In the presentation of the annual report on Colombia before the UN Human Rights Council, he highlighted that since the signing of the Peace Agreement in 2016 between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP) and the executive significant steps for the consolidation of peace, democracy and political participation.
Particularly, the demobilization of the extinct FARC-EP and its constitution as a political party, as well as the creation of the 16 seats for peace in Congress for the victims of the armed conflict, he added.
In this regard, he called for the government to guarantee the right to participate in the legislative elections next Sunday and the presidential elections in May, “in an environment free of threats and violence.”
On the other hand, Bachelet celebrated the very important developments in transitional justice achieved by the Truth Commission, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace and the Search Unit for Persons Given as Disappeared.
He stressed that, despite these advances, many challenges remain and added that his Office observed an increase in violence against rural communities and social leaders in Colombia during 2021, due to the territorial expansion of armed groups and criminal gangs, he denounced.
Indigenous peoples and Afro-descendant communities have been highly impacted by this violence, he noted.
He added that the office he directs documented 78 massacres, 100 homicides of human rights defenders and 54 of former FARC-EP combatants.
He called for the Government to urgently establish a more comprehensive presence of civil state authorities in the territories most affected by this violence.
“In addition, it is urgent that the Government adopt, in consultation with civil society, a policy of dismantling criminal organizations and strengthen its response to early warnings from the Ombudsman’s Office,” he said.
He added that last year, his office documented 54 cases of “arbitrary deprivation of life” by the security forces, including 28 due to the “unnecessary or disproportionate use of force” during the National Strike protests that began on April 28. of 2021.
“I encourage the government to implement the recommendations of the report published by my office in December 2021, including the necessary police reform, and to guarantee the right to peaceful assembly by strictly respecting international standards on the use of force. », exhorted Bachelet.
He also urged the country’s authorities to redouble efforts to guarantee land to the victims of the armed conflict and the implementation of the comprehensive rural reform contemplated in the Peace Agreement.
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