Kolumbien

The Electoral Observation Mission (MOE) said in its latest report that it had registered 304 acts of political violence since March 13, the beginning of the electoral year. This would be a 125% increase compared to the 135 acts of aggression against aspiring politicians, community leaders and rights defenders registered in the same period in 2017.

Five years after an historic Peace Agreement was reached in Colombia, the process continues to show the benefits of ending the conflict through negotiation and keeping victims at the heart of the discussion moving forward. That was the main message from the Special Representative and head of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, delivered to ambassadors at the Security Council on Thursday.  

Paramilitary groups remained active in almost one in every five of Colombia’s municipalities after the demobilization of paramilitary organization AUC in 2006, according to a think tank. In its annual report, think tank Indepaz said that almost two thirds of Colombia’s municipality saw some activity by paramilitary groups between 2008 and 2020.

Almost five years after Colombia’s former FARC guerrillas signed peace with the government, 46% of them are still waiting for work, according to the United Nations. In a press release, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged the government of President Ivan Duque to accelerate the process that seeks to reintegrate 13,608 former guerrillas.

Colombia’s 2016 peace deal was lauded for bringing to an end the longest-running war in the Americas. But five years on, aggressive counter-narcotics tactics and unkept government pledges are blamed for fuelling distrust in rural areas and driving a new cycle of violence.

Colombia’s former President Alvaro Uribe on Monday testified before the Truth Commission about war crimes committed when the far-right politician was head of state.

[…] The mass displacement would be the consequence of renewed violence between rearmed guerrillas of the now-defunct rebel group FARC and paramilitaries of paramilitary group AGC.

Carlos Ruiz Massieu, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, briefed ambassadors on latest developments under the accord that ended five decades of fighting between the Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP). 

The Colombian government used “excessive and disproportionate” force during mass protests earlier this year, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) said in a long-awaited report released on Wednesday.

In Colombia’s history of protest, the 2021 mobilisations against inequality and police brutality stand out for their breadth and intensity. Unrest has quieted for now but could soon return. The government should urgently reform the security sector while working to narrow the country’s socio-economic chasms.