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Summary: The violations highlighted are those issues raised with the State by more than one international mechanism. This is done with the intention of identifying children's rights which have been repeatedly violated, as well as gaps in the issues covered by NGOs in their alternative reports to the various human rights monitoring bodies. These violations are listed in no particular order.
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (Concluding Observations, June 2006) The Committee expresses grave concern at the continuously high incidence of children victims of extrajudicial killings, homicides and massacres as a consequence of the armed conflict. Children continue to be victims of disappearances and social cleansing, in particular due to their stigmatization as displaced. The Committee is concerned over ongoing killing of hundreds of children in the areas of Ciudad Bolivar and Soacha, on the outskirts of Bogotá. Finally, the Committee notes that the links between public officials and members of illegal armed groups, in particular the paramilitaries, have yet to be severed. The Committee urges the State party to take, as a matter of priority, effective measures and action to protect the civilian population from all forms of violations, especially those affecting children, and reminds the State party that failure to act and prevent such violations may incur responsibility. Furthermore, the Committee urges the State party to put an end to links between public officials and members of illegal armed groups, in particular the paramilitaries, as these still exist. (paragraphs 40 and 41) UN Human Rights Committee Last reported: 15 and 16 March 2004 The Committee expresses its grave concern at the persistence of serious violations of human rights, including extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances, torture, rape and recruitment of children for use in the armed conflict. The Committee emphasises the serious lack of statistics and concise information on the number of cases of torture and related investigations. The Committee notes the particular vulnerability of certain groups, such as women, children, ethnic minorities, displaced persons, the prison population, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons. The Committee is concerned at the lack of criminal investigations and the slow progress of existing investigations, since many of them are still at the pre-investigation stage, thus contributing to continued impunity for serious human rights violations (arts. 2, 3, 6, 7, 24 and 26). The State party should ensure that prompt and impartial investigations are conducted by the competent authorities and that human rights violations are punished with sentences appropriate to their seriousness. The State should provide the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Unit with additional resources in order to speed up its work. The Committee underlines the importance of the cases concerned being assigned to that Unit. The State must also strengthen security measures for justice operators and for all witnesses and victims. The State party should establish a centralised system making it possible to identify all serious human rights violations and to properly monitor their investigation. (paragraph 12) Report of the Secretary General on children and armed conflict. 28 August 2009. The killing and maiming of children remains a serious concern, but the determination of which deaths of or injuries to children are perpetrated by armed groups often presents a challenge. Out of the 819 cases of deaths of children reported by the Observatory of the Presidential Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Programme in 2008, the perpetrators remained unidentified in 704 instances. Cases of children killed by FARC-EP were reported in the departments of Antioquia, Guaviare, Huila, Meta, Nariño, Putumayo and Valle del Cauca. In April 2008, a 14-year-old girl was killed in the department of Antioquia, allegedly owing to her relationship with a member of the national armed forces. The girl was brutally tortured, with one of her hands cut off and one of her eyes gouged out before she was killed. ELN has also been responsible for the deaths of children, and three cases were confirmed in the departments of Arauca and Nariño. In December 2008, five persons, including a 15-year-old girl, were killed in Arauquita, department of Arauca. There have also been cases of children being killed for refusing to join the illegal armed groups. In January 2008, FARC-EP attempted to recruit two brothers, aged 13 and 15, in the department of Putumayo. Upon their refusal to join the group, the guerrillas killed one boy by dousing him with gasoline and shooting him. The second boy was recruited against his will. (paragraphs 27 to 29) In 2008, the magnitude of the problem of extrajudicial killings became publicly evident. According to the Attorney-General’s Office, as of November 2008, among the 50 cases of extrajudicial executions under investigation that involve children, there are 51 child victims. Three of those cases took place in 2008, and additional information on presumed extrajudicial executions of two children was received in the departments of Antioquia and Norte de Santander. The case of the municipality of Soacha, which has been especially well-publicized, involved 11 persons, including a child, who disappeared near Bogota in January 2008. Their bodies were later displayed by the national army as unidentified members of illegal armed groups killed in combat in the department of Norte de Santander a few days after their disappearance. (paragraph 34) Enforced disappearances of children UN Human Rights Committee Last reported: 15 and 16 March 2004 The Committee expresses its grave concern at the persistence of serious violations of human rights, including extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances, torture, rape and recruitment of children for use in the armed conflict. The Committee emphasises the serious lack of statistics and concise information on the number of cases of torture and related investigations. The Committee notes the particular vulnerability of certain groups, such as women, children, ethnic minorities, displaced persons, the prison population, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons. The Committee is concerned at the lack of criminal investigations and the slow progress of existing investigations, since many of them are still at the pre-investigation stage, thus contributing to continued impunity for serious human rights violations (arts. 2, 3, 6, 7, 24 and 26). The State party should ensure that prompt and impartial investigations are conducted by the competent authorities and that human rights violations are punished with sentences appropriate to their seriousness. The State should provide the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Unit with additional resources in order to speed up its work. The Committee underlines the importance of the cases concerned being assigned to that Unit. The State must also strengthen security measures for justice operators and for all witnesses and victims. The State party should establish a centralised system making it possible to identify all serious human rights violations and to properly monitor their investigation. (paragraph 12) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Country visit: 1-10 October 2008 Report published: 16 February 2009 Eight adults and one 17-year-old disappeared between January and August 2008 in Soacha, a slum area of the capital. Their bodies were buried in separate unmarked graves in the cemetery of Ocaña, Norte de Santander, 400 kilometres from Bogotá. Two other victims appeared in Cimitarra. It was claimed that they were guerrillas who were killed in combat. In fact, they were poor adolescents from a disadvantaged neighbourhood. It was obviously thought that their disappearance would go unnoticed. In the region of Bajo Ariari, the bodies of various disappeared campesinos were presented tens of kilometres away as guerrillas who had been killed in combat. The Working Group was informed that more than 3,000 members of the army are under investigation by the Office of the Attorney-General and the Office of the Procurator-General, some for cases of "false positives". (paragraph 70). Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances Country visit: 5-13 July 2005 Report published: 17 January 2006 During the mission many cases of enforced disappearances were handed over to the Working Group. At the first stage of processing of the cases received in Colombia, the provisional figures indicate around 116 newly reported cases including three women and two children. (paragraph 58) Report of the Secretary General on children and armed conflict. 28 August 2009. According to the Observatory of the Presidential Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Programme, 75 children were abducted in 2008. Between 1996 and 2008, 287 children were documented as being held in captivity, 55 of them by illegal armed groups. Of those 55 children, 29 are being held by FARC-EP, 9 by ELN and the remainder by other groups. In addition, in the period from 2000 to 2007, there were 90 cases of children who were reported to have been abducted by AUC. The whereabouts of 16 of those children was still unknown as of January 2008. According to official statistics, the number of child abduction cases decreased in 2008 compared with previous years; however, it is important to note that this type of violation also remains underreported. In July 2008, 18 people, including 2 boys aged 1 and 5 years, were abducted by FARC-EP in the department of Chocó. In November 2008, FARC-EP attempted to abduct a 3-year-old girl and, in the department of Antioquia, threatened 15 families with death for collaborating with the national army, resulting in those families being forcibly displaced. Children also continue to be victims of enforced disappearances. Since 2006, the Attorney-General’s Office located in clandestine graves the bodies of 109 children, mainly victims of paramilitary groups. In addition, the Attorney- General’s Office is investigating 1,636 cases of children who have disappeared since 2000, 187 of which took place in 2008. (paragraphs 40, 41 and 42) Children continue to be victims of torture, cruel and degrading treatment UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (Concluding Observations, June 2006) The Committee is seriously concerned that children continue to be victims of torture, cruel and degrading treatment. The Committee notes that, although members of illegal armed groups bear primary responsibility, State agents, including members of the military, are also implicated. The Committee is especially concerned over the situation in rural areas where children are at risk as a consequence of the ongoing internal armed conflict. In particular, the Committee expresses concern regarding the increasing number of girls who are subjected to sexual violence and is disturbed by numerous reports of rapes committed by members of the military. The Committee is also concerned about other forms of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by law-enforcement officials, including in detention facilities, and also over abuses in institutional care. The Committee urges the State party to take effective measures to protect children from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The Committee emphasizes the urgent need to investigate and sanction all reported cases, committed by the military, law-enforcement officials or any person acting in an official capacity, in order to break the pervasive cycle of impunity of serious human rights violations. The Committee recommends that the State party ensure that all child victims of torture, cruel and degrading treatment are provided access to physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration as well as compensation, giving due consideration to the obligations enshrined in articles 38 and 39 of the Convention. (paragraphs 50 1nd 51) UN Human Rights Committee last reported: 15 and 16 March 2004 Concluding Observations adopted: 25 March 2004 The Committee expresses its grave concern at the persistence of serious violations of human rights, including extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances, torture, rape and recruitment of children for use in the armed conflict. The Committee emphasises the serious lack of statistics and concise information on the number of cases of torture and related investigations. The Committee notes the particular vulnerability of certain groups, such as women, children, ethnic minorities, displaced persons, the prison population, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons. The Committee is concerned at the lack of criminal investigations and the slow progress of existing investigations, since many of them are still at the pre-investigation stage, thus contributing to continued impunity for serious human rights violations (arts. 2, 3, 6, 7, 24 and 26). The State party should ensure that prompt and impartial investigations are conducted by the competent authorities and that human rights violations are punished with sentences appropriate to their seriousness. The State should provide the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Unit with additional resources in order to speed up its work. The Committee underlines the importance of the cases concerned being assigned to that Unit. The State must also strengthen security measures for justice operators and for all witnesses and victims. The State party should establish a centralised system making it possible to identify all serious human rights violations and to properly monitor their investigation. (paragraph 12) UN Human Rights Committee Last reported: 15 and 16 March 2004 Concluding Observations adopted: 25 March 2004 The Committee expresses deep concern about reports of the alarming incidence of sexual violence against women and girls. It is concerned about the number of such violations attributed to members of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Ejército del Pueblo (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army) (FARC-EP) and illegal armed groups that have emerged from the demobilisation of paramilitary organisations. The Committee further expresses its grave concern about cases, mostly involving young girls, in which the alleged perpetrators are members of the security forces. The Committee regrets that not all of the necessary measures have been taken in order to make progress in the investigations of the 183 cases of sexual violence referred to the Attorney General's Office by the Constitutional Court. It is also concerned about the failure of the mechanisms established by Act No. 975 of 2005 to reflect crimes involving sexual violence (arts. 3, 7, 24 and 26). The State party should adopt effective measures to investigate all cases of sexual violence referred to the Attorney General's Office by the Constitutional Court and should establish a reliable system for documenting incidents of any type of sexual or gender violence. Acts of sexual violence reportedly committed by the security forces should be investigated, tried and firmly punished, and the Ministry of Defence should enforce a policy of zero tolerance of such violations which provides for the dismissal of the perpetrators. The State party should increase the resources allocated to the physical and psychological recovery of women and girls who are victims of sexual violence and ensure that they do not suffer secondary victimization in gaining access to justice. (paragraph 18) UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Last reported: 4 and 5 May 2010 Concluding Observations adopted: 19 and 20 May 2010 The Committee is concerned at the large number of children that continue to be victims of sexual exploitation, in particular children from disadvantaged and marginalised groups, including internally displaced children and children living in poverty, in spite of measures already taken by the State party, such as legislation that criminalises sexual exploitation; sex tourism with minors; and child pornography with specific provisions regarding internet providers, as well as the National Plan of Action to prevent and eradicate sexual exploitation (2006-2011) (art. 10). The Committee urges the State party to effectively enforce legislation to combat trafficking in children. It also recommends that the State party strengthen its programmes and information campaigns to prevent trafficking under the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking 2007-2012 with particular attention to children from disadvantaged and marginalized groups; to continue to provide mandatory training for law officials and judges; and to prosecute and sentence those responsible for the crimes of trafficking in children. The State party should provide in its next periodic report statistical data disaggregated on an annual basis, by sex and country of origin of children who are victims of exploitation and trafficking, as well as on cases investigated and the decisions taken. (paragraph 17). UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women Last reported: 25 January 2007 Concluding Observations: 2 February 2007 [The Committee] encourages the State party to ensure that the situation of rural women is taken into account in efforts to eliminate women's vulnerability to violence, including as a result of armed conflict. Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on the human rights of internally displaced people Country visit: 15-27 June 2006 Report published: 24 January 2007 Women are important victims of displacement. They informed the Representative that reasons for their displacement include: assassination of their spouses; protection of themselves or their children from sexual or gender-based violence; protection of their children from forced recruitment by armed groups. There were also cases of young girls having to leave their communities because of forced sexual relations with members of the armed forces or armed groups. (paragraph 15) Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances Country visit: 5-13 July 2005 Report published: 17 January 2006 Another aspect of disappearances that has been underreported in the past and continues at the present time relates to the way in which acts of disappearance are perpetrated in conjunction with other gross violations, with targets drawn from among the most vulnerable groups in society. Numerous testimonies were received concerning these phenomena. The most common examples brought to our notice were: disappearances, combined with "social cleansing" (said to have been a marked feature of the practice in the city of Barrancabermeja for much of the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, with the urban poor, the unemployed and the so-called "undesirables", including prostitutes, petty thieves, vagabonds, gamblers and homosexuals as the victims); disappearances, subsequently combined with executions (the victims being drawn mostly from among radical political party leaders or members and trade unionists suspected of collaborating with the guerilla groups); disappearances, combined with enforced displacement (taking place often mostly in rural areas, the objective being to dispossess victims of their land and properties); disappearances, combined with rape and other forms of sexual violence (with women and girls as victims); disappearances, combined with forced conscription recruitment (directed at children). There seems to have been an increase in all of these practices since the Working Group's first mission to Colombia in 1988. (paragraph 59) Universal Periodic Review (December 2008) 22. Increase efforts to address the question of sexual violence of children, in particular in rural areas, develop effective data collection with regard to sexual and physical abuse of children and ensure that adequate report, policing and juridical measures are in place (Austria); (accepted) Report of the Secretary General on children and armed conflict. 