Contribution to the examination of Colombia’s seventh periodic report to the United Nations Human Rights Committee

Based on the results of Lawyers Without Boders Canada’s analysis of the Final Peace Agreement, we present to the Committee concerns and recommendations to regarding compliance of judicial mechanisms accessible to victims of serious human rights violations and/or serious IHL infractions with the Colombian State’s obligations under the ICCPR. This report focuses especially on the manner in which the selection and prioritization criteria of the criminal proceedings and the principle of legality should be addressed, the form in which the crimes associated with political crimes would be dealt with for the purposes of amnesties or pardons, the conditions for assessing the criminal responsibility of perpetrators, as well as proposed alternative punishments.

Based on monitoring conducted by Lawyers Without Borders Canada in displaced communities of the Collective Territory of Curvaradó, we present to the Committee the serious precariousness in which the inhabitants find themselves, and the obstacles they encounter in accessing an effective remedy. In particular, the Colombian State has not guaranteed the return of victimized communities, the territory is occupied by third parties, and claimants report that death threats and attacks against them continue.

Download the report