an efficient instrument to achieve certain goals, like obtaining financial resources, the submission of the population or the demonstration of power. The FARC’s use of violence against civilians, selective as well as indiscriminate, is not irrational, but corresponds to certain logics. Civil victimization is the result of calculated strategies of the rebel group, which respond to some dynamics unique to the Colombian conflict. On the other side, the use of violence by the FARC also corresponds to logics that are common to internal wars in general. The instruments of creating fear, distrust and insecurity are universal in the world’s conflicts, which means, unlike what many people believe, that the Colombian conflict is not that unique.