English  |  Français  |  Español
 
OMCT LogoOMCT logo
Make a donationRSSOMCT on FacebookOMCT on TwitterOMCT BlogHomeAbout OMCTActivitiesCATOMCT NetworkOMCT EuropeContactsMake a donation
  • Urgent campaigns
  • Assistance to victims
  • Human rights defenders
  • ESCR
  • Rights of the child
  • Violence against women
  • Monitoring protection mechanisms
 Save as PDF Print version
Monitoring protection mechanisms / Statements / Colombia / 2016 / December

Colombia: Oidhaco welcomes the progress made towards peace and expresses its deep concern at the risk situation faced by Colombian civil society in this new phase in peacebuilding

161212 Comunicado Oidhaco INGLÉS
4 pages / 526 KB

​

Brussels, 12 December 2016

As part of the commemoration of Human Rights Day, the International Office on Human Rights - Action Colombia (OIDHACO) and its signatory members welcome the progress towards peace, congratulate President Santos on receiving the Nobel Peace Prize and appreciate his declaration that he will share it with all the victims of the armed conflict, thereby recognising their fundamental role in peacebuilding.

Over the past four years, the negotiating teams of the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) have conducted peace negotiations in Havana, Cuba, with the participation of Colombian civil society and the accompaniment of representatives from the diplomatic corps, in order to reach an agreement to end the conflict between both actors that has lasted more than half a century. Following the result of the October 2 referendum in which the No vote won, we recognise the efforts of the negotiating teams to continue moving towards peace and we celebrate the endorsement of the new agreement.

Moreover, OIDHACO and its signatory members note the announcement in March 2016 of the beginning of the public phase of the peace negotiations between the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN), as well as the announcement in October of the installation of the first table of talks envisaged in that process. We regret that to date this installation has not taken place and we encourage the parties to begin this process immediately, a fundamental step in building a lasting and stable peace for Colombia.

Despite the progress made during 2016, OIDHACO and its signatory members express their deep concern about the wave of murders, attacks and threats that have taken place in recent weeks against human rights defenders, social leaders and members of political movements, as a result of their work in achieving peace.1 At the time of writing this communique, OIDHACO and its signatory members have been informed of the murder of five social leaders, members of the Marcha Patriótica political and social movement, and attacks against the lives of numerous social leaders, local political actors, and human rights defenders.2 A number of human rights defenders have also been threatened with death, particularly in the city of Barrancabermeja, where a mass threat was issued naming at least six such defenders.3 So far in 2016, the killing of 70 human rights defenders has been reported, an increase from the previous year; 31 of whom have been killed since the entry into force of the bilateral cease-fire on 29 August 2016. It is also of serious concern that since the Marcha Patriótica was founded in 2012, 128 of its members have been killed because of their political affiliation,4 and it is feared that a situation similar to the genocide perpetrated against the members of the Unión Patriótica political party could be repeated, considering the level of instability that Colombia is currently facing.

This wave of attacks coincides with a highly sensitive moment in the peace process and demonstrates the absence of guarantees of security and protection for these people to carry out their legitimate work for peace. The common thread that links the people who were targeted in these attacks is their involvement in the peace process through rural grassroots movements, campesino (rural farming) associations, land restitution projects and peace education, among other activities. These people, their families and communities live under a real and constant threat of becoming the target of future attacks, attempts on their lives and murders.

OIDHACO and its signatory members therefore consider that the role of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia (OHCHR) should be strengthened through the introduction of a human rights component in the United Nations Mission for Colombia, in addition to the Office’s current mandate.

Given the current situation of high risk and instability, OIDHACO and its signatory members,

Urge the Colombian State to:


    • Urgently implement point 3.4 of the Peace Agreement, which provides for the creation of the National Commission of Security Guarantees in order to dismantle paramilitary structures, recognised as the actor responsible for the majority of attacks5 perpetrated against human rights defenders.6 Without guaranteeing the safety of such persons, real peace will not be possible;
    • Conduct conclusive investigations to clarify the truth surrounding the events that occurred in this wave of violence and bring to justice and sanction those responsible, thus ensuring that impunity does not prevail for violations perpetrated against those who defend peace;
    • Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of all defenders of peace, regardless of their political alliances, enabling an inclusive and participatory process in this new phase towards peacebuilding.

    Urge the Parties to the Havana Agreements to:


  • Promptly agree to request a second United Nations resolution introducing a human rights component to the current Mission, or a new mission, which will verify compliance with the agreements.

