Colombia: Challenges for Peace and Human Rights

Announcement

Please join the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission for a virtual briefing on the human rights situation in Colombia, the status of the Colombian peace agreement and transitional justice, and prospects for improving security, human rights, and peacebuilding.  

Colombia, a key U.S. partner in South America, has experienced a recent uptick in violence. A 2016 peace accord ended a half century of civil conflict and contributed to reductions in crime and insecurity. Since the FARC's demobilization, other groups have fought for control of territory used for drug trafficking, alien smuggling, and other illicit industries amid a continued lack of state presence in many rural regions.  Hundreds of social leaders and human rights defenders have been killed, especially Indigenous and Afro-descendant community leaders—groups which represent 49% of the 28,000 people who were forcibly displaced in 2024—according to a report by the Colombian human rights NGO CODHES. A very ambitious ‘Total Peace’ strategy by the Colombian government has been frustrated by impasse in numerous simultaneous negotiation processes with various armed groups, including an April 2025 escalation by the Gulf Clan.  The June 2025 assassination attempt against a major presidential candidate raised concerns about a return to the devastating political violence of the past. Three recent reports by the University of Notre Dame’s Peace Accords Matrix Barometer project, the Colombian Committee for Follow-through and Monitoring (CSM), and the Colombian human rights group CODHES document the progress toward peace, transitional justice, and humanitarian protection in the country.

This briefing will provide an update on implementation of the 2016 peace agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC, as well as on implementation of transitional justice, especially the recommendations of the Truth Commission issued in 2022.  The panelists will discuss the challenges facing the peace process, peacebuilders, and human rights defenders, and offer recommendations for ways the U.S. government can support peace and security in Colombia.

The briefing will be virtual via Zoom. To attend, please register here. After the briefing concludes, a recording will be made available on the Commission website. For any questions, please contact Jeff Pugh (for Co-Chair McGovern) or Mark Milosch (for Co-Chair Smith).

Hosted by: