The International Office for Human Rights Action on Colombia

Day: 11 December 2025

In Chocó, risks to communities and grassroots organizational processes worsen under the control exercised by the self-proclaimed Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia and the absence of the State

by

Oidhaco once again expresses[1] its concern regarding the situation faced by ethnic and peasant communities of the Lower Atrato, department of Chocó. In this department, the humanitarian crisis continues to deepen. According to OCHA[2], between January and September 2025, Chocó has been one of the regions most affected by the armed conflict, registering severe mobility restrictions due to armed strikes, attacks against the civilian population, limitations on humanitarian access, and constant risks for humanitarian personnel and assets. During this period, Chocó concentrated around 32% of the country’s confined population, reflecting a sustained deterioration in security conditions and a lack of guarantees for Afro-descendant, Indigenous, and peasant communities.

In this context, we call for urgent action regarding the specific situation of the Lower Atrato (Bajo Atrato in Spanish), an area heavily controlled by the successor group of paramilitarism self-proclaimed as the Gaitanista Army of Colombia (EGC).

  • To urge the Government of Colombia to guarantee transparency in the process carried out with the self-proclaimed EGC, as well as to ensure the effective and safeguarded participation and direct engagement of the communities that have inhabited and resisted in these territories for decades, ensuring that their concerns and priorities are incorporated into any planned negotiation route or de-escalation measures.
  • To urge the Government of Colombia, particularly the Counsellor Commissioner for Peace, to immediately share what monitoring mechanism is envisioned for tracking the progress of this group’s process; and which civilian and military authorities are responsible for on-the-ground monitoring of the situation of the ethnic-peasant communities located in the area. Likewise, to specify the national and international components foreseen for such monitoring, and to what extent communities are involved. In this regard, it is also essential that Spain, Switzerland, and Norway clarify the scope of their involvement in the process.
  • To call on national and territorial state authorities to adopt immediate, coordinated, and territorially focused measures that strengthen protection, participation, and autonomy for the communities of Chocó.
See below for the full statement.

[1] Oidhaco. En las cuencas de los ríos Jiguamiandó y Curbaradó, personas defensoras de ddhh y ambiente en riesgo, May 16,2025.

[2] OCHA. Informe de Tendencias e Impacto Humanitario en 2025 | Data accumulated between January and September 2025. Oct 24, 2025.

Our solidarity is universal.

We are deeply concerned about all victims of armed conflict, repression and violence around the world — from Sudan to Syria, including the persecution of the Rohingya and so many other crises that often receive less international attention than they deserve. Each of these situations calls for solidarity, remembrance, justice and action.

However, we have decided to specifically highlight the message ‘Stop Genocide in Palestine’ because what is happening in Palestine represents not only a human tragedy of enormous magnitude, but also a direct challenge to the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law and to the rules-based international system itself. The indifference and complicity of much of the international community in the face of the apartheid regime imposed by the Israeli government on the Palestinian people represent one of the greatest moral and political contradictions of our time.

The persistent violation of essential norms — such as the protection of the civilian population, the prohibition of collective punishment and respect for proportionality in the use of force — not only has devastating consequences for the Palestinian population, but also erodes the global mechanisms designed to limit the power of states and prevent abuses.

When these rules are repeatedly breached without any effective consequences, the framework that protects all populations in conflict situations, anywhere in the world, is weakened. Therefore, speaking out in this case does not mean ignoring other forms of suffering, but rather emphasising the urgency of defending an international order which, if it collapses, leaves everyone in a more vulnerable position.

Drawing attention to this situation is, therefore, an act consistent with the universal values we uphold: the protection of life, human dignity and respect for international law, without exception.

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