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Accompaniment, International Observation, Visits to organisational headquarters

- Days present alongside human rights defenders:

735 384 602

2019: (568 + 56 + 111) 2020: (292 + 8 + 84) 2021: (468 + 18 + 116)

- Accompaniment requests accepted:

83,20% 74,86% 79,93%

2019 2020 2021

- Distribution of accompaniment of women and men

35,42% 29,85% 48,84%

40,07% 50,75% 47,44% 27,48% 19,40% 3,72%

2019 2020 2021

Social unrest amid socio-political violence and humanitarian crises

2021 was a year marked by the fierce crackdown on social protest1 which saw the harassment, criminalisation and persecution of demonstrators and human rights defenders. Likewise, the worsening of the armed conflict resulted in an alarming increase in displacement and forced confinement, and 96 massacres2, in which 335 people were killed. The result of this violence triggered numerous humanitarian crises throughout the Colombian territory. Five years after the signing of the Peace Accords between the FARC-EP and the government of Juan Manuel Santos (only 28% of which has been implemented3), the struggle for territorial control by the illegal armed groups and the lack of a fully integrated state presence has resulted in heightened levels of violence in the territories. As highlighted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights during the 49th session of the Human Rights Council, 2021 saw an increase in violence, particularly against the indigenous and Afro-descendant population4 . In this context, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has reported that at least five armed conflicts continue to exist in Colombia in 20215 . Similarly, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) highlighted that forced displacement increased by 181% in 2021 compared to the previous year6 . In addition to the departure of around 73,900 people from their territories, particularly in the departments of Chocó, Cauca, Nariño and Norte de Santander, 65,700 people were confined within their communities, 95% of them indigenous and Afrodescendant7 . Due to this mounting violence, more than 160 ethnic and rural communities, supported by the Church8, international organisations9 and civil society organisations10, have been calling for Global Humanitarian Agreements11 since March 2020. These agreements would signify the end to hostilities and open up new dialogues which would include the participation of the many armed actors present in the territories. The communities did not receive a response12 to these requests during 2021, nor did the Colombian government adopt the relevant measures to curb the structural causes of the armed conflict13 . In October 2021, President Iván Duque and Defence Minister Diego Molano celebrated what they called the ‘final blow’14 to the paramilitary group Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia (AGC), the largest paramilitary succesor group in the country, following the capture of Dairo Antonio Úsuga, alias ‘Otoniel’, their most senior member. However, until progress is made in the implementation of the National Commission for Security Guarantees (CNGS)15, one of the key elements of the Peace Accords, the entire structure of the group will likely continue to carry out violence in the many departments where they are present. Three years on, there has been little to no effective progress in the elaboration and implementation of a public policy to dismantle the illegal armed groups, a key part of the mandate of the CNGS16 . On the contrary, militarisation of the territories continues, which, instead of contributing to improving the security situation, generates additional risks for the civilian population. Under the present government alone, there have been reports of 36 bombings carried out by the security forces, in which 22 minors have been killed17 . It is precisely in the most militarised regions where numerous reports of alleged links between members of the security forces and illegal armed actors have been uncovered18 .

In recent years, the organisations Front Line Defenders19 and Global Witness20 have consistently ranked Colombia as the country with the highest number of murders of environmental and human rights defenders in the world21. According to data from the Colombian Ombudsman’s Office, 145 human rights defenders murdered22 were murdered in 2021 alone.

For its part, at the end of last year, the Colombian government approved a public policy for the prevention and protection of human rights defenders (Conpes 4063)23 . However, unfortunately the policy was drafted without the participation of civil society organisations. According to the Coordination Colombia Europe United States (CCEEU)24, a platform that brings together 281 human rights organisations, this policy does not identify or foresee actions to tackle the structural causes of violence against human rights defenders. Instead, the proposals continue to prioritises military response as a protection measure, ignoring the mechanisms laid out in the Peace Accords. As a result, it has failed to address the escalation of crimes against human rights defenders.

In 2021, Colombia also experienced a brutal crackdown on social protest. On 28 April, thousands of people came out to protest, initially against a proposed tax reform that the government tried to impose on citizens amidst a social crisis which had already been exacerbated by the pandemic.

The protests, which were dubbed the National Strike, lasted until 21 July and ended up encompassing wider social discontent over the lack of implementation of the Peace Accord and the persistence of sociopolitical violence in the country. The repression of the protest resulted in 89 homicides, 36 of which were allegedly committed by state agents from the Police and Mobile Anti-Riot Squads (ESMAD)25 . According to the Colombian Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office26, 1905 people were injured, 326 human rights defenders attacked and 3365 people detained, many of them arbitrarily. 833 women were victims of police violence and 106 victims of genderbased violence carried out by state agents. These attacks were primarily carried out against women and people of diverse sexual and gender identities and included 23 cases of sexual violence. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) concluded that the use of force by the State had been both excessive and disproportionate, and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia (OHCHR)27 also concluded that there had been unnecessary or disproportionate use of force by police officers, in particular by members of the National Police’s Mobile Anti-Riot Squad (ESMAD). At present, relatives of victims of police abuses who are legitimately pursuing justice for their loved ones, and who are being accompanied by defence organisations, are being followed and subjected to illegal intelligence gathering28, among other acts of aggression.

Furthermore, there has been an alarming increase in the practice of forced disappearances and the misuse of justice against those who demonstrated. This includes an increase in prosecutions against civilians, which have particularly targetted young people from the so-called “Front Lines” who were those who led the protests in different parts of the country.

