Reports on general international crimes and human rights violations in Colombia, such as abductions and unlawful killings, committed by the guerilla forces, paramilitary groups and security forces
Relevant publications from Peace Brigades International - Project Colombia can be found here.
For reports on repression, arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial executions and torture, see Reports: Repression, Political Prisoners & Torture
For reports on impunity for human rights violations, the rule of law and the judicial system, see Reports: Impunity and Justice
For reports concerning human rights by UN bodies, click here
Title: Paramilitaries’ Heirs: The New Face of Violence in Colombia
Organisation: Human Rights Watch
Date: February 2010
This report documents widespread and serious abuses by successor groups to the paramilitary coalition known as the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, AUC). It finds that the successor groups regularly committed massacres, killings, forced displacement, rape and extortion, and created a threatening atmosphere in the communities they controlled. It also finds that they often targeted human rights defenders, trade unionists, victims of the paramilitaries who were seeking justice and community members who did not follow their orders.
Links: Download this report from the organisation’s website
Download this report from the Universal Jurisdiction archive
Title: The Virtuous Twins: Protecting Human Rights and Improving Security in Colombia
Organisation: International Crisis Group
Date: May 2009
This report examines the security gains made by the Uribe administration over the previous seven years. It finds that the government argued that the human rights record had improved with its “democratic security policy,” but serious abuses, including of international humanitarian law, persisted and in some instances were even increasing. It also finds that forced displacement and violence against vulnerable sectors, including ethnic minorities and women, remained widespread.
Links: Download this report from the organisation’s website (also available in Spanish)
Download this report from the Universal Jurisdiction archive (also available in Spanish)
Title: Colombia: “Leave Us in Peace”: Targeting Civilians in Colombia’s Internal Armed Conflict
Organisation: Amnesty International
Date: October 2008
This report documents how Colombia’s internal armed conflict has pitted the security forces and paramilitaries against guerrilla groups for more than 40 years. It finds that this conflict has been marked by extraordinary levels of human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, with civilians by far the principal victims.
Links: Download this report from the organisation’s website
Download this report from the Universal Jurisdiction archive (also available in French and Spanish)
Title: Paramilitary Demobilization in Colombia: On the Road to the International Criminal Court
Organisation: International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
Date: October 2007
This report documents how the paramilitary structures had committed an average of 60,000 crimes against humanity and serious human rights violations as of October 2007. It reveals the lack of true willingness on the part of the government to bring to trial and dismantle the paramilitary groups. It concludes that the International Criminal Court should act to investigate and try those guilty of crimes against humanity committed in Colombia since November 1, 2002.
Links: Download this report from the organisation’s website
Download this report from the Universal Jurisdiction archive (only available in Spanish)
Title: Maiming the People: Guerrilla Use of Antipersonnel Landmines and other Indiscriminate Weapons in Colombia
Organisation: Human Rights Watch
Date: July 2007
This report documents the impact on civilian survivors of guerrillas’ use of antipersonnel landmines in Colombia, as well as the difficulties that such survivors faced in obtaining needed assistance from the government.
Links: Download this report from the organisation’s website
Download this report from the Universal Jurisdiction archive (also available in Spanish)
Title: Living in Fear: Colombia’s Cycle of Violence
Organisation: Médecins sans Frontières
Date: April 2006
This report finds that internal displacement had reached unprecedented levels, with over three million displaced since 1995. It also finds that massacres, executions, intimidation and the massive consequent fear had become an inescapable part of everyday life for Colombians living in conflict affected areas.
Links: Download this report from the Universal Jurisdiction archive (also available in Spanish)
Title: Colombia: The Paramilitaries in Medellín: Demobilization or Legalization?
Organisation: Amnesty International
Date: August 2005
This report examines cases of abuses committed by the paramilitaries, acting either alone or in conjunction with the security forces. It finds that the current paramilitary "demobilisation" process disregarded fundamental principles on the right of victims to truth, justice and reparation, on impunity for human rights abusers and on the removal of combatants from the conflict.
Links: Download this report from the organisation’s website
Download this report from the Universal Jurisdiction archive (also available in French and Spanish)
Title: Colombia’s Humanitarian Crisis
Organisation: International Crisis Group
Date: July 2003
This report describes the human hardship and suffering that had become a constant feature of life as the armed conflict expanded and intensified. It finds that civilians were systematically targeted by the armed groups, suffering displacement, abduction, disappearance, extortion and torture. The report also documents child soldiers. It also finds that the government’s humanitarian policy encountered many difficulties, largely because of the magnitude of the crisis, the lack of state capacity, the reluctance to divert fiscal resources from military to social programs and the wide gap between policy planning and reality.
Links: Download this report from the organisation’s website (also available in Spanish)
Download this report from the Universal Jurisdiction archive (also available in Spanish)
Title: Colombia: San Vicente del Caguán After the Breakdown of the Peace Talks: A Community Abandoned
Organisation: Amnesty International
Date: October 2002
This report documents how, despite assurances from the government that the community of San Vicente del Caguán would not be "punished" for its forced cohabitation with the guerrilla, its day-to-day experiences since the breakdown of the peace process were marked by repeated violations of its human rights, for which all the parties to the armed conflict were responsible. It finds that both the FARC guerrilla and the security forces, in conjunction with their paramilitary allies, were exacting their revenge against a civilian population that they perceived as collaborating with their enemies.
Links: Download this report from the organisation’s website
Download this report from the Universal Jurisdiction archive (also available in French and Spanish)
Title: Colombia's Elusive Quest for Peace
Organisation: International Crisis Group
Date: March 2002
This report gives a historical synopsis of the conflict as well as an account of the central actors involved. It describes the humanitarian consequences of the conflict, including massacres, assassinations, torture, kidnapping, children in conflict, forced internal displacement, terrorist acts against infrastructure and indiscriminate military attacks on the civilian population.
