According to the most recent report from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Colombia experienced 98 massacres in 2023. This harrowing number marks a 6.5% increase from the previous year amid the ongoing armed conflict in the country. In a report released by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Bogotá on Wednesday, “the expansion of territorial control and violent strategies by non-state armed groups and criminal organizations continues, with serious consequences for human rights,” expressed Juliette De Rivero, the representative of the UN Human Rights in Colombia.
Despite some reduction in violence indicators, the situation remains challenging for almost 25 percent of all Colombian townships. The UN Human Rights identified 206 municipalities impacted by violence in 2023, spanning 28 out of 32 departments. The territorial expansion of violence in 2023 was compared to 156 municipalities in 2021 and 180 in 2022. “The consolidation of power by these groups poses a risk to governance and the protection of human rights,” warned Juliette De Rivero.
The UN representative highlighted that peace talks with illegal armed groups must “permit the integral respect of the rights of the population”. In 2023, the UN verified 105 cases of homicides of human rights defenders, with 14 women, 87 men, one non-binary person, 2 gay men, and one transgender woman among the victims. Although there was a 9.5% decrease compared to 2022, violence against human rights defenders reached the highest worldwide. “Cauca is identified as the department with the highest level of violence against human rights defenders (25 cases)” noted the detailed report.
Threats and violations against indigenous and Afro communities, the deliberate destruction of leadership and the undermining of community structures, as well as growing numbers in child recruitment, are among the many issues that are putting Colombia’s governance at risk.
“There is a latent threat. The dynamic has changed. They (illegal armed groups) want to absorb communities and remove social leaderships,” expressed de Rivero. “Armed groups aim to become political actors. That’s why they don’t want autonomous communities,” highlighted the UN report. “At this moment, the groups want to negotiate but not show the violations or the violence they commit.”
The UN Human Rights Office has received allegations of 763 cases of threats and other violations against the human rights of defenders, indicating a larger number of cases throughout the country. “The report acknowledges a decrease in some violence indicators, but it underscores the continued territorial expansion and violent strategies of non-state armed groups and criminal organizations.”
