Abuses by armed groups, limited access to justice, and high levels of poverty, especially among rural, Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, remain serious human rights concerns in Colombia.
The 2016 peace accord between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the government ended a five-decade-long conflict and brought an initial decline in violence. But violence took new forms and abuses, with an increased presence of armed groups in many remote areas. Two and a half years since President Gustavo Petro took office, his “total peace” strategy has achieved limited results in curbing abuses against civilians.
Colombia was elected to serve as a member of the UN Human Rights Council for the 2025-2027 term.
Abuses by Armed Groups
Numerous armed groups operate in Colombia fueled by illegal economies, including drug trafficking and illegal mining. These include the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla, a group formed in the 1960s; several “dissident” groups that emerged from the 2017 demobilization of the FARC; and the “Gulf Clan.” The latter emerged from the demobilization of paramilitary groups in the mid-2000s and is also known as the Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AGC). Many of these groups have fluid and complex links to each other, and some are parties to non-international armed conflicts.
Armed groups continue to commit serious abuses against civilians and expand their presence across the country. Security forces and judicial authorities have often failed to effectively protect the population, ensure victims’ access to justice, and meaningfully investigate and dismantle criminal groups. As of June, the Gulf Clan had a presence in 392 municipalities; the ELN, in 232; and the “dissident” groups of the FARC, in 299. These figures represent an increase of 55 percent, 23 percent, and 30 percent, respectively, compared to 2022.
The Ombudsperson’s Office reported 159 cases of child recruitment in the first half of 2024 compared to 184 throughout 2023. Recruited children are frequently members of Indigenous communities.
Over 71,000 people were prevented from leaving their communities, a situation known as “confinement,” between January and July, a 39 percent increase compared to the same period in 2023. Fears of antipersonnel landmines, threats by armed groups, and the hazards of crossfire persisted.
In the western and southwestern states of Chocó, Cauca, and Nariño, fighting among the military and armed groups displaced more than 34,000 people, between January and July, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Violations by Public Security Forces
Since President Petro took office in August 2022, Colombia has seen a decrease in the number of reported violations by security forces. However, accountability for past abuses and reforms to ensure non-repetition remain limited.
In July, prosecutors charged 24 members of the Army with the killing of 11 civilians during a March 2022 operation in Alto Remanso, Putumayo state, in southern Colombia. The Constitutional Court rejected, in April, a request by defense lawyers to transfer the case to the military courts, which have historically failed to ensure justice.
While the ministry of defense reformed protocols related to the use of force and suspended some police officers responsible for abuses, it has failed to introduce broader reforms, including to limit the jurisdiction of the military justice system over investigations into human rights violations committed by security forces and to move the police out of the purview of the Ministry of Defense to ensure separation between the roles of the police and military.
Violence against Human Rights Defenders and Other People at Risk
Between January and August, OHCHR received 138 allegations of killings of human rights defenders and social leaders, mostly of people defending community rights, compared to 157 in the same period in 2023. As of September, three social leaders have been killed each week, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
Colombia has a broad range of policies, mechanisms, and laws to prevent abuses against human rights defenders and other people at higher risk, including demobilized FARC combatants. But implementation of these measures has often been poor.
In a case brought by Colombian human rights groups, the Constitutional Court ordered in December 2023 broad government action to protect human rights defenders and hold those responsible for their killings to account. The court found that government action fell short of addressing these “persistent, grave and widespread” violations and described the situation as an “unconstitutional state of affairs.”
Peace Negotiations, Negotiated Disarmament, and Accountability
The 2016 peace agreement established a plan to reduce rural poverty, increase citizen participation, disarm and reintegrate former FARC combatants, sever links between drug trafficking and political violence, and address victims’ rights through transitional justice measures. Despite President’s Petro support of the peace agreement, its implementation remains elusive.
The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) has made significant strides in investigating and prosecuting war crimes and crimes against humanity, charging top former FARC commanders and several army officers. Investigations of kidnapping, extrajudicial executions and child recruitment cases continued in 2024.
Defendants who fully cooperate with the JEP and confess to their crimes are subject to up to eight years of “special sanctions,” including effective restriction of liberty but no prison time. The JEP has yet to convict and sentence any individual or clarify how the retributive component of the “special sanctions” will operate in practice to assure its compliance with international law.
The first adversarial trial before the JEP began in September against Colonel Hernán Mejía Gutiérrez for “war crimes and crimes against humanity” related to the extrajudicial killings of 72 people in the northern state of Cesar. In 2013, he was sentenced by the ordinary criminal justice system to 19 years in prison for colluding with paramilitary groups.
