Human Rights
Colombia Human Rights Overview
- State Department Human Rights Certification
Click here to see documents on enforcement of human rights conditions in U.S. law.
- UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Annual Report
- U.S. State Department
Colombia Human Rights Report
This annual report documents human rights conditions in Colombia - Human Rights Watch Annual Report on Colombia
- Amnesty International Annual Human Rights Report on Colombia
- To sign up for regular alerts on specific human rights cases in Colombia, visit the websites of Amnesty International and Peace Brigades International.
- Crisis
in Demobilization Process - A brief USOC/WOLA
memo on the demobilization process' failure to dismantle underlying
paramilitary structures that also calls on the U.S. to support victims
of paramilitary violence, December 2006.
- Identifying Victims from Mass Graves in Colombia - A LAWG memo to members of Congress urging U.S. support for the identification of bodies found in mass graves in Colombia, May 2007.
- Colombia:
Towards Peace and Justice? – An International Crisis
Group report on the so-called Justice and Peace Law, stressing the need
to dismantle the criminal networks of paramilitaries and make a greater
effort to address victims’ rights, March 2006.
- Colombia’s
Checkbook Impunity – A Human Rights Watch report
documenting how armed actors and drug traffickers operate with impunity
in Colombia.
- “Smoke and Mirrors: Colombia’s
demobilization of paramilitary groups"
A report by Human Rights Watch, 2005. - "The
Paramilitaries in Medellín: Demobilization or Legalization?"
- An Amnesty international report, 2005
- Ciudadanos
Excombatientes: Un Desafío De Reconciliación
E Inclusión Para Bogotá uuA report by the municipal government
of Bogotá on efforts to reintegrate former paramilitary members
into civilian life, 2006.
- Post-Election Colombia: Careful Monitoring
of the Paramilitary Demobilization Should Be Top Priority for Members
of U.S. Congress
Click here to read the brief memo by U.S. Office on Colombia analyzing the demobilization process in light of Álvaro Uribe’s reelection, May 2006.
- Colombia: Demobilizations Legitimize Paramilitary
Power –
Click here to read an interview-based report written by Human Rights Watch, August 2005.
- Peace – or “Paramilitarization?”
Click here to read a report by the Center for International Policy (CIP) on how the flawed reintegration of paramilitaries into civil society is providing them both legal and political legitimacy, July 2005.
Displacement & the Humanitarian Crisis
- Voices
of the Displaced: Stories from the Magdalena Medio Region
– A new project by Jesuit Refugee Service that features testimonies
from refugees and analysis of the underlying causes of displacement,
June 2007
- Photo
Gallery: Colombians Fight for the Rights of Displaced Persons
- Delegates shared their perspectives on internal displacement with
policymakers in Washington.
- Colombia:
Political Considerations Used to Deny Assistance to Displaced People
– A Refugees International document that brings attention to the
plight of those displaced by coercion, including the legal difficulties
and powerful stigmatization they face, July 2006.
- Colombia:
Thousands of Displaced People Face Destitution in Urban Areas
– A Refugees International article that documents the vulnerability
of displaced persons living in urban areas, while also calling on the
Colombian government to make a greater effort in providing essential
services to displaced persons, July 2006.
- People
Fleeing Violence Struggle to Rebuild their Lives
- photo slideshow
- The
United Nations' Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement
– These principles were developed and adopted by the United Nations
as part of an ongoing effort to develop an international legal framework,
to protect the rights of internally displaced persons.
- Click
here to read the International Committee of the Red Cross' explanation
of these principles
- Click
here to read the International Committee of the Red Cross' explanation
of these principles
- Living
in Fear: Colombia’s Cycle of Violence – A Doctors
Without Borders report documenting the human suffering caused by forced
displacement, including its implications for both physical and mental
health, April 2006.
- Broken
Promises – A report by Jesuit Refugee Services on
the recurring failure of the Colombian government to implement United
Nations recommendations regarding the prevention of forced displacement
and the protection of its victims, January 2006.
- Monthly Report of the Humanitarian Situation in Colombia by the United Nations Office for Coordinating Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
- "Colombia: Displaced and Discarded
The Plight of the Internally Displaced in Bogotá and Cartagena"
A report by Human Rights Watch, 2005.
Targeted Violence Against Civilians and Human Rights Defenders
- A
Valentine's Day Report: Worker Justice and Basic Rights
on Flower Plantations in Colombia and Ecuador, by U.S./Labor Education
in the Americas Project.
- Photo Gallery from the visit of Ruta Pacífica de las Mujeres, a network of Colombian women's organizations working for peace.
- Violence
Against Colombian Trade Unionists – A brief summary
of the issue written by U.S./Labor Education in the Americas Project.
- Colombia:
Reporting, Campaigning, and Serving Without Fear –
A report on how targeted violence is used to influence the political
environment, written by Amnesty International, 2006.
- U.S.
NGOs Express Support for Human Rights Defenders in Colombia,
July 2006.
- U.S.
NGOs In Solidarity with Victims of Violence in Colombia,
July 2006.
