This article is republished with the kind permission of JusticeInfo.net and Andrés Bermúdez Liévano (journalist). For four hours on the afternoon of September 18th, and one more the following morning, retired Colonel Hernán Mejía Gutiérrez sat silently not far from the man who, two decades ago, was his number two in the ‘La Popa’ No. 2...
ABColombia remains gravely concerned about the situation of human rights defenders (HRDs) in Colombia. According to INDEPAZ, 116 HRDs and community leaders were killed in the first eight months of 2024. Global Witness reported that Colombia had the highest number of land and environmental defenders killed worldwide in 2023– with a record 79 killed in...
According to the most recent Colombian Census, carried out in 2018, the country’s Indigenous population numbers around 1,905,617 individuals belonging to 115 different communities. Despite Colombia’s Indigenous Peoples comprising only 3.9% of the total population, they are subjected to disproportionate violations of their human rights by illegal armed groups and large multinational corporations (MNCs). Environmental...
International Civil Society Organisations signatories of this statement issue an urgent alert regarding worrying situation facing communities in Sur de Bolivar. Social, regional, and national social organisations, funds, programmes and international protections organisations in Colombia, as well as the international NGOs working in Colombia, emphatically reject the assassination of Narciso Beleño, which occurred in Santa...
Information from Cajar, read the Alerta Urgente here. On 27 February 2024, the Wiwa Indigenous Peoples, together with Colombian human rights organisations CINEP, CAJAR, AIDA and FIDH, have issued an urgent alert to notify authorities and the international community of a situation of massive forced displacement throughout the Rancheria river basin. On 24 February 2024,...
International Civil Society Organisations signatories of this statement issue an urgent alert regarding an imminent tragedy, that hovers over the civilian population in the Department of Chocó. This requires an immediate response from the corresponding authorities in accordance with Colombia’s obligations under International Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law (IHL), ethnic legislation and the cosmovision...
For 22 years Jineth Bedoya’s demonstrated incredible courage and determination to make a difference for thousands of women in Colombia who had suffered sexual violence. The pursuit of her case through the Colombian and International Courts has not been an easy one, she has been subjected to threats, forced to re-tell and to re-live the...
There is an urgent need to mitigate the climate crisis, but this has to be done as a just transition towards clean energy and it cannot require the global south to carry the costs of this transition. The current Colombian Government’s ambitious agenda to move away from fossil fuels and to invest heavily in renewable...
Inter-American Court of Human Rights concludes state was responsible for a crime against humanity in respect to the elimination of over 6,000 members of the Union Patriótica Colombia’s Communist Party. On 30 January 2023 the inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) declared the Colombian State responsible for the violation of human rights of 6,000 members...
While Colombia experiences three times the global average of rainfall per country, the water distribution is uneven. The large majority of freshwater is located in the Amazon Basin and the department of Chocó. According to Water Aid 1.2 million people in Colombia live without access to clean water.
