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Human Rights Research Center
Aug 134 min read

Human Rights Defenders: A pending matter with the Colombian people

August 13, 2024



Despite being a long-time keen denouncer of it and having even issued a presidential directive on the matter, Gustavo Petro’s government has not been able in these two first years of mandate to stop violence against Human Rights Defenders[1] (HRDs) in Colombia, where more than 1,200 HRDs and social leaders have been killed since 2016.  In 2023, 765 cases of aggression towards HRDs were registered, of which 168 were murders. What is going on with HRDs in Colombia? Why have repeated efforts by various governments failed to stop this type of violence?


According to the ‘Somos Defensores’ program, “a protection space that seeks to develop a comprehensive proposal to prevent aggressions and protect the lives of people who are at risk because of their work as human rights defenders,”[2] even if compared to Ivan Duque’s mandate (2018-2022), the current government has had an increased political will to tackle the issue, but the delay in achieving results, caused by bureaucratic inefficiencies, has proven deadly for the population in the territories. Indeed, in its annual report titled ‘Puntos Suspensivos,’[3] the NGO details not only the above-mentioned alarming homicide figures but also the staggering phenomenon of impunity behind it: of the 1,333 murders of HRDs that occurred between 2002-2022, the attorney general’s office (‘Fiscalía General de la Nación’) only verified when consulted about 75 guilty verdicts, which added to 104 additional convictions found by ‘Verdad Abierta,[4]’ constituting an effectiveness rate of 13.3% in 20 years[5]. An extensive report of the failed state policies in this regard can also be found in this report. This document also allows us to understand the type of violence the HRDs suffered[6] and to visualize[7] where the killings of HRDs took place within the country.


On the other hand, Amnesty International’s 2023 report, Colombia: Hope at risk: The lack of a safe space to defend human rights in Colombia continues, also shows us a discouraging situation. In addition to the figures of violence and impunity, this source highlights the worrying work of the National Protection Unit[8] (UNP). Having changed its approach in 2022 due to the acknowledgment of its need for a structural change that embodied a preventive approach, the UNP still faces questions of resource management and its effectiveness. Despite having received approximately one billion dollars for its functioning, of the 6,255 individual protection requests and 502 collective protection requests from HRDS during 2022, up to April 2023 “a risk assessment had not been initiated for 4,759 of them and 413 of the 502 collective protection requests were in the same situation.”[9] This, together with the complaints received by Amnesty International of unsuited vehicles for the job, the failure to adapt the protection agents to the daily routines of the HRDs, and the lack of a gender and ethnic perspective, summarize the obsolescence of this protection corps.


In conclusion, regardless of the political commitment by Gustavo Petro, violence against HRDs in Colombia has not decreased. Bureaucratic delays and inefficiencies have marred protection efficiency, resulting in continued aggression and high rates of impunity. Reports by Somos Defensores and Amnesty International refer to gloomy situations characterized by poor responses from the UNP and low conviction rates for the murders of HRDs. Systemic failures underline the urgency of strong and direct actions for the protection of HRDs and the guarantee of human rights in Colombia.


 

Glossary


  • Bureaucratic: Relating to or having characteristics of a bureaucracy, which is a government characterized by specialization of functions, adherence to fixed rules, and a hierarchy of authority.

  • Hierarchy: The classification of a group of people according to ability or to economic, social, or professional standing.

  • Human Rights: Rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and many more.  Everyone is entitled to these rights, without discrimination[10].

  • Human Rights Defenders (HRDs): People who, individually or with others, act to promote or protect human rights in a peaceful manner[11].

  • Impunity: Exemption or freedom from punishment, harm, or loss.


 

Footnotes/Sources


[1] From now on, ‘HRDs’.

[2] Somos Defensores (21 jul. 24) https://somosdefensores.org/nosotros/ 

[3] Or ‘Suspension Points’ in English, alluding to the never-ending wait for peace.

[4] A specialized independent communication media in Colombia (https://verdadabierta.com/).

[5] Somos Defensores (Puntos Suspensivos, p. 77).

[6] Being the top five: Threats (436 cases), murders (168 cases), bombings (68 cases), forced displacements (35 cases), and forced disappearances (20 cases). Somos Defensores (Puntos Suspensivos, p. 98).

[7] Somos Defensores (Puntos Suspensivos, p. 110).

[8] From now on ‘UNP’, the Spanish acronym for the security body in charge of protecting HRDs.

[9] Amnesty International (Colombia: Hope at risk: The lack of a safe space to defend human rights in Colombia continues, p. 36).

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