Links to long-form information about peace, security, and human rights in Colombia
Publicado por Semana el 24 de febrero de 2020.
Discussions with victims in the Antioquia town where investigators from the JEP are unearthing scores of bodies believed to be the victims of “false positive” killings committed by Colombia’s army.
Publicado por Semana el 16 de febrero de 2020.
An in-depth look at the security and human rights situation in Chocó, where Afro-descendant and indigenous communities are caught amid fighting between the ELN and the Gulf Clan.
Publicado por El Colombiano el 12 de febrero de 2020.
A look at the Colombian security forces’ five-year campaign against the Gulf Clan paramilitary organization in northwestern Colombia.
Publicado por CERAC el 12 de febrero de 2020.
CERAC, a Bogotá-based think-tank with an extensive database of conflict information, finds a 33 percent reduction in political killings from 2018 to 2019, despite an increase in threats.
Published by WOLA on February 11, 2020.
Colombia is nearing re-initiation of a suspended, U.S.-backed program of spraying herbicides from aircraft over coca-growing zones. This report evaluates this strategy according to six criteria.
Publicado por la Fundación Paz y Reconciliación, 10 de febrero de 2020.
A detailed overview of the security situation at the Colombia-Venezuela border.
Publicado por la Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa, 8 de febrero de 2020.
An annual report on the state of press freedom in Colombia by the Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa.
Published by WOLA on February 7, 2020.
Since our last report on January 9, WOLA received the following cases of concern.
Publicado por la Oficina de las Naciones Unidas Contra la Droga y el Delito el 4 de febrero de 2020.
A detailed update, as of October 31, 2019, on the state of the Colombian government’s illicit crop substitution program within the framework of chapter 4 of the 2016 peace accord. (Link at unodc.org)
Publicado por La Silla Vacía el 2 de febrero de 2020.
La Silla Vacía goes beyond the numbers, explaining the worsening crisis of homicides of demobilized FARC members.
Publicado por el Ministerio de Defensa Nacional en febrero de 2020.
A regularly updated collection of official security, defense, and counter-drug statistics. (Link at mindefensa.gov.co)
Published by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, January 30, 2020.
The DEA’s annual report on drug trafficking patterns affecting the United States. Includes discussion of the cocaine trade and Colombian armed groups and organized crime. (Link at dea.gov)
Publicado por Verdad Abierta el 30 de enero de 2020.
The 18th Front FARC dissident group and the Gulf Clan paramilitaries are increasing their presence in the historically conflictive municipality of Ituango, Antioquia, where demobilized FARC members are especially vulnerable.
Publicado por El Colombiano el 29 de enero de 2020.
Reporters from the Medellín daily hold a rare interview with leaders of the breakaway paramilitary group sowing violence in Antioquia’s Bajo Cauca region and southern Córdoba department.
Publicado por la Fundación Ideas para la Paz, 28 de enero de 2020.
An investigation into the current state of the ELN guerrillas, and prospects for an eventual re-start of negotiations.
Publicado por el Gobierno de Colombia el 27 de enero de 2020.
The government’s point-by-point response to the December 26, 2019 report of the UN Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders. (Link at undocs.org)
Publicado en La Silla Vacía el 26 de enero de 2020.
Francisco Gutiérrez Sanín of Colombia’s National University talks to La Silla Vacía about the history of paramilitarism in Colombia and the possibility that it might make a comeback.
Publicado por Semana el 26 de enero de 2020.
Semana looks at internal divisions, defections, and disagreements in the FARC political party.
Published by Human Rights Watch, January 22, 2020.
Abuses including murder, forced labor, child recruitment, and rape are often committed as part of the groups’ strategy to control the social, political, and economic life of Arauca and Apure. Impunity for such abuses is the rule.
Publicado por El Espectador el 18 de enero de 2020.
Reporters who broke some of Semana’s big recent stories about human rights abuse and corruption in Colombia’s Army tell of terrifying threats, surveillance, and communications intercepts.
The UN High Commissioner’s Colombia field office provides its estimate of human rights defenders murdered in 2019, indirectly contradicting the Duque government’s claims of a 25% decrease in such killings. (Link at hchr.org.co)
Published by the United Nations, January 13, 2020.
Transcript of a Security Council discussion of Colombia’s peace process and the latest report from the UN Verification Mission. (Link at undocs.org)
Publicado por Semana el 13 de enero de 2020.
In a blockbuster scoop, the Colombian newsmagazine reveals that Army intelligence units have been hacking the communications of, following, and even threatening, Supreme Court justices, opposition politicians, human rights defenders, military whistleblowers—and even Semana’s own reporters.
Published by WOLA on January 10, 2020.
A summary of the cases of concern WOLA received since November 2019 until the present.
Published by the Brookings Institution on January 8, 2020.
Vanda Felbab-Brown analyzes Colombia’s options for reducing the size of its coca crop, and concludes, “The most effective policy to sustainably reduce illicit crops would deliver robust assistance before demanding eradication.”
