Abstract
Colombia is widely reckoned as one of the most interesting case studies in the field of transitional justice. The five decades long civil war has resulted in a countless number of victims, disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable sectors of the population, including children. Over the past years the Colombian Government has strived to achieve a twofold aim, on the one hand it has passed laws and regulations to enhance the country’s compliance with human rights standards and on the other hand it has established measures, legal and non, to promote a comprehensive transitional justice process and achieve reconciliation, justice and reparations for the victims of the ongoing armed conflict. Both sets of actions have had an impact also on children. The national laws adopted to strengthen the country’s compliance with the tenets of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and its Optional Protocols, as well as the legislative efforts developed within the transitional justice process, have contributed to build a unique framework that deserves to be duly analysed against the backdrop of two key principles, namely the best interests of the child and children’s right to participate in all the decisions and processes affecting them. The contribution will be divided in three main sections, the first one will provide an overview of the current situation of children in Colombia, the second part will analyse the key CRC principles and the degree to which they have been absorbed in the Colombian national laws; and the third part will critically discuss Colombian framework’s compliance with the international human rights standard embedded in the CRC and present some conclusive remarks.
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Notes
- 1.
The Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, ‘No one to Trust: Children and Armed Conflict in Colombia’, April 2012, http://www.protectingeducation.org/sites/default/files/documents/no_one_to_trust.pdf (accessed 5 March 2015).
- 2.
The 2014 Global Report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) placed Colombia as the country with the second highest number of IDPs in the world, http://www.internal-displacement.org/assets/publications/2014/201405-global-overview-2014-en.pdf (accessed 8 March 2015).
- 3.
“Profiles: Colombia’s Armed Groups”, BBC News, 29 August 2013, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11400950 (accessed 8 March 2015).
- 4.
JPL, Arts 24, 29; Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston, Addendum, Mission to Colombia, 31 March 2010, A/HRC/14/24/Add.2, Appendix C, Justice and Peace Law, para 3.
- 5.
García-Godos and Lid (2010).
- 6.
Humphrey (2013), pp. 67–87.
- 7.
According to OHCHR 53 % of the BACRIM’s members are former paramilitaries. See Annual Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Addendum: Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Colombia, 31 January 2012, A/HRC/19/21/Add.3.
- 8.
Human Rights Watch (2015) World report: Colombia. www.hrw.org/world-report-2015/Colombia (accessed 2 March 2015).
- 9.
Ibid.
- 10.
Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Colombia, A/HRC/19/21/Add.3, 31 January 2012, para 49.
- 11.
Victims’ Law, arts 1–2; see also ‘Colombia: Victims Law a Historic Opportunity’ Human Rights Watch, 10 June 2011, http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/06/10/colombia-victims-law-historic-opportunity (accessed 6 March 2015).
- 12.
Céspedes-Báez (2012).
- 13.
International Crisis Group (2012), General Agreement for the Termination of the Conflict and the Construction of a Stable and Lasting Peace, 34.
- 14.
‘What is at stake in the Colombian peace process?’ BBC News, 15 January 2015, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19875363 (accessed 7 March 2015).
- 15.
“Victims’ voice heard in Colombia Peace Talks”, Global Justice News and Civil Society Views from the Coalition for the ICC, 16 March 2015, https://ciccglobaljustice.wordpress.com/2015/03/16/victims-voices-heard-in-colombia-peace-talks/ (accessed 8 March 2015).
- 16.
Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Addendum Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Colombia, 7 January 2013, A/HRC/22/17/Add.3, 3.
- 17.
Annual Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Addendum Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Colombia, 31 January 2012, A/HRC/19/21/Add.3, 14.
- 18.
Children and armed conflict, Report of the Secretary-General, 15 May 2014, A/68/878–S/2014/339.
- 19.
Ibid., para 35.
- 20.
The Government of Colombia has voluntarily accepted the monitoring and reporting mechanism pursuant to Security Council resolution 1612 (2005) on the condition that any dialogue between the United Nations and armed groups would take place with its consent.
- 21.
Children and armed conflict, Report of the Secretary-General, 15 May 2014, A/68/878–S/2014/339, 35.
- 22.