Urge the European Union, its Member States, Switzerland and Norway to:

    • Pay special attention to the risk situation of human rights defenders, social leaders and members of political movements at this time of instability and call on the Colombian government to ensure their protection.
    • Support, with new resources, the OHCHR in Colombia so that it can carry out its current mandate, the new tasks assigned to it and guarantee its autonomy and continuity independently of the mandate of the United Nations Mission


  1. Signatory organisations:

    International Office on Human Rights - Action Colombia (OIDHACO) ABColombia
    Action des chrétiens pour
    l’abolition de la torture (ACAT)

  2. Atelier

  3. Broederlijk Delen
    Brot für die Welt
    Comité catholique contre la faim et pour le développement-Terre Solidaire (CCFD-Terre Solidaire) Coordinación Colombia-Europa-Estados Unidos (CCEEU)
    Christian Aid
    Cooperació
    Diakonia
    Fokus
    Forum Syd
    Fundación Sueca para los Derechos Humanos
    International Caravana of Jurists - Colombian Caravana UK Lawyers Group
    Justicia por Colombia
    kolko
    Misereor
    Mundubat
    Operation 1325
    World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
    Plataforma Suiza por Colombia
    Réseau France Colombie Solidarités
    Rete italiana di solidarietà Colombia vive!
    Soldepaz Pachakuti
    Solidarité Socialiste
    Swedish Church
    SweFOR


1 GIL, Andrés, “Enemigos de la paz – Basta ya”, en Semana, November 22, available at: http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/judicial/no-cesa-el-fuego-contra-lideres-sociales-articulo-667771.
2 Ibid GIL, Andrés.
3 RUBIANO , María Paula, “No cesa el fuego contra líderes sociales”, in El Espectador; November 27, 2016, available at: http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/judicial/no-cesa-el-fuego-contra-lideres-sociales-articulo-667771.
4 Ibid. RUBIANO, María Paula.

5 We are Defenders Program (Programa Somos Defensores), “¿Este es el fin? Informe enero-junio de 2016. Sistema de Información sobre Agresiones contra defensores y defensoras de DD.HH. en Colombia - SIADDHH. . p.56, 2016, available at: http://somosdefensores.org/attachments/article/140/este-es-el-fin-informe-semestral-2016.pdf.

6 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Annual report on the situation of human rights in Colombia, (A/HRC/28/3/Add.3), March 15, available at: http://www.hchr.org.co/documentoseinformes/informes/altocomisionado/informe_anual_2015.pdf.

Properties

Date: December 12, 2016
Activity: Monitoring Protection Mechanisms
Type: Statements
Country: Colombia
Subjects: Human Rights Defenders, Justice system, Police, Military and Paramilitary, Summary executions, extrajudicial killings, Threats, intimidation and harassment

Share this

Tweet

Related articles

  • Colombia:  Joint Statement to European authorities about the situation of MRVA and the areas around Hidroituango
    Urgent Interventions / May 22, 2018
  • Colombia:  Preliminary findings of an international fact-finding mission - No peace for human rights defenders
    Urgent Interventions / July 19, 2017
  • Colombia:  Various attacks against members of Congreso de los Pueblos
    Urgent Interventions / April 14, 2017
  • Colombia:  Inquietante aumento de los asesinatos en contra de líderes sociales y defensores de derechos humanos en Colombia
    Urgent Interventions / December 7, 2016
  • Colombia:  Rechazo a las amenazas del paramilitarismo en contra del movimiento social y ambientalista en Colombia
    Urgent Interventions / December 2, 2016
  • Colombia:  En Colombia hay solo un camino: la paz y el respeto a los derechos humanos
    Statements / October 7, 2016

Languages

This page is available in:

English
French
Spanish


You can also translate it on the fly:

Recently Viewed Articles

OMCT International Secretariat
PO Box 21, 8, rue du Vieux-Billard, CH-1211 Geneva 8, Switzerland
Tel: + 41 22 809 4939
Fax: + 41 22 809 4929
E-mail:
OMCT Europe
Rue Franklin 111
1000 Brussels
Tel. / Fax: +32 2 218 37 19
E-mail:
OMCT TUNIS
3, Rue Hassen Ibn Nooman
Cité Jardins | Tunis 1002
Tel: +216 71 791 114
Fax: +216 71 791 115
E-mail:
  • Blog
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Rss
  • Privacy Policy