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Americas > Colombia

Overview

Colombia MapThe 45-year old Colombian conflict has had and continues to have a disastrous impact on the people of Colombia and the country’s democratic development. Close to 80% of those killed have been Colombians. Members of human rights groups and unions, as well as the most vulnerable sectors of society, namely women, indigenous peoples, and Afro-Colombians, continue to be victimized, threatened and killed. Forced displacement of families from their homes also continues at an alarming rate in Colombia, which has the third largest internally displaced population in the world: over 3 million, after Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).    

Upon first taking office in 2002, Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe promised security, drug interdiction, and economic reforms through a National Development Plan, which included reforms to the political system, judiciary, and public administration.  President Uribe’s security program included an increase in manpower and funding for the police and armed forces; the expansion of state presence to every municipality in the country; the establishment of units of “peasant soldiers”; and a strategy – known as “Plan Patriota” – to challenge the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in its strongholds in the south of the country.

In 2003, the government began discussions with the paramilitary group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). After three years of negotiations, it announced that the demobilization process of the AUC had been completed. Over 30,000 paramilitaries formally demobilized as part of the Justice and Peace Law (JPL) of 2005, handing over some 17,000 weapons, 117 vehicles, 3 helicopters, 59 urban properties and 24,000 hectares of land. The JPL provides concessions to illegal armed fighters who voluntarily decide to demobilize. There is some debate in Colombia regarding the many aspects of the JPL and whether it strikes the right balance for obtaining both justice and peace. In mid-May, a ruling by the Constitutional Court tightened up some of the provisions of the JPL, particularly those relating to victims’ rights.

The most devastating impact of Colombia’s conflict has been on indigenous peoples, particularly indigenous women. While the Colombian constitution is one of the most progressive in terms of indigenous rights, the implementation of its provisions is far from becoming reality. For example, according to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples, several indigenous peoples are in danger of extinction as peoples.

 

Programme


Rights & Democracy has been involved in Colombia since 2000, placing particular emphasis on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights. It works particularly on supporting indigenous peoples’ struggle to survive in the face of armed conflict, promoting women’s rights and leadership roles, as well as increasing awareness in Canada of the situation of Colombia’s indigenous peoples. In 2005, Rights & Democracy decided to expand its work to include a Democratic Development component, making Colombia one of its priority countries.