Colombia: Human Rights

Publisher Marketing: Colombia is a constitutional, multi-party republic. In 2010 voters elected Juan Manuel Santos president in elections that observers considered free and fair. Authorities maintained effective control over security forces. Security forces committed human rights abuses. The most serious human rights problems were impunity, an inefficient judiciary, forced displacement, corruption, and societal discrimination. Impunity and an inefficient justice system subject to intimidation limited the state's ability to prosecute effectively individuals accused of human rights abuses and to bring to trial former members of paramilitary groups. The availability of drug-trafficking revenue often exacerbated corruption. Societal discrimination against indigenous persons and Afro-Colombians at times restricted the ability of these groups to exercise their rights. Other problems included extrajudicial and unlawful killings; slow prosecution of extrajudicial killings; insubordinate military collaboration with members of illegal armed groups; forced disappearances; overcrowded and insecure prisons; harassment of human rights groups and activists, including death threats; violence against women and girls; trafficking in persons; and illegal child labor. The government continued efforts to prosecute and punish perpetrators, including members of the security services, who committed abuses: It increased resources for the Prosecutor General's Office, prioritized human rights cases, and employed a new contextual analysis strategy. Nonetheless, a high rate of impunity persisted.