Throughout 2024, the government continued to negotiate with the ELN guerrilla, a coalition of FARC dissident groups self-referred to as Estado Mayor Central (EMC) and Segunda Marquetalia, and other armed groups, including the Gulf Clan, as part of its “total peace” policy. The government announced several cease-fires with these groups, but the preparations and monitoring were insufficient, and in many cases armed groups failed to comply. The government also expressed its interest in negotiating new transitional justice mechanisms with these groups.
Internal Displacement, Reparations, and Land Restitution
OCHA reported that more than 121,000 people were victims of “mass” or “individual” forced displacement between January and July, with “mass displacements” defined as the displacement of 50 or more people or 10 or more families.
Municipalities and state governments often lack sufficient funding to assist displaced people, and national government assistance has often been slow and insufficient.
Around 16 percent of more than 9.7 million registered victims of the armed conflict had received reparations as of August.
Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Migrants
As of September, more than 2.9 million Venezuelans lived in Colombia; 2 million of them had been granted temporary protection that provides them 10 years of legal status, out of roughly 2.5 million who had requested it.
In September, the government passed a decree allowing guardians and custodians of Venezuelan children holding a Temporary Protection Permit (Permiso por Protección Temporal, PPT) to obtain a Guardian Special Stay Permit (Permiso Especial de Permanencia, PEP-TUTOR).
Hundreds of thousands of migrants crossed Colombia’s Darién Gap into Panama in 2024, in most cases believed to be headed to the United States. During their days-long walk across the perilous jungle, migrants and asylum seekers of all nationalities are frequently victims of robbery and serious abuses, including rape. The government lacks a clear strategy to safeguard their rights, which leaves them with little security, aid, or access to justice.
Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking
Women and girls are subjects of human trafficking. This particularly affects Venezuelan migrants and refugees and Afro-Colombian communities in departments such as Antioquia, Norte de Santander and Cundinamarca and the Capital District.
According to the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, criminal organizations and armed groups are “heavily engaged” in these activities. Access to legal aid, safe accommodations, long-term assistance and compensation is limited.
Many women and girls also experience sexual exploitation, including in so-called “webcam houses,” facing labor abuses and unsanitary conditions.
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
Despite constitutional protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people continue to face high levels of violence and discrimination. According to figures from the NGO Colombia Diversa published in July, 159 LGBT people were killed in 2023, including 32 possibly based on prejudice. In February, the Attorney General’s Office created a unit to investigate crimes motivated by a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
High levels of poverty, especially among rural, Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, remain a serious human rights concern.
The 2016 peace accord established “Territorial Development Programs” (PDET) to increase the presence of state institutions in 170 municipalities highly affected by the armed conflict, poverty, and illegal economies, such as drug trafficking. According to figures released by the government in April, the multidimensional poverty rate in these areas (23.7 percent) was almost double the national rate (12.1 percent) in 2023. Efforts to implement the PDET have been limited.
Climate Policy and Impacts
In September, the government ratified the Escazú Agreement, a regional accord that shores up protection for ecosystems and their defenders. The ratification came after the Constitutional Court ruled in August that the agreement, approved by Congress in 2022, was consistent with Colombia’s Constitution.
Colombia’s national plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is “insufficient” to meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, according to the latest assessment of the Climate Action Tracker. The plan commits Colombia to reducing deforestation to 50,000 hectares per year by 2030. Colombia subsequently joined the Glasgow Declaration, which commits it to “halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030.”
In the first quarter of 2024, the government registered an increase of 40 percent in deforestation compared to the same period in 2023. According to government figures, 79,000 hectares of land were deforested in 2023, a 36 percent decrease compared to 2022, the lowest figure in decades.
Cattle ranchers and FARC dissident groups were major drivers of deforestation, pressuring residents to cut down trees, extorting farmers, promoting coca crops to produce cocaine, or threatening people who defend conservation. Halting deforestation was an agenda item in the “total peace” negotiations.
Freedom of Expression
According to Reporters Without Borders, Colombia remained one of the most dangerous countries for journalists. The Office of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression documented the killing of at least five journalists, between January and July.
The president continued to use social media to stigmatize journalists and media outlets perceived as critics of his government. In September, he issued a presidential instruction aimed at all officials of the executive branch to guarantee a safe environment for freedom of expression and journalists, including by avoiding stigmatizing statements, yet failed to comply with it during the launching event.