28 August 2009 Sexual violence against children, particularly girls, remains vastly underreported in Colombia, as many victims fail to report abuses fearing retaliation or owing to a lack of confidence in State institutions. The Colombian Constitutional Court issued its order 092 in April 2008 as a follow-up to its judgement T-025, indicating that “sexual violence as well as the exploitation and sexual abuse is a habitual, extended, systematic and invisible practice in the context of the armed conflict perpetrated by the illegal armed groups, and in isolated cases, by individual agents of the national armed forces”. The Court also indicated that in cases of sexual violence in the context of the conflict, “children account for an exceedingly high proportion of the total cases of known victims”. Furthermore, the Court ordered the Attorney-General’s Office to pursue investigations in 183 specific cases of sexual violence against women and girls. In addition, in 2008 the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman released a special report on sexual violence in the context of the conflict, noting that there is “serious impact on the sexual and reproductive rights of the displaced population, particularly for women and children, the main victims of displacement”. There is no systemic information as to the number of cases of sexual violence against children perpetrated by illegal armed groups. In April 2008, two girls and a boy between the ages of 11 and 14 were recruited by FARC-EP. One of the girls was allegedly raped by members of the group. The other girl was returned to her family with the indication that she would be recruited once she turned 12 years old; as a result, the mother was forcibly displaced together with her other five children. Girl members of the illegal armed groups are subjected to grave sexual violence. They are required to have sexual relations with adults at an early age and are forced to abort if they become pregnant. They are also forced to use methods of contraception that are often inadequate and harmful to their health. Of the girls interviewed for the study mentioned in paragraph 36, 31.2 per cent asserted that they had become pregnant and lost the foetus while with the illegal armed group. Of those adolescents, 40 per cent stated that they had been between 11 and 14 years of age when they became pregnant. According to information provided by the Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses, 5 girls and 3 boys were the victims of sexual violence allegedly perpetrated by the national military forces, and 18 girls and 1 boy were allegedly victimized by the national police during the reporting period. Information has also been gathered on a case in which two soldiers allegedly raped a woman and her 13-year-old niece in the department of Antioquia in November 2008. (paragraphs 36 to 39) Recruitment of children in the armed conflict by FRC-EP and ELN and lack of demobilisation measures UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (Concluding Observations, June 2006) The Committee, while welcoming the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflict, is seriously concerned over the grave consequences the internal armed conflict has on children in Colombia, causing them serious physical and mental injury and denying them the enjoyment of their most basic rights. The Committee notes as positive the development of educational kits distributed to schools in high-risk conflict areas by the army, as well as certain efforts to improve the reintegration and recovery of demobilized child soldiers. However, the Committee considers that considerable measures for demobilized and captured child soldiers are still lacking. In particular, the Committee is concerned over: UN Human Rights Committee Last reported: 15 and 16 March 2004 Concluding Observations adopted: 25 March 2004 The Committee is concerned about the recruitment of children by illegal armed groups, especially by FARC-EP and the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (National Liberation Army) (ELN). The Committee is also concerned that security forces continue to use children in military civic acts, such as the "Soldier for a day" programme and that children are interrogated in order to obtain intelligence (arts. 2, 7, 8 and 24). The State party should strengthen all possible measures to prevent the recruitment of children by illegal armed groups and should by no means involve children in intelligence activities or in military civic acts aimed at militarising the civilian population. (paragraph 24)
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Last reported: 4 and 5 May 2010
Concluding Observations adopted: 19 and 20 May 2010
The Committee is deeply concerned that children continue to be forcibly recruited by illegal armed groups, notably by FARC-EP and ELN, including through recruitment campaigns in schools, as well as by new paramilitary groups, thus preventing them from enjoying their economic, social and cultural rights. The Committee is also deeply concerned that a large number of children are killed during assaults, by homicides, landmines or as victims of cross-fire between the army and illegal armed groups. (art. 10)
The Committee urges the State party to take all necessary measures to:
- fully implement its Directive 500-2 of 2005 aimed at developing strategies to prevent child recruitment by armed forces;
- prevent the recruitment of children by illegal armed groups;
- pursue demobilisation, reintegration and rehabilitation programmes in compliance with its legislation;
to prosecute and sentence those responsible. (paragraph 16)
UN Committee Against Torture
Last reported: 10 and 11 November 2009
Concluding Observations published: 4 May 2010
The Committee is concerned about the continued recruitment and use of children by illegal armed groups. The Committee recognises the efforts made by the State party through the establishment, in December 2007, of the Intersectoral Commission to prevent the unlawful recruitment of children and adolescents by illegal organised groups; it notes that according to the State party, it has been possible to break the grip of such groups on some 3,800 children. The Committee does, however, regret the lack of information on the criminal liability of persons responsible for recruiting children. It is concerned that such children are not given sufficient support to ensure their physical and mental rehabilitation and recuperation, that different levels of protection are offered depending on whether the children are demobilised from guerrilla or other illegal armed groups, and that when children are taken captive by the security forces, they are not always handed over to the civil authorities within the 36-hour legal deadline. The Committee is also concerned that the security forces use children for intelligence purposes, occupy schools in areas of conflict and organise "military days" in schools throughout the country (articles 2 and 16 of the Convention).
The State party should strengthen measures to prevent the recruitment of children, provide proper support to ensure their physical and mental rehabilitation and recuperation and prosecute through the criminal courts those who have recruited them. The security forces should refrain from jeopardising the neutrality of schools and comply with standards relating to the return to the civil authorities of children who have broken away from illegal armed groups or been captured. The Committee recommends that the State party extend its full cooperation to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict in order to progress with the implementation of Security Council resolution 1612. (paragraph 29)
Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on the human rights of internally displaced people
Country visit: 15-27 June 2006
Report published: 24 January 2007
The reasons for forced displacement in Colombia are multiple and complex. They include the lack of respect for civilians by various armed groups; the multiplication of armed actors and criminal activities in the wake of the recent demobilisation process; the forced recruitment of children by armed groups; threats and pressures to collaborate with the armed groups; and assassinations of community leaders who were perceived as spearheading the resistance to the various pressures suffered by their communities. (paragraph 13)
UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people
Country visit: 8-17 March 2004
Report published: 10 November 2004
There are many reports of cases of forced recruitment of indigenous youths, and even children, by the armed groups. Although under Colombian law members of indigenous communities are exempt from compulsory military service, the army has nonetheless recruited indigenous youths, who allegedly volunteered, to peasant soldier units; and there are reports of cases of indigenous people enlisting, for a variety of reasons, in one of the rival armed factions. Such actions provoke reprisals against the families or the community as a whole, creating even greater insecurity and bringing further abuses and violations. (paragraph 43)
Universal Periodic Review (December 2008)
87.16. Ensure the full protection of children’s rights, in particular of children who are victims of the internal armed conflict, and adequately address all situations of violence against women (Romania);
19. Demobilize, within the guerrilla and the paramilitaries, children combatants who have been forcibly recruited (Uruguay); take all necessary steps to ensure the recovery, rehabilitation and reintegration of child soldiers and address the underlying exclusion and marginality, which makes rural children particularly vulnerable to recruitment by armed groups (Austria); address the issue of unaccounted for children not handed over after the demobilization process of the paramilitaries and guarantee free primary education as a preventive measure against forced recruitments (Slovenia);
Report of the Secretary General on children and armed conflict.
