HRC59: In Colombia, the promise of lasting peace faces persistent challenges

During the annual thematic debate on technical cooperation and capacity building in the field of human rights in Colombia, held on 3-4 July 2025, the Colombian State, the Office of the High Commissioner, several States and human rights defenders took the floor to give their impressions on the report published by the High Commissioner on the technical support provided to Colombia for the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence and Non-Repetition.

In the interactive dialogue, Maarit Kohonen Sheriff, Director of OHCHR’s Global Operations Division, presented the High Commissioner’s report and spoke about the work done by the OHCHR office in Colombia on cooperation monitoring and strategic support. Kohonen explained that since the end of 2023 they have had difficulties in fulfilling their mandate due to the liquidity crisis, which concretely means that they will close three field offices: Medellín, Neiva and Villavicencio. Kohonen stressed that these cuts are already affecting the most vulnerable populations in the region, as they have had to reduce their technical cooperation with the police on excessive use of force. ‘The Indigenous women we have been working with have literally cried when they saw that our office in Neiva was closed’, Kohonen continued, ‘you are the only ones who can help us recover our children from the clutches of armed groups’. Kohonen listed some of the impacts of the liquidity crisis, as well as the consequences of the armed groups’ control, which particularly affect women, children, Afrodescendants, Indigenous Peoples and peasants. At the end of the presentation, Kohonen called on the international community to ‘ensure adequate support to the OHCHR so that it can continue to play the unique and essential role it is playing in Colombia’. In this regard, the representative of Colombia, Gustavo Gallón, stressed that the OHCHR office had been particularly valuable in the implementation of the transitional justice mechanisms such as Special Jurisdiction for Peace and the Unit for the Search of Disappeared Persons. Other countries such as Austria, the Plurinational State of Bolivia and Spain took the floor to reiterate their support for Colombia on its path to peace and acknowledged that violence, including enforced disappearances and killings, continue to occur. 

Laura Restrepo, a woman human rights defender from Colombia, echoed the concerns expressed by many of the countries who took the floor, as well as the High Commissioner’s report, when she mentioned: ‘The promise of a comprehensive State presence and lasting peace continues to face persistent challenges. Despite multiple national plans, illegal armed groups continue to control territories, directly affecting ethnic and peasant communities as well as human rights defenders’. In her direct and powerful statement, Restrepo expressed concern that coordination between national policies and local authorities remains weak, perpetuating inequalities and hindering the effective implementation of the Peace Agreement. In addition, Restrepo called on the Human Rights Council to help clarify the links between business actors – including investors and State contractors – and human rights violations. This specific demand was not included in the recommendations of the High Commissioner’s report, demonstrating the relevance of civil society perspectives in developing proposals to address the situation in Colombia.

Watch and read the full statement below:

Text in English: 

In Colombia, the promise of a comprehensive State presence and a lasting peace continues to face persistent challenges. Despite multiple national plans, illegal armed groups still control territories, directly affecting ethnic and peasant communities, as well as human rights defenders.

From the territories, we observe with concern that coordination between national policies and local authorities remains weak or non-existent, perpetuating historical inequalities and hindering the effective implementation of the Peace Agreement.

An additional and alarming gap remains: to this day, the links between business interests, large-scale development projects, and human rights violations — including threats, forced displacements, and killings of social leaders — have not been fully clarified.

We call on the Colombian State to establish mandatory mechanisms for coordination between national and territorial governments, with clear resources and international monitoring, to ensure that policies on security, peace, and human rights yield real results in the most affected areas.

We demand effective guarantees for the meaningful participation of ethnic communities and social organisations in the design and evaluation of these policies. Participation must not be symbolic; it must be impactful, with decision-making power.

Finally, we urge this Council to promote the establishment of an international monitoring mechanism to independently and transparently clarify the links between corporate actors — including investors and State contractors — and human rights violations in Colombia.