62 273. Amnesty International, for its part, emphasized that [i]n the vast majority of cases, displacement of the civilian population is not a casual, sporadic or inevitable by-product of counter-insurgency operations - it is a crucial tool in the armed forces' strategy to combat the insurgent forces. Targeted areas are 'cleansed' of the real of potential support base of the guerrillas and repopulated with peasant farmers who are paramilitary 289 supporters. 274. The Commission considered that paramilitary groups were the major cause of collective displacement of the rural population. It found that the upsurge in paramilitary activity in those years had centered on thinning out or cleansing the civilian population suspected of aiding or contributing to the logistics of dissident armed groups or those occupying lands which the paramilitary groups wish to 290 acquire. 275. In addition, in its Third Report, the Commission found that while displaced persons "are entitled to enjoy in free equality the same rights and freedoms...as the rest of the country's citizenry", in practice they rarely do, since displacement in and of itself essentially contradicts the enjoyment of basic 291 human rights. It maintained that internally displaced persons do not forfeit their inherent rights because they are displaced and they may invoke international human rights and, where relevant, humanitarian law to protect their rights. 276. The Commission also indicated that towards the end of 1997, the Permanent Consultation on Internal Displacement in the Americas ("CPDIA") released its report, compiled following several on-site visits to Colombia. In this report, it mentioned the following general and specific impacts or consequences of displacement: 1) defenselessness and isolation of displaced communities during both emergency periods and return or resettlement, together with a lack of humanitarian assistance through integral, inter-institutional and multi-disciplinary projects; 2) as a result of these shortcomings displaced persons have no possibility of legal access to new homes, lands, or jobs, and are forced to undertake a struggle for survival, competing amongst themselves to secure a space in "squatter slums or illegal urban settlements"; 3) breakup of families and communities, and dissipation of social ties in general; 4) swiftmoving process of concentration of rural properties to the disadvantage of the population, along with 292 drastic changes in land use and ownership. 277. In addition, the Commission considers that the psycho-social consequences of displacement, which often pass unheeded, have accelerated the destruction of the social fabric and have contributed to the impoverishment of the population, the disintegration of the family, malnutrition, 293 sickness, alcoholism, drug addiction, prostitution, school absenteeism and common crime. 278. With regard to the disproportionate impact displacement has on women, according to CODHES figures, 59% of displaced people are women, many of them widows with several children; of these, 65% are themselves minors. It indicated that such a magnitude augurs great fragility in the family unit, given that in many resettlement areas, women must shoulder family responsibilities alone, while the 289 Annex 15. IACHR. Third Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Colombia, Ch.IV. OEA/Ser.L/V/II.102 Doc. 9 rev. 1, February 26, 1999, para. 64. At: http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Colom99en/table%20of%20contents.htm. 290 Annex 15. IACHR. Third Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Colombia, Ch.IV. OEA/Ser.L/V/II.102 Doc. 9 rev. 1, February 26, 1999, para. 75. At: http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Colom99en/table%20of%20contents.htm. 291 Annex 15. IACHR. Third Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Colombia, Cap IV. OEA/Ser.L/V/II.102 Doc. 9 rev. 1, February 26, 1999, para. 4. At: http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Colom99en/table%20of%20contents.htm. 292 Annex 15. IACHR. Third Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Colombia, Cap IV. OEA/Ser.L/V/II.102 Doc. 9 rev. 1, February 26, 1999, para. 24. At: http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Colom99en/table%20of%20contents.htm. 293 Annex 15. IACHR. Third Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Colombia, Ch.IV. OEA/Ser.L/V/II.102 Doc. 9 rev. 1, February 26, 1999, para. 25. At: http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Colom99en/table%20of%20contents.htm.