28 August 2009.
In 1991, when Colombia ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Government entered a reservation on article 38 (which establishes the minimum age of recruitment into the armed forces at 15), since according to Colombian law, the minimum age of recruitment by the armed forces was already 18, except for voluntary recruitment. In 1999, the Government of Colombia prohibited, without exception, the recruitment of children under 18, three years before it ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict.
However, the recruitment and use of children by illegal armed groups is widespread and remains a serious concern. In 2006, the Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed its concern about the large-scale of recruitment of children by illegal armed groups for purposes of combat and sexual enslavement. In October 2008, the Colombian Constitutional Court also stated that the recruitment of children was undertaken extensively, systematically and habitually by illegal armed groups in Colombia and that the true magnitude and scale of the territorial extension of the recruitment had not been brought to light. Estimates of the number of children participating in illegal armed groups range from 8,000, according to the Ministry of Defence, to 11,000 according to non-governmental sources. The Attorney-General’s Office is investigating 25 cases of child recruitment that took place in 2008. A study undertaken by the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman of Colombia and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) noted that the average age of recruitment had decreased from 13.8 years in 2002 to 12.8 years in 2006.
In 1999, FARC-EP made a commitment to my Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict that it would not recruit children under 15 years of age. However, FARC-EP continues to recruit children, including girls. Reports received confirm the recruitment of children in 13 departments, namely Antioquia, Arauca, Bolívar, Caquetá, Cauca, Chocó, Guaviare, Nariño, Putumayo, Sucre, Tolima, Valle del Cauca and Vaupés. For example, in January 2008, a 16-year-old child was recruited by FARC-EP in Tame, department of Arauca; and in May 2008, a group of 40 members of FARC-EP, half of them children between 13 and 17 years of age, were witnessed in the department of Cauca. In another case, a 16-year-old boy, who was recruited at the age of 12 by FARC-EP, was received by the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare in the department of Antioquia.
Children from particularly vulnerable groups, among them indigenous populations, are highly exposed to recruitment by FARC-EP, as confirmed in the departments of Cauca, Chocó and Nariño. In February 2008, FARC-EP recruited two 15-year-old indigenous girls in Toribío, department of Cauca. In March 2008, another 15-year-old indigenous girl was recruited by FARC-EP in the rural area of Pasto, department of Nariño.
Child recruitment campaigns by FARC-EP are known to have taken place in schools. Reports confirmed that in September 2008, FARC-EP forced their way into a school in the department of Cauca where 800 students were studying, and encouraged the children to join the group.
In July 1998, the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) signed an agreement with civil society representatives and members of the National Peace Council, in Mainz, Germany, in which ELN committed not to recruit children under the age of 16. Nonetheless, ELN has continued the recruitment of children. During the reporting period, confirmed reports indicate that ELN recruited children in the departments of Arauca, Cauca, Nariño and Norte de Santander. In August 2008, seven children who had been members of the group surrendered to the Army in Cumbal, Nariño.
ELN continues to carry out child recruitment campaigns in schools. In February 2008, ELN carried out such a campaign in a school in the department of Cauca. The school had apparently received financing from ELN in exchange for permission to deliver military training on the premises.
Confirmed reports indicate that illegal armed groups, such as Autodefensas Campesinas Nueva Generación, Aguilas Negras or Ejército Revolucionario Popular Antiterroista de Colombia, which emerged after the demobilization of AUC, are also recruiting children. For example, in March 2008, the recruitment of children by the Autodefensas Campesinas Nueva Generación in the department of Nariño was confirmed. In addition, children separated from AUC have been contacted by former AUC colleagues who offered them money and coerced them into joining other illegal armed groups.
In 2006, the Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed its concern regarding the use of children for intelligence purposes by the national armed forces. The Ministry of Defence has issued three directives prohibiting all members of the national armed forces from using children for intelligence purposes; however, some incidents continue to be documented. In February 2008, it was reported that the National Police had used a 12-year-old boy as an informant in the department of Valle del Cauca. Later, the boy received death threats from FARC-EP and was eventually killed by an unidentified assailant in December 2008.
Another issue of concern raised by the Committee is the interrogation by the military of children captured from or released by illegal armed groups and delays in handing them over to civilian authorities. By law, such children should be handed over to civilian authorities within 36 hours after the separation of a child from the group. In March 2008, a child separated from FARC-EP was held at a military installation for five days, during which time he was interrogated on his activities in the armed group.
By its directive 500-2, issued in 2005, the Ministry of Defence established a mandate to develop strategies to prevent child recruitment by the national armed forces. However, there is a concern that those prevention activities, when undertaken in conflict-affected areas, may put children at risk and expose them to subsequent retaliation by members of illegal armed groups. The Head of the Public Ministry and the Committee on the Rights of the Child have recommended that the national army refrain from involving children in civic-military activities, such as study visits to military bases or military events at schools, as such involvement compromises the humanitarian law principle of distinction of the civilian population and places the children at risk of retaliation by members of illegal armed groups. During the reporting period, civic-military activities with children were undertaken by the Armed Forces in the departments of Antioquia, Cauca and Chocó.
As indicated in my report on children and armed conflict of 21 December 2007 (A/62/609-S/2007/757) and as recognized by the Colombian Constitutional Court, the recruitment of children and internal displacement are closely linked, as displacement often becomes the only alternative for families in certain areas to avoid the recruitment of their children by illegal armed groups. In 2008, there were consistent reports that threats of child recruitment caused the displacement of local populations in at least five departments, namely, Arauca, Nariño, Norte de Santander, Putumayo and Valle del Cauca. For example, in May 2008 in the department of Nariño, ELN entered a house to recruit a 16-year-old boy who managed to hide from the group. However, the family was forced to move the next day to avoid the recruitment of their child. (paragraphs 15 to 26)
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (Concluding Observations, June 2006)
The Committee takes note of the ruling by the Constitutional Court on 10 May 2006 to liberalize the criminalization of abortion in certain cases, which is likely to lower the maternal mortality rates among adolescent girls. Nevertheless, the Committee is seriously concerned over the high and increasing rate of teenage pregnancies and at the lack of adequate and accessible sexual and reproductive health services, also due to inadequate allocation of resources in these sectors. In addition to causing risks to physical and mental health, the incidence of adolescent pregnancies also limits the personal development of the individual, has a detrimental affect on young women's ability to sustain themselves financially and creates a poverty trap with overall negative effects for society.
