The International Office for Human Rights Action on Colombia

Colombia and the United Nations

What we do

Colombia and the United Nations

Colombia and the United Nations

According to the international pacts, conventions and protocols signed and ratified by the Colombian government and that underpin the United Nations Human Rights System, the Colombian government has international obligations to guarantee comprehensive respect for human rights.

The United Nations has different mechanisms to monitor respect for human rights in Colombia. Based in Geneva, the United Nations Human Rights Council conducts a Universal Periodic Review every four years which makes recommendations on human rights matters. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) produces an annual report on Colombia. The United Nations special procedures are also able to produce recommendations and reports on Colombia according to their mandates.

Several United Nations bodies are present in Colombia in the shape of the OHCHR, which has been operating in the country since 1996 and whose mandate runs until 2022. The office monitors the human rights situation in the country, provides technical assistance, verifies the murders of human rights defenders and other attacks they suffer, and monitors the human rights impacts of the implementation of the Peace Accord. Additionally, the mandate of the United Nations Verification Mission established by the Security Council is to verify the the implementation of Peace Accord in terms of the economic, social and political reincorporation and security guarantees for former combatants and operations against criminal activities and organisations. The Special representative of  the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia presents reports and recommendations to the Security Council every three months. A  number of United Nations thematic cooperation agencies also operate in the country, including United Nations Women, the United Nations Development Programme and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees which also play an essential role in ensuring respect for and implementation of human rights.

Oidhaco carries out advocacy activities before the United Nations, in particular the Human Rights Council in which it participates, informing member states about the human rights situation in Colombia and requesting interventions or actions in favour of human rights and peace in the Colombia. Oidhaco makes oral presentations during sessions of the Human Rights Council on matters related to Colombia, and organises parallel events on the country. It also provides information to the United Nations special mechanisms and participates in the reviews of Colombia carried out by the treaty bodies and as part of the Universal Periodic Review.  

Oidhaco’s communications activities seek to influence political targets through the production of informative articles, a range of advocacy materials and press releases on the situation in Colombia.

Oidhaco carries out all of these activities in coordination with the members of the network.

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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