A Follow-up Report
Conflict-related sexual violence against women and girls in Colombia has long been a largely hidden human rights tragedy. Members of all parties to the conflict –paramilitaries, the security forces and guerrilla groups – have been responsible for these crimes, and almost all have evaded justice.
This was the picture painted in Amnesty International’s September 2011 report, “This is what we demand. Justice!”: Impunity for sexual violence against women in Colombia’s armed conflict. Following publication of that report, the authorities in Colombia made a number of commitments to comply with their national and international legal obligations to end all forms of sexual violence, including those committed in the context of the conflict, and to bring those responsible for such crimes to justice.
This report details what progress has been made over the past year and what still remains to be done. It ends by calling on the government to intensify its efforts to ensure the rights of women and girls in Colombia to freedom from violence and to justice.