The Committee recommends that the State party promote and ensure access to reproductive health services for all adolescents, including sex and reproductive health education in schools as well as youth-sensitive and confidential counselling and health-care services, taking into due account the Committee's general comment No. 4 on adolescent health and development in the context of the Convention (CRC/GC/2003/4). (paragraphs 70 and 71)
UN Human Rights Committee's
Last reported: 15 and 16 March 2004
Concluding Observations adopted: 25 March 2004
The Committee congratulates the State party on its progress in implementing the earlier recommendation made by the Committee in 2004 (CCPR/CO/80/COL, para. 13) through Constitutional Court ruling C-355 of 2006, which decriminalizes abortion in certain circumstances: when the woman is a victim of rape or incest, when pregnancy poses a serious risk to her life or health, and when the foetus displays signs of serious malformations that make its life outside the womb unviable. However, the Committee is concerned that, despite Ministry of Health Decree No. 4444 of 2006, health-service providers refuse to perform legal abortions and that the Procurator-General does not support enforcement of the relevant Constitutional Court ruling. The Committee is likewise concerned that insufficient sex education in the school curriculum and public information on how to gain access to a legal abortion continues to cause loss of life among women who have resorted to unsafe abortions (arts. 3, 6 and 26).
The State party must ensure that health providers and medical professionals act in conformity with the ruling of the Court and do not refuse to perform legal abortions. Further, the State party should take steps to help women to avoid unwanted pregnancies so that they do not have to resort to illegal or unsafe abortions that may put their lives at risk. The State party should facilitate access to public information on access to legal abortions. (paragraph 19)
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Last reported: 4 and 5 May 2010
Concluding Observations adopted: 19 and 20 May 2010
The Committee recommends that the State party ensure sexual and reproductive education in schools. It also recommends that the State party increase resources allocated to sexual and reproductive health services, in particular in rural areas and among internally displaced persons, and carry out a proactive strategy to prevent early pregnancies. (paragraph 26)
UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
Last reported: 25 January 2007
Concluding Observations published: 2 February 2007
The Committee encourages the State party to continue its efforts to enhance women's access to health care, in particular to sexual and reproductive health services, in accordance with article 12 of the Convention and the Committee's general recommendation 24 on women and health. It requests the State party to strengthen measures aimed at the prevention of unwanted pregnancies, including by increasing knowledge and awareness about, as well as access to, a range of contraceptives, family planning services for women and girls, and to take measures to ensure that women do not seek unsafe medical procedures, such as illegal abortion, because of lack, or inaccessibility, of appropriate family planning and contraceptive services. The Committee recommends that the State party give priority attention to the situation of adolescents and rural, indigenous and afrodescendent women, and that it provide appropriate sex education with special attention to the prevention of pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, including as part of the regular education curriculum. (paragraph 23)
In spite of the decision by the Constitutional Court to decriminalise abortion where the pregnancy represents a risk to the life or health of the mother, in cases of serious malformation of the foetus or in cases of rape, the incidence of illegal and unsafe abortions and related maternal mortality remain high, and the lack of access to legal abortion services for women at the lack of adequate and accessible sexual and reproductive health services
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (Concluding Observations, June 2006)
The Committee takes note of the ruling by the Constitutional Court on 10 May 2006 to liberalize the criminalization of abortion in certain cases, which is likely to lower the maternal mortality rates among adolescent girls. Nevertheless, the Committee is seriously concerned over the high and increasing rate of teenage pregnancies and at the lack of adequate and accessible sexual and reproductive health services, also due to inadequate allocation of resources in these sectors. In addition to causing risks to physical and mental health, the incidence of adolescent pregnancies also limits the personal development of the individual, has a detrimental affect on young women's ability to sustain themselves financially and creates a poverty trap with overall negative effects for society.
The Committee recommends that the State party promote and ensure access to reproductive health services for all adolescents, including sex and reproductive health education in schools as well as youth-sensitive and confidential counselling and health-care services, taking into due account the Committee's general comment No. 4 on adolescent health and development in the context of the Convention (CRC/GC/2003/4). (paragraphs 70 and 71)
UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
Last reported: 25 January 2007
Concluding Observations published: 2 February 2007
(doesn't mention children in particular)
While noting the steps taken by the State party to enhance women's health, including sexual and reproductive health, such as the establishment of the Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy and decision C-355 of May 2006 of the Constitutional Court, which decriminalised abortion in cases where the pregnancy represents a risk to the life or health of the mother, in cases of serious malformation of the foetus or in cases of rape, the Committee expresses its concern about the high rate of maternal mortality, especially among poor, rural and indigenous and afrodescendent women. The Committee is particularly concerned at the high number of illegal and unsafe abortions and related maternal mortality. It is also concerned that, in practice, women may not have access to legal abortion services, or to guaranteed care for the management of complications arising from illegal and unsafe abortions. (paragraph 22)
Report of the Secretary general on children and armed conflict.
28 August 2009.
Girl members of the illegal armed groups are subjected to grave sexual violence. They are required to have sexual relations with adults at an early age and are forced to abort if they become pregnant. They are also forced to use methods of contraception that are often inadequate and harmful to their health. Of the girls interviewed for the study mentioned in paragraph 36, 31.2 per cent asserted that they had become pregnant and lost the foetus while with the illegal armed group. Of those adolescents, 40 per cent stated that they had been between 11 and 14 years of age when they became pregnant. (paragraph 38)
High rates of illiteracy among Afro-Colombian and indigenous children
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Last reported: 4 and 5 May 2010
Concluding Observations adopted: 19 and 20 May 2010
The Committee is concerned about the high rate of illiteracy among young persons and adults in the State party, in particular among disadvantaged and marginalized groups, as well as in rural areas (arts. 13, 14).
The Committee recommends that the State party take all necessary measures to combat illiteracy, including by carrying out awareness campaigns to sensitize parents, in particular within indigenous and afro-colombian peoples, as well as in rural areas, to the importance of education for their children. (paragraph 30)
UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Last reported: 12 and 13 August 2009
Concluding Observations adopted: 26 August 2009
The Committee, while noting efforts to provide a culturally sensitive education policy (etnoeducación) for Afro-Colombian and indigenous children, remains concerned that the State party does still not provide free primary education and that illiteracy rates remain significantly higher among Afro-Colombian and indigenous children.
The Committee reiterates the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child of 2006 (CRC/C/COL/CO/3, paras. 77 and 95) and recommends that the State party strengthen its education policy (etnoeducación) and guarantee both in law and practice that Afro-Colombian and indigenous children are provided with free primary education. Strategies should be devised in close consultation with the affected communities, receive adequate resource allocations and involve departmental and municipal authorities. Gender perspectives should be duly considered in such educational policies. (paragraph 23)
Birth registration: an estimated 20 per cent of children born in the State Party are not registered, in particular in remote areas and indigenous, afro-Colombian peoples and internally displaced persons
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (Concluding Observations, June 2006)
The Committee notes the efforts undertaken together with various United Nations agencies in order to improve the rate of birth registration, however it is concerned that 20 per cent of all Colombian children continue to lack birth registration, especially in rural areas and among Afro-Colombian and indigenous populations.
