100,000 people were forcibly displaced or Compliance with the 2016 Peace confined as a result of the ongoing conflict, Agreement between the FARC-EP and the particularly affecting the rights of Colombian state remained slow, according to Indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants. the Kroc Institute, which monitors In the context of the National Strike, there compliance with the Agreement. There were were numerous reports of excessive use of concerns about the significantly slower force by the security forces against peaceful progress on comprehensive rural reform protesters, particularly in Cali. Police (point 1), the ending of the armed conflict arbitrarily detained and tortured protesters (point 3) and solving the problem of illicit and there were reports of sexual and drugs (point 4). gender-based violence against women and In the first half of 2021, two meetings of the LGBTI people. At least 100 people National Commission for Security Guarantees sustained eye trauma due to the unlawful were held. The mandate of this Commission, and excessive use of less lethal weapons by established by the Peace Agreement and members of the Mobile Anti-Riot Squad involving the participation of civil society, is to (ESMAD). Killings and threats against create a public policy for dismantling armed human rights defenders reached alarming groups. No further meetings were held levels. despite civil society members’ request for BACKGROUND progress. Forty-one cases of homicide or enforced More than 28 million people were fully disappearance of former combatants were vaccinated against Covid-19 between reported between January and November, February and 31 December, according to the according to the civil society organization Ministry of Health. As of 31 December, there Indepaz. had been 129,942 Covid-19 deaths during Progress on the voluntary substitution of the year. crops for illicit use was hampered by the Thousands of people peacefully protested complex security situation and the as part of the National Strike, which began on resumption of aerial spraying with glyphosate. 28 April. The protests were initially triggered In August, 16 special peace districts for by proposed tax reforms, which the victims were created in compliance with the government sought to impose during a social Peace Agreement. crisis exacerbated by the Covid-19 FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND pandemic. The tax proposal was withdrawn ASSEMBLY following pressure from the mass mobilizations. However, the social upheaval According to the Foundation for Press continued and encompassed broader social Freedom (FLIP), illegal profiling was carried demands, calls for justice for human rights out against people who reported police violations, and protests about the slow violence on social media during the National implementation of the 2016 Peace Strike. Military intelligence capabilities were Agreement and the continuing violence in aimed at profiling at least 57 journalists by various regions of the country. collecting data such as geographic location The UN Security Council extended the and social media activity. mandate of the UN Verification Mission in The Ministry of Defence promoted a Colombia to 2022. campaign, “The truth in a sea of lies”, RIGHT TO TRUTH, JUSTICE AND disseminating publications claiming that REPARATION reports of police violence were “false news” and “digital terrorism”. In October, the Constitutional Court extended The FLIP reported 402 attacks on press the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s workers documenting social demonstrations mandate to 27 June 2022. between April and November; 170 people Amnesty International Report 2021/22 131