Links: Download this report from the organisation’s website
Download this report from the Universal Jurisdiction archive
Title: The “Sixth Division”: Military-Paramilitary Ties and U.S. Policy in Colombia
Organisation: Human Rights Watch
Date: October 2001
This report presents detailed evidence on how Colombian army brigades and police worked with and even profited from paramilitaries, treating them as a force allied with their own. These paramilitary groups were responsible for most human rights violations, including massacres and forced displacement. The reports finds that, overall, Colombia's government had not taken effective measures to break links between the military and paramilitaries. This document also describes how American policy makers failed to enforce U.S. human rights law, ensuring that the Colombian military would continue to receive security assistance.
Links: Download this report from the organisation’s website
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Title: Colombia: Current Human Rights Conditions
Organisation: Human Rights Watch
Date: September 2001
This report finds that the human rights situation in Colombia had deteriorated markedly over the previous year. Underlying the worsening conditions was the Colombian government's continued failure to break ties between its security forces and the country's abusive paramilitary groups. The report finds that a crucial element of this failure was the continued impunity enjoyed by military officers implicated in paramilitary abuses.
Links: Download this report from the organisation’s website
Title: Beyond Reason: International Humanitarian Law and Its Application to the Conduct of the FARC-EP
Organisation: Human Rights Watch
Date: August 2001
This report, which is based on first-hand research in Colombia, including a visit in May-June 2000, describes the range of international humanitarian law violations committed by FARC-EP. It documents how Colombian civilians have borne the brunt of the country's violent armed conflict; thousands have been killed in recent years, and thousands more have been kidnapped for ransom. The report also describes how children, some as young as thirteen or fourteen, have been recruited into the irregular forces - guerrillas and paramilitaries - that play a primary role in the conflict. It also finds that, in fleeing their homes to protect themselves and their families, some two million Colombians have become internally displaced or have left their country as refugees.
Links: Download this report from the organisation’s website
Download this report from the Universal Jurisdiction archive
Title: Colombia: Barrancabermeja: A City Under Siege
Organisation: Amnesty International
Date: April 1999
This report focuses principally on the paramilitary attack on Barrancabermeja of 16 May 1998 and the subsequent paramilitary incursions into the city. It explains the clear connection between paramilitary groups and the army, and the government failure to fully investigate the attack. It includes a profile of the 25 “disappeared,” and killed.
Links: Download this report from the organisation’s website
Download this report from the Universal Jurisdiction archive (also available in French and Spanish)
Title: War Without Quarter: Colombia and International Humanitarian Law
Organisation: Human Rights Watch
Date: October 1998
This report documents the violations of international humanitarian law that were occurring in Colombia at the time. It finds a willingness to commit atrocities was among the most striking features of Colombia's war. It also finds that some communities thrust into the conflict attempted to negotiate local accords with combatants as a way of protecting their civilian populations, but none of the parties to the conflict fully respected these decisions. It concludes that negotiations were doomed in large part by the failure to address fundamental issues, including impunity for violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.
Links: Download this report from the organisation’s website
Title: Colombia: Segovia: A Recurring History of Serious Human Rights Violations
Organisation: Amnesty International
Date: November 1996
This report describes how, on 22 April 1996, 15 people were killed, two people "disappeared" and at least 15 were injured by paramilitaries in the town of Segovia, department of Antioquia. It finds that initial investigations indicated that the paramilitary group responsible were operating with the support and under the direction of Colombian military personnel. It also reports how, on 11 November 1988, 43 people were killed in Segovia by a paramilitary group and how there was concern that the impunity that had protected those responsible then, has contributed to the serious human rights violations committed since.
Links: Download this report from the organisation’s website
Download this report from the Universal Jurisdiction archive (also available in Spanish)
Title: Colombia: A Deepening Human Rights Crisis
Organisation: Amnesty International
Date: February 1996
This document was prepared for the UN Commission on Human Rights, and describes the worsening human rights situation during 1995. It examines the increasing activities of paramilitary forces often in alliance with the armed forces in several regions of the country afflicted by civil conflict, particularly the region of Uraba, including politically motivated killings, “disappearances,” and displacement. This report also examines the intimidation and attacks on human rights defenders. It details the increasing concern within the international community at the worsening situation, particularly the climate of impunity enhanced by the military justice system.
Links: Download this report from the organisation’s website
Download this report from the Universal Jurisdiction archive (also available in Spanish)
Title: Colombia: Political Violence in Norte de Santander and South of Cesar Department Escalates
Organisation: Amnesty International
Date: July 1995
This report describes the escalation of human rights violations against the civilian population in the northeastern departments of Norte de Santander and Cesar. It documents several cases of violations in 1994 and 1995; increasing numbers of political killings, abductions and other abuses were reported by paramilitary groups (with the support of security forces), while guerrilla forces were responsible for abuses such as hostage taking, execution of captured soldiers and deliberate and arbitrary killing of civilians. Victims of violations include leaders and members of popular organisations, trade unionists, members of political parties and peasant farmers.
Links: Download this report from the organisation’s website
Download this report from the Universal Jurisdiction archive (also available in Spanish)
Title: Political Violence in Colombia: Myth and Reality
Organisation: Amnesty International
Date: March 1994
This report describes human rights violations carried out in Colombia with impunity. It discusses the context of armed conflict in which the violations were perpetrated and the agents of those violations, be they members of the security forces, paramilitary groups or armed opposition groups. The report also assesses the steps taken in Colombia to try to end human rights violations.
Links: Download this report from the organisation’s website
Download this report from the Universal Jurisdiction archive (also available in Spanish)