The Committee reiterates its previous recommendation (CRC/C/15/Add.137, para. 37) urging the State party to prioritize the immediate registration of the births of all children, and to promote and facilitate the registration of those children who were not registered at birth, in the light of article 7 of the Convention. The Committee recommends that the State party modernize and ensure the proper operation of the Registrar's Office, including by providing it with the necessary resources in order to cover rural areas. The Committee encourages the State party to continue cooperation with United Nations agencies in order to improve birth registration. (paragraphs 48 and 49)
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Last reported: 4 and 5 May 2010
Concluding Observations adopted: 19 and 20 May 2010
The Committee is concerned that about 20 per cent of children born in the State Party are not registered, in particular in remote areas and among indigenous, Afro-Colombian peoples and internally displaced persons. It is also concerned that the lack of registration results in difficulties in the access to and enjoyment of their rights under the Covenant (art.10).
The Committee recommends that the State party take immediate measures to ensure that all children born in the State party are registered, in particular in rural areas and among indigenous and Afro-Colombian peoples and internally displaced persons. The Committee also recommends that the State party complete the modernization of its Civil Registry, and provide sufficient resources to the National Registry's Office to facilitate the registration in rural areas and by internally displaced persons. (paragraph 19).
UN Committee on Migrant Workers
Last reported: 21 and 22 April 2009
Concluding Observations adopted 29 and 30 April 2009
The Committee recommends that the State party, in accordance with article 29 of the Convention, should ensure, both in law and in practice, the right of all children to have a name, to registration of their birth and to a nationality. The Committee urges the State party to complete as soon as possible the process of accession to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.. (paragraph 30)
High rates of malnutrition, particularly among women and children in internally displaced communities
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (Concluding Observations, June 2006)
In particular, the Committee is concerned that:
- Malnutrition continues to affect a large proportion of the displaced, the Afro-Colombian and the indigenous populations (paragraph 68)
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Last reported: 4 and 5 May2010
Concluding Observations adopted: 19 and 20 May 2010
The Committee is concerned about the high malnutrition rate which affects a considerable number of children and women, in particular among internally displaced groups, as well as persons living in rural areas.
The Committee firmly recommends that the State party adopt an effective national food policy to combat hunger and malnutrition, in particular among children, women, internally displaced persons and persons living in rural areas. (paragraph 21)
UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Last reported: 12 and 13 August 2009
Concluding Observations adopted: 26 August 2009
While recognising efforts by the State party to provide culturally sensitive health care coverage for indigenous peoples, the Committee is concerned that life expectancy and health indicators and are considerably lower for Afro-Colombians and indigenous peoples, while maternal and infant mortality as well as chronic malnutrition rates are significantly higher, compared to the mestizo population. The Committee is concerned over the lack of adequate and accessible health services among these communities and over insufficient data on health indicators and on related policy measures to improve them. (paragraph 22)
UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people
Country visit: 8-17 march 2004
Report published: 10 November 2004
The situation of indigenous women, who account for 49 per cent of the total indigenous population, is particularly worrying. To begin with, the few indicators available show that women's level of human development (education, nutrition, health, etc.) is lower than that of indigenous men and of the non-indigenous population as a whole. At least 60 per cent of displaced women lack access to health services. Displaced children present high rates of malnutrition, respiratory diseases, diarrhoea and dehydration, and many of them are forced to migrate to urban areas to avoid recruitment by the armed groups. (paragraph 70)
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Last reported: 4 and 5 May 2010
Concluding Observations adopted: 19 and 20 May 2010
The Committee urges the State party to effectively enforce legislation to combat trafficking in children. It also recommends that the State party strengthen its programmes and information campaigns to prevent trafficking under the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking 2007-2012 with particular attention to children from disadvantaged and marginalized groups; to continue to provide mandatory training for law officials and judges; and to prosecute and sentence those responsible for the crimes of trafficking in children. The State party should provide in its next periodic report statistical data disaggregated on an annual basis, by sex and country of origin of children who are victims of exploitation and trafficking, as well as on cases investigated and the decisions taken. (paragraph 17).
UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
Last reported: 25 January 2007
Concluding Observations published: 2 February 2007
While welcoming the State party's integrated approach to combating trafficking in persons, the Committee is concerned about the persistent scope of the problem. The Committee is concerned about the links between drug trafficking, where women are used as "mules", and other forms of trafficking in women and girls, including for sex tourism and the economic exploitation of women and girls in domestic work. It is concerned at the insufficient information provided about the incidence of internal trafficking. The Committee regrets that insufficient data and information was provided on the exploitation of prostitution and on the effectiveness of measures to address it. (Paragraph 20)
The Committee urges the State party to intensify its efforts to combat all forms of trafficking in women and girls. It calls on the State party to fully assess the scope of trafficking in women and girls, including internal trafficking, and systematically compile and analyse data and information with a view to identifying more effective methods to prevent this phenomenon. It also recommends that the State party enhance its nationwide awareness-raising campaigns on the risks and consequences of becoming involved in drug trafficking, targeting, in particular, women and girls at risk, including those living in rural areas, and to enhance alternative economic opportunities for them. It urges the State party to take measures for the recovery, support and social reintegration of women and girls who are victims of trafficking. It encourages the State party to intensify training of law enforcement, migration and border control officials and to enhance its regional and international cooperation, in particular with countries of destination, in order to effectively combat trafficking. It urges the State party to analyse and monitor the impact of measures taken and provide information about the results achieved in its next periodic report. The Committee also requests the State party to provide in its next report statistical data and analysis on the exploitation of prostitution and the effectiveness of measures taken to address it. (paragraph 21)
Universal Periodic Review (December 2008)
35. Take stronger measures to address the problem of organized crimes and drug trafficking, in particular, to focus on the link between drug trafficking and trafficking in women and girls (Malaysia); (accepted)
Lack of sufficient protection for children, particularly Afro-Colombian and indigenous children, in the general climate of insecurity and displacement
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (Concluding Observations, June 2006)
The Committee takes note of the State party's intention to increase resources for assistance to internally displaced children, however expresses grave concern of the very high number of children who continue to be displaced annually in Colombia. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Colombia has the largest internally displaced population in the world, estimated in 2005 according to official figures at 1.7 million people and at more than 3 million according to non-official sources. The Committee shares the concern expressed by the Constitutional Court (T-025 of 2004) over the lack of targeted attention and assistance available for displaced children, especially since it is estimated that children constitute more than half of the displaced population. In addition, the Committee is concerned that inadequate attention is paid to the physical protection of internally displaced children and their need for psychosocial assistance in order to overcome the trauma of displacement. (paragraph 78)
UN Human Rights Committee
Last reported: 15 and 16 March 2004
Concluding Observations adopted: 25 March 2004
The Committee is concerned at the very high incidence of forced displacement (over 3.3 million persons by the end of 2009 according to the State party) and at the lack of effective measures for prevention and care. The Committee notes with concern that attention to the needs of the displaced population remains inadequate and is marked by an insufficient allocation of resources and the lack of comprehensive measures for providing differentiated care for women, children, Afro-Colombians and indigenous people (arts. 12, 24, 26 and 27).
