Human Rights and Democracy Report 2017 - Colombia

A year after the Colombian government's peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Colombia registered its lowest murder rate for 42 years. However, key human rights concerns remained, such as inadequate protection of human rights defenders (HRDs), gender-based violence, the human rights consequences of illegal economies (drugs and illegal mining), and modern slavery. Causes included a lack of state presence in some rural areas, delays to peace agreement implementation, and the destabilising influence of organised crime.

In areas where the FARC were formerly present, especially near the Pacific coast, illegal armed groups have fought for control of coca cultivation, drug trafficking, illegal mining and other illicit activities. As a result, there was an increase in conflict between the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group and other unidentified armed groups, often with reported links to former paramilitaries. In 2017, the UN reported 61 major displacement incidents, affecting more than 12,000 people, a 22% increase compared with 2016.

There were more than 15,000 cases of sexual violence reported to the National Victims' Unit during Colombia's armed conflict with the FARC[32]. However, it is reasonable to assume that many more cases went unrecorded, because of lack of access to justice in remote or insecure parts of the country. According to the commission[33] responsible for verifying compliance with the Constitutional Court's ruling on sexual violence, the impunity rate in sexual violence cases is 92%. Identifying the individual perpetrator has been the biggest challenge for the justice system, including for post-conflict Transitional Justice Mechanisms, which aim to encourage perpetrators to admit to crimes and offer reparation for victims. Sexual violence against minors also persisted.

Under the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI), we continued support for the documentation of cases of sexual violence, fostering access to justice, contributing to the participation of women and promoting initiatives to end stigma, including with the Colombian media. Our projects helped train 40 women to be spokespersons and another 200 journalists in preventing stigmatisation when reporting sexual violence cases. We also trained 550 women and men, including ex-combatants, indigenous people and afro-Colombians, about stigma, how to gain access to justice, awareness of gender-based violence and women's rights. In addition, our partners used the International Protocol to document hundreds of sexual violence cases. We also worked with Schools to reach out to girls in vulnerable contexts and provide training in how to report cases of sexual violence.

Although access to education has improved in recent years, girls face a high risk of sexual violence. In 2017 UNICEF reported that seven in ten victims of sexual violence in Colombia were girls. In rural areas sexual violence is attributed to higher levels of criminality, and lack of basic infrastructure such as safe public transport. Girls in these areas are also more likely to drop out of school early because of the limited access to contraception and sex education.

Killings and threats against HRDs increased significantly during the year. The UN OHCHR confirmed in their annual report[34] issued on 3 March 2018, the murder of 121 HRDs in 2017, compared with 61 in 2016. The rate of HRD murders increased in the second half of the year and between July and September one HRD was murdered every 60 hours. The impunity rate for these crimes is 87%, and only 6% result in prison sentences (all of them against the immediate perpetrators, not the intellectual authors of those crimes). While there is little evidence of systematic targeting of HRDs, those threatened or killed share common characteristics: leaders who challenge the presence of organised crime or illegal mining; land restitution claimants; leaders of victims' groups; and those with a potential role in upcoming elections.

In 2017, the UK funded two projects to promote the protection of HRDs and community leaders in 15 regions of Colombia. This included providing HRDs with self-protection strategies, rights awareness, capacity building and advocacy strategies. The UK undertook significant advocacy activity, both bilaterally and alongside international partners, including the EU and UN. We also monitored the situation of vulnerable HRDs and raised specific cases with the relevant Colombian authorities. We have worked very closely with the Office of the Attorney General to strengthen existing coordination mechanisms with the Colombian police, and have provided technical assistance to improve their follow-up mechanisms when investigating emblematic cases. On balance, we judge that the Colombian state is taking the problem of violence against HRDs seriously, and is making genuine attempts to tackle it.

In some regions of the country, particularly on the Pacific Coast, illegal mining has severely affected the water and food supply and has increased the presence of illegal armed groups. We continue to support the Colombian government's implementation of its National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights. The UK encouraged companies to improve communication strategies with communities, reduce the negative impacts of their activities, and help mobilise local communities to stop illegal mining. The British Embassy also launched a business and peace strategy which gives companies advice on how they can actively contribute to building peace and protecting human rights.

In 2018, we will introduce modern slavery and girls' education as additional priorities for our human rights programme, which will include regional collaboration with the British Embassies in Venezuela and Brazil.

[32] According to the national centre for historical memory's report La Guerra inscrita en el cuerpo

[33] A civil society follow-up discussion ,'Mesa de Seguimiento', to ruling Auto 092 of the Constitutional Court.

[34] http://www.hchr.org.co/media/com_acymailing/upload/a_hrc_37_3_add_3_en.pdf