- “The Struggle for Worker Rights
in Colombia”
A report by the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center, written by US/LEAP staff member Robert Perillo, June 2006. (pdf)- http://www.solidaritycenter.org/files/ColombiaFinal.pdf
- Justice
for All: Statement by LAWGEF Director at AFL-CIO and Solidarity
Center on Worker Rights in Colombia
- U.S. NGOs
Ask for Action Regarding Threats Against Colombian Human Rights Groups
- Colombia:
FARC Steps Up Attacks Before Elections – A Human
Rights Watch press release condemning the use of targeted violence by
the FARC and ELN, March 2006.
- U.S. trade unions
press State Department on violence against trade unionists
in Colombia, March 2006. (pdf)
- Statement
Regarding the Disappearance of Orlando Valencia (pdf),
an Afro-Colombian community leader, to Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice by U.S. NGOs, November 2005.
- Untold Stories – An article by the Committee to Protect Journalists on the threats and violence faced by the Colombian press, October 2005.
- Letter
to Secretary of State Rice from NGOs and church organizations
regarding massacre in San José de Apartadó, Colombia,
March 2005.
- Arauca
murders sign-on letter (pdf): Letter from U.S. NGOs and
labor unions asking Colombian President Uribe to ensure a fair trail
for labor leaders killed in Arauca, August 2004.
- Dissent and Terrorism?
Statements made by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and members of his cabinet have equated the work of human rights and other nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Colombia with terrorism. See background information on this issue complied by the Center for International Policy, and see the press release drafted by the LAWG on the issue. The release was sent out on September 9th, 2003 following statements made by President Uribe on national television against the work of legitimate civic organizations. Also read the Presbyterian Church of Colombia's response to the threats.
- Letter
from U.S. and Canadian NGOs to President Uribe -- Initiated
by Peace Brigades International and by the Fellowship of Reconciliation,
this NGO sign-on letter defends the legitimacy of international human
rights organizations in the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó,
June 2004.
- NGO
Statement on La Gabarra Massacre, June 2004.
- LAWG
and Other NGOs Express Support for the UN Human Rights Office in Colombia,
July 2006.
- Colombian Intelligence Agency Assisted Paramilitary Leaders and Drug Traffickers, a memo on the DAS scandal by the U.S. Office on Colombia, May 2006.
- Open
letter to the Presidential candidates of Colombia,
a letter by Amnesty International urging respect for human rights and
a legal framework for the demobilization of illegal armed groups, April
2006.
- FARC Backgrounder – A Council on Foreign Relations primer on guerrilla forces in Colombia, including a brief list of FARC-sponsored violence, November 2005.
- The
Human Rights Situation in Colombia: Afro-Colombian and Indigenous
People
A statement by LAWGEF director Lisa Haugaard to the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, October 2005.
- Photo
Gallery: Colombian Victims' Tour
LAWGEF invited four members of Colombian victims' organizations to the U.S. to speak directly with policymakers in Washington and New York, October 2005.
- Políticas del gobierno socavan el estado de derecho, un informe por la Comisión Internacional de Juristas (International Commission of Jurors) sobre la política colombiana de seguridad democrática, septiembre del 2005.
- Letter to the State Department from the Chicago Religious Leadership Network (pdf) on Colombia human rights certification, 2005.
- Amnesty
International Press Release - Colombia: International community
must reaffirm its commitment to the UN human rights recommendations
as the framework for resolving Colombia's long-standing armed conflict,
February 2005.
- "Reelection:
The Spell Continues," a comprehensive critique of the
Colombian government's security and economic policies, from a broad
assortment of Colombian citizens' groups, 2004.
- English Version (pdf)
- En
Español (pdf)
- Colombia’s
War on Children (pdf) – A report by the Watchlist
on Children, February 2004.
- Colombian Government's Human Rights
Report
Vicepresidencia de la Republica- 2003
(word document)
- 2003
(word document)
- "Colombia:
President Uribe's Democratic Security Policy," by
the International Crisis Group, 2003.
- Letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice regarding February 2005 Cartagena donors meeting. Eleven U.S. Non-Governmental welcome the possibility of new economic and social aid in Colombia and expressed serious concern that without a legal framework in place the present demobilization in place will exacerbate human rights violations, January 2005.
- The Wrong
Road (pdf) — A LAWGEF publication outlining Colombian
President Álvaro Uribe’s controversial security policies
and their impact on human rights and civil liberties, 2003.
- Justice
Denied: Human Rights Watch report on Colombian Attorney General Carlos
Osorio
This report, released on December 10, 2002, documents a serious deterioration of the capacity of the attorney general's office to investigate and prosecute human rights violations since Attorney General Osorio has taken office. The report finds that nearly all investigations of collaboration between Colombian armed forces personnel and paramilitary groups have been blocked.
- Human
Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and WOLA report for the forth round
of human rights certifications for Colombia
Prepared September 10, 2002, this document was used in consultation with the US State Department, which is required by law to certify that Colombia is complying with human rights conditions before US military aid can flow. This document outlines a failure of Colombia to comply with any of the conditions.