The State party should ensure the development and implementation of a comprehensive policy for the displaced population that should provide for differentiated care, with the emphasis on women, children, Afro-Colombians and indigenous people. The State party should strengthen mechanisms for ensuring that the land of displaced persons can be restituted. The State should evaluate the progress being made on a regular basis in consultation with the beneficiary population. The State party must also implement the recommendations made by the Representative of the Secretary-General on the human rights of internally displaced persons following his visit to Colombia in 2006 (A/HRC/4/38/Add.3).(paragraph 23)
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Last reported: 4 and 5 May 2010
Concluding Observations adopted: 19 and 20 May 2010
The Committee is concerned at the large number of children that continue to be victims of sexual exploitation, in particular children from disadvantaged and marginalised groups, including internally displaced children and children living in poverty, in spite of measures already taken by the State party, such as legislation that criminalises sexual exploitation; sex tourism with minors; and child pornography with specific provisions regarding internet providers, as well as the National Plan of Action to prevent and eradicate sexual exploitation (2006-2011) (art. 10). (paragraph 17)
UN Committee against Torture
Last reported: 10 and 11 November 2009
Concluding Observations published: 4 May 2010
The Committee is concerned about the continued recruitment and use of children by illegal armed groups. The Committee recognises the efforts made by the State party through the establishment, in December 2007, of the Intersectoral Commission to prevent the unlawful recruitment of children and adolescents by illegal organised groups; it notes that according to the State party, it has been possible to break the grip of such groups on some 3,800 children. The Committee does, however, regret the lack of information on the criminal liability of persons responsible for recruiting children. It is concerned that such children are not given sufficient support to ensure their physical and mental rehabilitation and recuperation, that different levels of protection are offered depending on whether the children are demobilised from guerilla or other illegal armed groups, and that when children are taken captive by the security forces, they are not always handed over to the civil authorities within the 36-hour legal deadline. The Committee is also concerned that the security forces use children for intelligence purposes, occupy schools in areas of conflict and organise "military days" in schools throughout the country (articles 2 and 16 of the Convention).
The State party should strengthen measures to prevent the recruitment of children, provide proper support to ensure their physical and mental rehabilitation and recuperation and prosecute through the criminal courts those who have recruited them. The security forces should refrain from jeopardising the neutrality of schools and comply with standards relating to the return to the civil authorities of children who have broken away from illegal armed groups or been captured. The Committee recommends that the State party extend its full cooperation to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict in order to progress with the implementation of Security Council resolution 1612. (paragraph 29)
UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
Last reported: 25 January 2007
Concluding Observations published: 2 February 2007
While noting the State party's efforts to support internally displaced women and children, it is concerned that these population groups, especially female heads of household, continue to be disadvantaged and vulnerable in regard to access to health, education, social services, employment and other economic opportunities, as well as at risk of all forms of violence. The Committee is also concerned about the effects of conflict and displacement on family life. (paragraph 12)
The Committee urges the State party to increase its efforts to meet the specific needs of internally displaced women and children and to ensure their equal access to health, education, social services and employment and other economic opportunities, as well as security and protection from all forms of violence, including domestic violence. (paragraph 13)
UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Last reported: 12 and 13 August 2009
Concluding Observations adopted: 26 August 2009
The Committee is concerned over information provided by the State party indicating continued large numbers of massive and individual displacements and the disproportionately high and increasing numbers of Afro-Colombians and indigenous peoples among the displaced and over reports that assistance may be denied due to restrictive interpretations of the applicable standards. The Committee is especially concerned that humanitarian assistance and protection measures for the displaced remain inadequate and that compliance with the Constitutional Court decision T-025 of 2004 has been insufficient and unduly delayed. The Committee is concerned that women and children of Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities are particularly vulnerable among the displaced population and lack effective and differentiated assistance and protection.
The Committee recommends that the State party, as a matter of priority, allocate additional human and financial resources in order to comply with the Constitutional Court decision T-025 of 2004 and the follow-up orders (Auto 092 of 2008, Autos 004 and 005 of 2009). While recognising efforts by the State party, such as the adoption of a National Plan of Assistance for the Displaced (Decreto 250 de 2005) with differentiated assistance measures, the Committee recommends that the State party intensify these efforts to ensure the practical implementation of the Plan, and that it pay particular attention to the rights of Afro-Colombian and indigenous women and children. The Committee recommends that the State party focus on ensuring that national policies are sufficiently funded and carried out at departmental and municipal level and that safe return for the displaced to their original lands is facilitated. (paragraph 16)
Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
Country visit: 5-13 July 2005
Report published: 17 January 2006
UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
The Government must in its protection and preventive strategy take urgent measures recognising the special needs of the country's most vulnerable groups,
particularly women, children, human rights defenders, trade union leaders, the urban
poor, rural dwellers and members of the indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities. (paragraph 111)
Universal Periodic Review (December 2008)
40. Continue efforts to implement its commitments, as described in paragraphs 67, 71 and 76 of the national report with regard to the protection of displaced persons, women and children (Algeria); (accepted)
The minimum age for marriage is too low and discriminatory, as it is set at 12 years for girls and 14 years for boys
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (Concluding Observations, June 2006)
The Committee is concerned that the minimum age for marriage is too low and discriminatory, as it is set at 12 years for girls and14 years for boys. Child marriages and early pregnancies have a serious detrimental effect on the health, education and development of the girl child.
The Committee recommends that the State party reform its legislation and practice to increase the minimum age for marriage either with or without parental consent to an internationally acceptable age, for both girls and boys, in accordance with general comment No. 4 on adolescent health and development in the context of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC/GC/2003/4). (paragraphs 33 and 34)
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Last reported: 4 and 5 May 2010
Concluding Observations adopted: 19 and 20 May 2010
The Committee is concerned that it is permissible for children to get married at 14 years with the consent of a parent or guardian, though the legal minimum marriage age in the State party is 18 years. It is also concerned that getting married at 14 years has a negative impact on the enjoyment by children of their economic, social and cultural rights, in particular the rights to health and to education (art. 10).
The Committee encourages the State party to implement the legal minimum marriage age of 18 years for girls and boys, in compliance with international standards. The Committee also requests that, in its next periodic report, the State party provide detailed information on the extent of this phenomenon. (paragraph 18)
Environmental health problems caused by aerial fumigation of coca plantations
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (Concluding Observations, June 2006)
The Committee, while acknowledging the State party's legitimate priority to combat narcotics, is concerned about environmental health problems arising from the usage of the substance glyphosate in aerial fumigation campaigns against coca plantations (which form part of Plan Colombia), as these affect the health of vulnerable groups, including children.
The Committee recommends that the State party carry out independent, rights based environmental and social-impact assessments of the sprayings in different regions of the country and ensure that, when affected, prior consultation is carried out with indigenous communities and that all precautions be taken to avoid harmful impact of the health of children (paragraphs 72 and 73).
UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people
Mr Rodolfo Stavenhagen
Country visit: 8-17 march 2004
Report published: 10 November 2004
The Awa community in Nariño has informed the Special Rapporteur of various kinds of damage caused over the last three years to large tracts of rainforest in several areas of the municipalities of Tumaco and Barbacoas, as a result of spraying with glyphosate. The greatest damage was done, they say, to sources of fresh water, killing native fish and affecting human health, causing aching bones, vomiting, dizziness, fever and other ailments, particularly among children. (paragraph 51)
High incidence of children victims of extrajudicial killings, homicides and massacres as a consequence of the armed conflict and high rate of drug use among children
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (Concluding Observations, June 2006)
The Committee expresses grave concern at the continuously high incidence of children victims of extrajudicial killings, homicides and massacres as a consequence of the armed conflict. Children continue to be victims of disappearances and social cleansing, in particular due to their stigmatization as displaced. The Committee is concerned over ongoing killing of hundreds of children in the areas of Ciudad Bolivar and Soacha, on the outskirts of Bogotá. Finally, the Committee notes that the links between public officials and members of illegal armed groups, in particular the paramilitaries, have yet to be severed.
The Committee urges the State party to take, as a matter of priority, effective measures and action to protect the civilian population from all forms of violations, especially those affecting children, and reminds the State party that failure to act and prevent such violations may incur responsibility. Furthermore, the Committee urges the State party to put an end to links between public officials and members of illegal armed groups, in particular the paramilitaries, as these still exist. (paragraphs 40 and 41)
UN Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights
Last reported: 4 and 5 May 2010
Concluding Observations adopted: 19 and 20 May 2010
The Committee is concerned at the high rate of drug consumption in the State party, in particular among adolescents and its negative effects on individual health, as well as its impact on public health care (art.12)
The Committee recommends that the State party include programs to combat drug consumption in its public health and education policies, including information campaigns on the negative effects of the use of narcotics. (paragraph 27)
Report of the Secretary general on children and armed conflict.
28 August 2009.
Indiscriminate attacks conducted by illegal armed groups against the civilian population have also affected children. In August 2008, FARC-EP set off an explosive device in the municipality of Ituango, department of Antioquia. As a result, 8 people were killed, among them 2 boys, and 52 were injured, including 10 children.
The deaths of children in combat continue to be reported. In March 2008, in the department of Norte de Santander, four children between the ages of 13 and 17 in the ranks of ELN were killed in combat
Children have also been victims of crossfire between the national army and illegal armed groups. In August 2008, a five-year-old child was killed in a skirmish between the national army and FARC-EP inside a house in the municipality of San Pedro, department of Valle del Cauca. In September 2008, a one-year-old girl lost an eye as a consequence of being caught in a military action between the national army and FARC-EP in the department of Arauca. (paragraphs 30 to 32)
The detention of children in facilities which fail to comply with international standards
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (Concluding Observations, June 2006)
While the Committee is concerned over the rapidly rising number of children prosecuted in the regular justice system, the high number of children deprived of liberty and the detention of children in facilities which fail to comply with international standards and separation of children from adults. Furthermore, the Committee notes the lack of recovery and social reintegration programmes for children.
The Committee reiterates its previous recommendation that the State party bring the system of juvenile justice fully in line with the Convention, in particular articles 37, 40 and 39, and with other United Nations standards in the field of juvenile justice, including the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (The Beijing Rules), the United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (The Riyadh Guidelines), the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of Their Liberty and the Vienna Guidelines for Action on Children in the Criminal Justice System and the recommendations of the Committee made at its day of general discussion on juvenile justice (CRC/C/46, paras. 203-238). (paragraphs 90 and 91)
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
Country visit: 1-10 October 2008
Report published: 16 February 2009
The majority of detained minors are in detention for the illegal possession of weapons, theft, drug trafficking, homicide, attempted homicide and personal injury. The maximum penalty that can be imposed on them is eight years for crimes against humanity, even though the maximum penalty under the old Minors' Code was only three years.13 The penalty can be reduced by half if the young offender pleads guilty to the charges. There is always the possibility of appealing to a hybrid court made up of criminal and family magistrates. The most common offences involving adolescents are theft, trafficking and possession of drugs and illegal possession of weapons. (Paragraph 88)
Minors aged between 14 and 16 years may be deprived of liberty only if they have committed the offences of homicide, kidnapping or extortion. Minors aged between 16 and 18 years may be detained in establishments of the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF) only if they have committed offences warranting a sentence of six years' imprisonment (sexual abuse, domestic violence or aggravated theft). The new Children's Act is not yet in force in the department of Cundinamarca. (paragraph 89)
Between 15 March 2007 and 31 August 2008, 5,000 minors in Bogotá alone were processed through the Criminal Justice System for Adolescents for committing an offence. Of those, 200 are in pretrial detention and 100 have already been sentenced. (paragraph 90).
Education - The quality of education remains low in the public system and disadvantages vulnerable groups in society The inclusion of human rights education in school curricula remains insufficient. The recurrent usage of schools by State armed forces and establishment of military bases near schools creates military targets for illegal armed groups, making it impossible for children to receive education; The persistence of hidden costs for administrative fees and costs for uniforms, materials and transport. This is demonstrated in a high and increasing dropout rate among vulnerable groups in society, in particular in rural areas
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (Concluding Observations, June 2006)
The Committee notes that free education for nine years in school is enshrined as a constitutional right, however, with the reservation that costs be levied upon those who can afford to pay. In practice this provision has created a discriminatory educational system marked by arbitrary fees and social exclusion. The Committee continues to have a number of serious concerns with regards to the implementation of the right to education, including the following:
- Budget allocations remain insufficient and unequally distributed between the private and public sector;
- A rights-based National Strategy of Education remains lacking;
- The quality of education remains low in the public system and disadvantages vulnerable groups in society;
- The persistence of hidden costs for administrative fees and costs for uniforms, materials and transport. This is demonstrated in a high and increasing dropout rate among vulnerable groups in society, in particular in rural areas;
- The policy of etnoeducación (bilingual education) for indigenous communities lacks coverage and is often done without sufficient consultation with the communities;
- Female students suffer discrimination and termination of their schooling as a consequence of early pregnancies and marriages. Schools continue to apply expulsion on the grounds of pregnancy despite a Constitutional Court ruling that such gender-based discrimination constitutes an infringement on the right to education;
- Statistics are still lacking on the coverage, dropout and completion rates according to urban/rural areas, ethnicity and sex;
- The high numbers of teachers killed, on average three each month, in the areas affected by the internal armed conflict, constitutes a serious impediment to the realization of the right to education;
- The recurrent usage of schools by State armed forces and establishment of military bases near schools creates military targets for illegal armed groups, making it impossible for children to receive education;
- The participation of children in military training activities and school study visits to military bases, in the context of the ongoing internal armed conflict, compromises the humanitarian law principle of distinction of the civilian population and puts children at risk of retaliation by members of illegal armed groups;
- The inclusion of human rights education in school curricula remains insufficient. (paragraph 76)
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education
Ms Katarina Tomaševski
Country visit: 1-10 October 2003
Report published: 17 February 2004