Colombia +20, El Espectador, February 24, 2025
(Translated by Eunice Gibson, CSN Volunteer Translator)
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has produced an X-ray of the problems resulting from the armed conflict Colombia has had during 2024. The report will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council next March 3.
The annual report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia (ACNUDH) was presented in Bogotá this Monday. It analyzes the impact of the violence in the countryside and the damage done to the communities by the armed conflict in 2024.
The report comes out just in the weeks when the country is confronting very difficult scenarios regarding public order and armed conflict in departments like Chocó, Norte de Santander, and Sur de Bolívar, that are facing a humanitarian crisis not seen for some years.
According to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the presence of armed groups in the countryside has been one of the country’s worst problems, as the activities by these organizations lead to consequences like extreme poverty and make it difficult to access fundamental human rights such as health, education, and housing.
The report also states that the armed conflict has brought a humanitarian crisis that’s reflected in more than 51,000 people being displaced and having to leave their homes in 2024, and in more than 138,000 being confined throughout the year. According to the report, the problem of confinement has increased by 58% in comparison with 2023, with the indigenous peoples and Afro-descendant peoples being the communities harmed the most.
The harm done to children in Colombia
One of the most extensive sections in the report issued by the UN Office has to do with the damage being done to the boys, girls, and adolescents of Colombia by the armed conflict.
The UN pointed out that there had been 216 cases of recruitment by the armed groups, which is worse than in 2023. Besides that, the document issued by the organization for the defense of human rights expressed its concern about the practices being used in the framework of forced recruitment.
“Several victims reported having been subjected to physical punishment, having been used to recruit other children, and being threatened after they leave the group,” reads the report.
The killing of boys and girls in the war is not the only violence carried out against children. The report also recounts threats against schools and how the fighting between the groups sometimes takes place near schools. It also includes examples of children being hurt by land mines.
“In Caquetá, in August, a 10-year-old girl lost her foot when she stepped on a land mine on the road between her house and her school. That event led to an interruption of classes, interfering with the right to education,” the UN Office criticized.
What does the report say about Petro’s “Total Peace”?
The report issued by ACNUDH also takes a look at Gustavo Petro’s policy of “Total Peace” and states that, “it continues to be an objective to generate activities that are more connected among the Ministries and more effective,” and adds that cooperation between the national government and the regional and local governments is needed to strengthen governance.
Besides that, the report emphasizes that there is great interest in the progress of the negotiations, but one of the government’s priorities has to be implementing the strategies for protecting the civilian population in the countryside.
With regard to security policy, the document points out that there are still important challenges in the countryside because of a “lack of inter-agency cooperation around specific implementation strategies.”
The implementation of the 2016 Peace Agreement is also part of the report furnished by the UN Office. It highlights the creation of an action plan that was announced by former Interior Minister Juan Fernando Cristo.
The ethnic chapter of the Agreement was one of the most extensive sections of the document. It states that there has been some progress in accomplishment of the goals adopted after the signing of the Peace Agreement, but that the progress is still insufficient.
“ACNUDH has observed that the Awá people in Nariño, the Nukak and Jiw peoples in Guaviare, the Hitnü and the 13 to 15 peoples that live in Putumayo continue to be disproportionately impacted by the conflict and by the illegal economies,” states the report regarding the impacts of the the armed conflict on the indigenous peoples.
Finally, the UN Office furnished a series of recommendations in which the main emphasis was on the protection of children, the elimination of forced recruitment, the advancement of planning for the countryside, and the implementation of the Peace Agreement.