Human rights in Colombia
It has been a member of the United Nations since 5 November 1945,[1] and is party to a variety of international agreements concerning human rights.
[10] In the UK Foreign Office annual human rights report for 2010, Colombia features as one of 20 "Countries of Concern".
The Colombian embassy in Washington states that the protection program 'offers long-term services based on specific needs of vulnerable individuals and groups'.
[25] In spite of this, the figures for the first semester of 2011 showed an increase of 126% in acts of aggressions committed against human rights defenders from 2010.
[26] Colombian officials have also been widely implicated in stigmatising the work of human rights defenders, often making unfounded accusations linking them to guerrilla groups.
Less than twenty years ago it was double that figure but violence against trade unionists, changes in the labour market and anti-trade union policies have led to a huge decrease in membership.
[44] However, the UK's Trade Union Congress (TUC) points out that in 2010 the ILO also made an agreement with the Colombian government to send a high level commission to visit the country in response to the continued violation of labour rights.
[49] Shortcomings in legal processes have been reported in cases concerning trade unionists, community activists, academics, and other groups and individuals who, whilst seeking the advancement of rights in their relevant spheres, may oppose certain elements of state policy.
In April and May 2008 charges were dropped against all but two with the reviewing prosecutor stating that the witnesses' testimony was "based on no more than personal opinion and should have been verified forcefully by the investigative agencies".
[56] The British MP Jim McGovern released a statement in 2010 in support of a campaign run by Justice for Colombia calling for the release of Colombia's political prisoners: 'These people are innocent men and women who have been imprisoned simply because they disagree with the Government or criticise Government policies.
[58] In August 2011, the senator and victims' rights leader Ivan Cepeda revealed that he was informed of a murder plot being planned against him by two state security prison guards.
A Colombian human rights organisation dedicated to the search for justice for the victims of the UP calls the genocide 'an alarming and representative case of a persecution of an opposition movement'.
[61] In August 2011, the Colombian state, recognising its responsibility, apologised for the 1994 assassination of the last UP senator, Manuel Cepeda Vargas.
[62] In 2006, a scandal was uncovered in Colombia which showed a program of espionage against perceived political opponents of the government had been in operation.
[48] In its 2010 report, the UN Committee on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights expressed its concern at "the wide inequalities in the distribution of income in the State party in the context of poverty."
[64] The Constitutional Court was commended by the report for establishing 'criteria for determining the legal minimum wage, the right to fair remuneration and maintenance of purchasing power',[65] but the unequal land distribution and lack of agrarian reform was a further concern mentioned by the committee.
[69] Morgan Holmes states that, while children who reach the same age and circumstances will be in the same position, then they will "be permitted access to the conditions that protect their autonomies".
Other intersex children will not benefit, in particular at the point they are born: "In its worst potential implications and uses, the court's decision may simply amplify the need to expedite procedures".