The number of children who have been associated with armed groups in Colombia is very difficult to determine; the existing data gathered by NGOs, the UN, local authorities and researchers does not match. According to Springer, the number amounts to 18,000 children. (See Springer 2012, pp. 34–35. According to Human Rights Watch the number of children associated with armed groups is 11,000. (See Human Rights Watch, ‘Aprenderás A No Llorar: Niños Combatientes En Colombia’ (2004) Bogotá: Editorial Gente Nueva). Instead the number reported by the el Tribunal Internacional sobre la Infancia Afectada por la Gue- rra y la Pobreza is 8000 children. See Tribunal Internacional sobre la Infancia Afectada por la Guerra y la Pobreza del Comité de Derechos Humanos, Reporte Internacional Anual 2012 sobre la infancia afectada por la guerra. Los dos Congos de la guerra. Colombia y la región de los grandes lagos en África. Dos regiones de muerte para la infancia (Bogotá-Madrid: Tribunal Internacional sobre la Infancia Afectada por la Guerra y la Pobreza del Comité de Derechos Humanos (2012)).
- 23.
Children and armed conflict, Report of the Secretary-General, 15 May 2014, A/68/878–S/2014/339, 36.
- 24.
International Crisis Group (2012), General Agreement for the Termination of the Conflict and the Construction of a Stable and Lasting Peace, 35.
- 25.
The news has been reported by, inter al., Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, http://watchlist.org/tag/colombia/ (accessed 12 March 2015).
- 26.
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. UNTS Vol. 2173, 222 (entered into force 12 February 2002).
- 27.
See Art. 3(1) of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. According to this provision: ‘In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration’.
- 28.
UN General Assembly, Declaration of the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1959, A/RES/1386(XIV), para 2.
- 29.
See CEDAW, arts. 5 (b) and 16, para. 1 (d).
- 30.
See Committee on the Rights of the Child, General comment No. 14 (2013) on the right of the child to have his or her best interests taken as a primary consideration (art. 3, para. 1), CRC/C/GC/14.
- 31.
See Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 5 (2003) General Measures of Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, CRC/GC/2003/5.
- 32.
See Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 13 (2011) The right of the child to freedom from all forms of violence, CRC/C/GC/13, para 61. See also Rodham (1973).
- 33.
See General Comment No. 14, para 4.
- 34.
Article 12 of the CRC establishes that: 1. States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child. 2. For this purpose the child shall in particular be provided the opportunity to be heard in any judicial and administrative proceedings affecting the child, either directly, or through a representative or an appropriate body, in a manner consistent with the procedural Rules of the national law.
- 35.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 12 (2009), The right of the child to be heard, CRC/C/GC/12, para. 3.
- 36.
See generally UNICEF, ‘Inequities in Early Childhood Development: What the Data Say, Evidence from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys’, February 2012, http://www.unhcr.org/4566b16b2.pdf (accessed 20 March 2015). See also Bradley and Corwyn (2002).
- 37.
See General Comment No. 12, para 34.
- 38.
Ibid., para 134.
- 39.
The Spanish text of the Colombian Constitution, http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Colombia/vigente.html (accessed 21 March 2015).
- 40.
UN General Assembly, Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, 3.
- 41.
General overview of Colombia’s national legal provisions on children’s rights, CRIN, 8 December 2011.
- 42.
Colombia adopted the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography under Act No. 769 of 2002 and the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict under Act No. 833 of 2003. The Third Optional Protocol to the CRC on a Communications Procedure (OP3 CRC) sets out an international complaints procedure for child rights violations, it entered into force on 14th April 2014. Information about the status of ratification is available at: https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-11-d&chapter=4&lang=en.
- 43.
Ibid.
- 44.
Ley 1098, 8 November 2006, Còdigo de la Infancia y la Adoloscencia. Article 3 of the Children’s and Young Persons’ Code defines a child as a human being between the age of 0 and 12 years and a young person as a human being between the age of 12 and 18 years. This distinction does not jeopardise the enjoyment without discrimination of the rights set forth in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, human rights treaties ratified by Colombia, the Constitution and statutory instruments.
- 45.
Committee on the Rights of the Child, Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 44 of the Convention, Fourth and fifth periodic reports of States parties due in 2011, Colombia, 25 October 2013, CRC/C/COL/4-5, p. 8.
- 46.
In 2006 the Committee on the Rights of the Child stressed the need to proceed with a reform of the Minors’ Code in order to provide effective protection of the rights of all children in Colombia. UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), UN Committee on the Rights of the Child: Concluding Observations, Colombia, 8 June 2006, CRC/C/COL/CO/3.
- 47.
Committee on the Rights of the Child, Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 44 of the Convention, Fourth and fifth periodic reports of States parties due in 2011, Colombia, 25 October 2013, CRC/C/COL/4-5, 31.
- 48.
Fandino-Barros (2013).
- 49.
See Corte Constitucional, Sentencia Acción de tutela presentada por Clara contra el Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar, Centro Zonal Buga (Valle), once (11) de noviembre de dos mil catorce (2014) Magistrado Ponente Maria Victoria Calle Correa. Sentencia T-836/14, para 18.
- 50.
