UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders: visit to Colombia begins

The official visit to Colombia of Michel Forst, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, began on Tuesday 20 November with meetings with civil society organisations.

Michel Forst had already made an academic visit to Colombia in July of this year, during which he took the opportunity to meet with civil society organisations, human rights defenders, and State institutions. The current increase in attacks against defenders in Colombia[1] means that this official visit is extremely important to make visible the problems experienced by human rights defenders, and so that the Rapporteur can analyse the situation and make recommendations to the Colombian State to guarantee defenders’ work.

Foto visita julio — Michel Forst together with people in representation of the civil society with whow he met during his academic visit last July

This official visit aims to assess the situation of human rights defenders and the Government’s efforts to protect them and facilitate their work[2]. For this reason, Michel Forst will meet with a number of human rights organisations and social leaders, with State institutions and international organisations present in the country. He will also visit small-farming, Afro and indigenous communities and organisations in different regions of the country. The visit will culminate on Monday 3 December with a press conference where he will share his first impressions.

During his first meeting in Colombia, Michel Forst was able to hear from various sectors of civil society organisations and human rights defenders who gave him an overview of the human rights situation, within the context of the new government of Iván Duque and the second year of the implementation of the peace agreement. They expressed concerns about the lack of compliance with the guarantee measures envisaged in the peace agreement, and also highlighted problems related to the repression of social protest[3]. The meeting lasted two hours, and afterwards Michel Forst met with defenders of the environment, ethnic communities, the LGBTI community and women’s organisations, among others.

Brunori y Forst2_blog — Michel Forst together with Alberto Brunori, the representative of the Office of the High Commisioner of Human Rights from the United Nations (OHCHR) listening to some of the concernas the civil society’s organizations were presenting

The visit will end with the presentation of a report on the situation of human rights defenders in Colombia, with recommendations to the Colombian State to facilitate defenders’ work with guarantees for their safety. The question that will guide Michel Forst during his visit, as highlighted in the press release from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), is whether human rights defenders in Colombia can operate in a safe and supportive environment for the promotion and protection of human rights. The response is complex and requires an evaluation of the role played by defenders in the promotion and protection of human rights and the challenges they face, particularly in the context of the implementation of the 2016 Peace Agreement[4].