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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