Also during this period , paramilitary activities increased , both legally and illegally . The creation of legal CONVIVIR self-defense and intelligence gathering groups was authorized by Congress and the Samper administration in 1994 . Members of CONVIVIR groups were accused of committing numerous abuses against the civilian population by several human rights organizations . The groups were left without legal support after a 1997 decision by the Colombian Constitutional Court which restricted many of their prerrogatives and demanded stricter oversight . However , in April 1997 , preexisting paramilitary forces and several former CONVIVIR members were joined to create the AUC , a large paramilitary militia closely tied to drug trafficking which carried out attacks on the FARC and ELN rebel groups as well as civilians starting with the 1997 Mapiripán Massacre
Mapiripán Massacre
Mapiripán Massacre
Colombian conflict