The International Office for Human Rights Action on Colombia

Parliamentary question on the international monitoring of the Peace Agreement in Colombia

We would like to thank MEPs Pernando Barrena Arza (The Left), Leoluca Orlando (Verts/ALE) and Anthony Smith (The Left) for their commitment to human rights and peace in Colombia. At Oidhaco, we have insisted on the need for international monitoring of the implementation of the 2016 Peace Agreement in Colombia.


Here is the full text of the question submitted by the MEPs on 13 January, which can be found on the European Parliament’s website at this link. Social organisations will be following up on the European Commission’s response.

Reduced international monitoring of the Peace Agreement in Colombia

In June 2025, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia announced a 50% reduction in its budget, leading to the closure of three regional offices and a reduction in monitoring capabilities in a climate where violence and human rights violations are rife – let us not forget that a human rights defender is murdered every two days.

The United Nations Security Council has decided that the mandate of its verification mission in the country will not include enforcement of transitional justice sanctions and the implementation of the Agreement’s chapter on ethnic measures (only 13% of which had been implemented by November 2024).

Given the EU’s economic and political commitment to human rights and the implementation of the Agreement:

  1. What specific measures does the Commission intend to take to shore up the EU’s political and financial support for the Office of the High Commissioner?
  2. What specific measures does the Commission intend to take to shore up the EU’s political and financial support for the verification mission?
  3. What specific measures does the Commission intend to take to shore up political and financial support for civil society organisations monitoring the agreements on the ground?

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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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