Colombia has been experiencing armed conflict for over 40 years. Tens of thousands have been killed over the past two decades and several million have been internally displaced, with many tortured, disappeared, kidnapped and forced to join armed groups. The three main actors in the conflict have been the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN), both guerrilla groups, and paramilitary groups operating as the United Self-Defense Force of Colombia (AUC), which has been linked to the government. The conflict is connected to and complicated by drug trafficking, organised crime and related violence, all bolstered by widespread impunity.

Beginning in 2002, the newly elected administration of Álvaro Uribe negotiated the collective demobilisation of the AUC and the separate demobilisation of combatants from other armed groups. The disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programme became the central component of the Justice and Peace Law, passed in 2005. Although the DDR programme has met with some success, the government has been criticised for not implementing it fully. (Read more about the DDR process.)

 Under the Justice and Peace Law, former combatants who perpetrated human rights abuses are subject to prosecution. If they hand over any property they acquired illegally, prove they are no longer involved in illegal activities and release child soldiers and kidnapping victims, as well as provide information on their armed groups to the state, combatants can receive reduced sentences and be reintegrated into society more quickly. 

An additional component of the law is the National Commission on Reparation and Reconciliation, which has been mandated to provide reparations and assistance to victims, promote reconciliation and ensure that the memory of victims and human rights atrocities is preserved. Reparations are funded through assets recovered from demobilised combatants.

In May 2011, Colombia’s Congress passed a Victims’ Law, which should speed victims’ access to reparations and restitution. The law is intended to complement the existing reparations framework and extends benefits to victims of abuses by state agents, in addition to paramilitary forces and guerrillas. It also explicitly addresses the problem of land in the country and focuses on land restitution to victims. The law, introduced in 2008, was subjected to a long period of debate before being passed by a large margin. (Read more about the national reparations programme.)

Finally, the situation in Colombia has been under preliminary examination by the International Criminal Court (ICC) since 2005. As the ICC special prosecutor is meant to be ensuring that “genuine national proceedings” for accountability are underway, Colombia has been under some political pressure to undertake transitional justice processes. In May 2011, Colombia made the placating gesture of becoming one of the few countries to sign an agreement on the enforcement of sentences with the ICC, meaning that individuals convicted by the court may be transferred to Colombia to serve their sentences.