379: Protests in Colombia: The Issue of Human Rights Violations during the Paro Nacional

With the #ParoNacional still on-going in Colombia, we take on the subject of human rights and human rights law in the context of the situation here.

For some background on our expert guests, read on:

Maria Clara Galvis is a lawyer from the Externado University of Colombia. Professor Galvis has graduate studies in Compared Constitutional Law from the Universitá Degli Studi di Geneva. Since 2015, she has been a member of the United Nations Committee against Forced Disappearance and is currently its Vice President. Professor Galvis is also a researcher in the International Law at the Department of Constitutional Law of the Externado University of Colombia. She has been an advisor to the Procurator Delegate for Human Rights (1994-1995), the Attorney General's Office (1997-2000), the Attorney General's Office (2010-2011), assistant magistrate of the Superior Council of the Judiciary (2014-2015) and National Director of Promotion and Dissemination of Human Rights of the Ombudsman of Colombia (2016-2017). He has published academic articles and research on international human rights law, transitional justice, enforced disappearance, business, and human rights, women's rights, and the rights of indigenous peoples. See bio

Veronica Hinestroza is an independent senior consultant and advisor on international human rights law. Her primary focus is on the documentation and investigations of grave human rights violations, particularly torture and ill-treatment, enforced disappearances and arbitrary killings. She is a member of the Steering Committee developing a universal protocol for human rights-compliant, lawful and effective questioning for the United Nations. She was a member of the working group to update the Istanbul Protocol - the United Nation’s Manual for the effective investigation and documentation of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. During over 17 years spent promoting and supporting the development and implementation of IHRL and IHL standards at the national, regional and international levels, Verónica has worked for the World Organisation Against Torture, the German Agency for International Cooperation, the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute (Latin America and East Timor), Impunity Watch, the World Bank, the International Centre for Transitional Justice, the Overseas Development Institute, Samusocial and the Externado de Colombia University.

And the subjects we cover in the podcast:


1.How can this unrest be put into context within Latin America (Chile, Nicaragua)?
2.What is going on in Colombia and from a human rights perspective, what is the situation regarding the paro nacional?
3.Police brutality and use of excessive force? As I see it, the paro nacional finds its roots as a social problem yet the authorities are treating it as an issue of “law and order,” does this contribute to the problem of human rights abuses?
4.Why is the government selling a different narrative to foreign governments and what are they trying to do?
5.Who is responsible? We need to discuss who is in charge and who is giving the orders to state forces…is this something which is a collective or individual responsibility. There are reports of disappearances, there are killings and potentially cases of torture in addition to cases of sexual violence…
6.With the issue of the False Positives and the figure: 6402 which is heavily featured in the marches as one of the protestors’ demands, “quien dio la orden,” Colombia is experiencing a very difficult moment in terms of its international reputation.
7.What do you both see as happening now, will there be any significant progress in terms of human rights in the short or long term and what can we expect from the visit of the CIDH arriving on 7 June?

Tags and Keywords: human rights colombia, human right, maria clara galvis, veronica hinestroza, paro nacional, strikes colombia, police brutality, conflict colombia