The Colombian security forces, paramilitaries and guerrilla groups are punishing those who refuse to be part of the conflict across Colombia, said Amnesty International today.

The organization's claim comes as it launches a new campaign on behalf of several "communities in resistance" - communities that have taken an active and often dangerous stand in defence of their right as civilians not to be dragged into Colombia's long-running and bloody armed conflict.

The Afro-descendant Humanitarian Zones of the Curvaradó and Jiguamiandó River Basins, in Chocó Department, and the campesino (peasant farmer) Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, in the department of Antioquia, are but two examples of such "communities in resistance" who have for years suffered attacks from both sides in the conflict for simply defending their rights as civilians not to be drawn into the conflict.