Review Conference of the Rome Statute, Transitional Justice in Colombia, Justice and Peace Law: An Experience Of Truth, Justice And Reparation, RC/ST/PJ/M.1, 1 June 2010.
- 51.
See the Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston, Addendum, Mission to Colombia, 31 March 2010, A/HRC/14/24/Add.2, para 56.
- 52.
Law 782 of 2002 stated that a child could only be recognized as belonging to an armed group by the spokesperson of the group in question or as a result of evidence provided by the child (Article 53), even though providing such evidence could involve children being used in intelligence work.
- 53.
Herencia Carrasco (2010).
- 54.
See JPL, art. 11.
- 55.
JPL, arts 16–25; see also Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston, Addendum, Mission to Colombia, 31 March 2010, A/HRC/14/24/Add.2, para 50, Appendix C, Justice and Peace Law, paras 4–6.
- 56.
Evans (2012).
- 57.
Organization of American States Inter-American Commission On Human Rights, Report on the Implementation of the Justice and Peace Law: Initial Stages in The Demobilization of the AUC and First Judicial Proceedings, OEA/Ser.L/V/II. Doc. 3, 2 October 2007, 21.
- 58.
Aptel and Ladish (2011).
- 59.
In December 2011, a conviction was obtained against a top AUC commander, Fredy Rendón Herrera, alias El Alemán (the German). He had a direct role in overseeing the illegal recruitment between 1997 and 2002 of 309 children in Chocó and Antioquia, by visiting schools to promote recruitment and authorizing the admission of minors into the group. Fredy Rendon Herrera, Sentencia, Fiscalía 44 Unidad Nacional de Justicia y Paz, Bogota D.C., 16 December 2011, paras 2.3; part 6.
- 60.
Children and armed conflict, Report of the Secretary-General, 15 May 2014, A/68/878–S/2014/339.
- 61.
Victims’ Law, arts 1–2; “Colombia: Victims Law a Historic Opportunity”, Human Rights Watch, 10 June 2011, http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/06/10/colombia-victims-law-historic-opportunity (accessed 21 March 2015).
- 62.
As noted by Summers (2012), p. 226, “Significantly, the process of acquiring victim status is explicitly divorced from the process of condemning the person responsible for victimization.”
- 63.
‘Title 7: Integral Protection of child-boys, child-girls and adolescents victims.’
- 64.
See Article 181 et ss.
- 65.
Victims’ Law, arts 3 and 190. In particular Article 190 establishes that until they reach the age of majority girls and boys illegally recruited are entitled to the same reparation regime (whose enforcement has been assigned to the Colombian Institute of Welfare Service) as all the other child victims; once they turn eighteen years old they can be eventually included in the process of reintegration led by the High Council for the Social and Economic Reintegration of the People and Groups who joined the Guerrilla.
- 66.
See the Report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Colombia, S/2012/171, 21 March 2012, para 60.
- 67.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia, press release of 7 June 2011.
- 68.
See Amnesty International, Colombia: The Victims and Land Restitution Law, 2012, 5.
- 69.
See the Global Report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, supra n 2. The estimated abandoned or dispossessed land lost by IDPs is, until 2012, calculated to be as high as 6.8 million hectares, AB Colombia “Colombia the Current Panorama: Victims and Land Restitution Law 1448,” May 2012: 3.
- 70.
Højen (2014).
- 71.
Adriaan. “Colombia implements free primary and secondary education,” Colombia Reports, February 2, 2012, http://colombiareports.co/?s=free+education (accessed 13 April 2015). The Free Education Policy has been established following a judgement issued by the Colombian constitutional Court in 2010, in which the Court stated that “the Colombian state has a 36-year-old debt to children in terms of providing education.” See Corte Constitucional, Educacion Basica Primaria en Establecimientos Educativos Estatales-Obligatoria y gratuita, diecinueve (19) de mayo de dos mil diez (2010), Magistrado Ponente: Dr. Luis Ernesto Vargas Silva, Sentencia C-376/10.
- 72.
Committee on the Rights of the Child, Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 44 of the Convention, Fourth and fifth periodic reports of States parties due in 2011, Colombia, 25 October 2013, CRC/C/COL/4-5, 31.
- 73.
Ibid.
- 74.
Summers (2012), p. 234.
- 75.
Committee on the Rights of the Child examines the Report on Colombia, 21 January 2015, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=15499&LangID=E (accessed 14 April 2015).
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Capone, F. (2016). Children in Colombia: Discussing the Current Transitional Justice Process Against the Backdrop of the CRC Key Principles. In: Diver, A., Miller, J. (eds) Justiciability of Human Rights Law in Domestic Jurisdictions. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24016-9_9
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