The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights On Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs presented its report on the technical cooperation it provides in Colombia and highlighted some progress in this regard.
The Director of the Field Operations and Technical Cooperation Division of the Office in the country, Christian Salazar Volkmann, highlighted that, since the publication of the Truth Commission report in June 2022, the organization has contributed with its wide dissemination at the national and local levels.
Salazar stressed that, in terms of investigations into human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law, there remains a high level of impunity which, as the Commission concluded, is “one of the factors leading to the continuation of violence.”
In this regard, the Office welcomed the progress made in the investigations of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) to address the most serious and representative crimes committed during the armed conflict, as well as the opening of a new macro case on gender violence in 2023.
“The first rulings of the JEP will be decisive in guaranteeing the rights of victims to truth, justice, reparation and non-repetition,” he added.
98 allegations of homicides in 2024
Regarding the security sector, the Office values the new human security approach of the public policy adopted in 2023, the director noted, adding that it has provided technical assistance to the National Commission for Security Guarantees for the development of the public policy for the dismantling of criminal organizations, in compliance with the Peace Agreement.
However, Salazar stressed that, despite the decrease in some indicators of violence in 2023, the social and territorial control of armed groups and criminal organizations “continues to affect the rights of the civilian population in different areas of the country.”
In 2023, the Office verified 105 cases of killings of human rights defenders. In addition, Between January 1 and June 30, 2024, it has already received 98 allegations of homicides of defenders that is being verified.
“We observe that this violence particularly affects members of Community Action Boards, authorities of indigenous and Afro-descendant communities and people who defend territory, land and the environment,” said Salazar.
In this context, the Office provided technical assistance to the Ministry of the Interior in the development of the National Guarantees Policy.
The Office recommends that a “profound reform” of the protection model for social leaders and human rights defenders be promoted, in which they participate.
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