In the wake of repeated appeals from the international community, the government eventually announced reforms to the police force. On 20 July 2021, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of the Interior presented two bills to Congress, both of which were approved in December29 . These reforms have been widely criticised by Colombian organisations, who claim they are insufficient to prevent and punish human rights violations and police abuses30 . In particular, they do not include fundamental reforms demanded by civil society, such as the separation of the police force from the Ministry of Defence, the implementation of an external control mechanism for the police, specific reforms to the Mobile AntiRiot Squad (ESMAD) and the abolition of the military criminal justice system. At the time of writing this report in June 2021, there remains a telling lack of progress and results in the criminal and disciplinary investigations against members of the police involved in human rights violations during the protests, unsurprising in a country whose levels of impunity continue to be worryingly high31 .

1. United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights: Lecciones Aprendidas, Paro Nacional Colombia, 2021, Juliette de Rivero, Representante de la Alta Comisionada, 15 December, 2021. 2. Indepaz: Masacres en Colombia durante 2020, 2021 y 2022, 25 May, 2022. 3. Open democracy: Cinco años del Acuerdo de Paz en Colombia: un flagrante incumplimiento, 13 October, 2021. 4. United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights: Declaración de Michelle Bachelet, Alta Comisionada de las Naciones Unidas para los Derechos Humanos, 8 March, 2022. 5. ICRC: El conflicto armado en Colombia: un dolor que no se va, 17 March, 2021. 6. Infoabe: Desplazamiento forzado en Colombia aumentó un 181 % en 2021,14 February, 2022. 7. El Espectador: El desplazamiento forzado aumentó 181 % en 2021 | EL ESPECTADOR, 5 March 2022. 8. El Tiempo: Iglesia pide al Estado actuar ante crisis humanitaria en Chocó y Antioquia, 19 November, 2021. 9. Noticias ONU: El llamado al alto el fuego mundial para ayudar a contener el coronavirus empieza a tener repercusión, 23 March, 2020. 10. Protection International: Organizaciones Internacionales de Sociedad Civil respaldan el llamamiento al Acuerdo Humanitario Global de las Naciones Unidas y el llamado de Misión ONU Colombia por un cese al fuego y piden que se proteja la vida de todas las personas en condición de vulnerabilidad en medio de la pandemia, 3 April, 2020. 11. Comisión de Justicia y Paz: CartAbierta 2 Salud, alimentación, agua URGENTE y respuesta a ACUERDO HUMANITARIO GLOBALCOVID19, 9 April, 2020. 12. Somos Génesis: CartAbierta 36 – A 5 años de otro Acuerdo de Paz, 23 November, 2021. 13. El Tiempo: Asesinato de defensores de DD. HH. subió 18 % frente a 2020, según ONU, 14 January, 2022. 14. BBC: Otoniel: detienen a Dairo Antonio Úsuga, el narcotraficante más buscado de Colombia y jefe del Clan del Golfo, 23 October, 2021. 15. Where delegates from civil society participate alongside the competent state authorities. 16. El Espectador: Acción de cumplimiento contra el Gobierno para que implemente el Acuerdo de Paz, 24 November, 2021. 17. El Espectador: Durante el gobierno Duque han muerto 22 niños y jóvenes en bombardeos: Cepeda, 23 November, 2021. 18. El Espectador: Iglesia católica denuncia vínculos del Estado con paramilitares en Chocó, 25 February, 2022. 19. Frontline Defenders: Global Analysis 2021, 25 February, 2022. 20. DW: Global Witness: Colombia es el país con más asesinatos de ambientalistas, 13 September, 2021. 21. Semana: Colombia, el país más letal para defender derechos humanos: Amnistía Internacional (semana.com) , 20 November, 2021. 22. Defensoría del Pueblo (@DefensoriaCol): tweet, 8 January 2022. 23. CONPES: Política Pública de Garantías y Respeto a la Labor de Defensa de los Derechos Humanos y el Liderazgo Social, 6 December, 2021. 24. CCEEUU (@coeuropa): Tweet, 14 February, 2022. 25. Campaña Defender la Libertad: El sometimiento de la democracia: Un balance del derecho a la protesta social en Colombia en el año 2021, 16 December, 2021. El País: Protestas en Cali: la ONU pide a Colombia que se investigue a los Policías que escoltaron a civiles armados mientras disparaban a manifestantes, 31 May, 2021. 26. Campaña Defender la Libertad: BOLETÍN INFORMATIVO NACIONAL 21:#PARONACIONAL, 22 de julio de 2021. 27. United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights: in Colombia: El Paro Nacional 2021: Lecciones aprendidas para el ejercicio del derecho de reunión pacífica en Colombia , 27 May, 2022. 28. It is worth noting that, to date, no significant progress has been made in the investigations into the multiple scandals surrounding state intelligence operations carried out by the Army and Attorney General’s Office, which were uncovered between 2019 and 2020. 29. Law 2179 of 30 December 2021 “Whereby the category of police patrol officers is created, rules are established related to the special career scheme for uniformed personnel of the national police are, the law of professionalisation for the public police service is strengthened and other provisions are enacted” and Bill No. 033-Senate/219Chamber of 2021 “Whereby the Police Disciplinary Statute is enacted”. 30. Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo: Colombia: Brutalidad policial contra manifestantes, 10 June, 2020. 31. Fundación Paz y Reconciliación: La impunidad en Colombia, una realidad alarmante, 15 October, 2019.