Colombia

Colombia has a long tradition of ratifying international treaties. Yet, recent governments have failed to evenly implement or monitor these treaties. Colombia is one of the few Latin American countries with a high population of Afro-descendants.  As such, their lack of support on resolutions or treaties related to racial discrimination is worrying.

The Colombian Constitution of 1991 was groundbreaking in its recognition of ethnic rights. Although there are many laws protecting Indigenous groups, the same cannot be said for Afro-descendants or Roma people. For example, the Constitution has only one article about Afro-descendant rights and it is often misinterpreted or even reversed when implemented.

In general, Colombia has inclusive citizenship practices. Citizenship is granted to individuals born of Colombian parents or if their parents are residents at the moment of birth.  It can also be requested by Indigenous peoples sharing frontiers with Colombia. 

Despite the existence of multiple laws, rulings and policies for ethnic groups, these are seldom implemented. For example, affirmative action policies for Afro-Colombians tend to be denied. Indigenous groups were mostly left out of the National Development Plan (2018-2022). Finally, peasants continue to wait for the integral rural reform promised in the 2016 Peace Accords.

Data collection efforts in Colombia tend to be incomplete due to poor coverage and lack of training. Additionally, it is difficult to access data about human rights or violence in the context of the conflict, particularly in remote areas. In the worst cases, these issues have resulted in statistical genocide of Afro-descendent and Roma people.

Afro-descendant and Indigenous groups use writs (formal written orders by courts) for the protection of constitutional rights (tutela) to compel, or encourage, enforcement of those rights. When tutelas fail, large mobilizations and Indigenous mingas (Indigenous Quechua word for ‘collective action’) are carried out. Although groups can make claims freely, they are often met with state repression and wider violence.

Although many political parties embrace diversity as a value, they are indifferent to it in practice. There are representation quotas for both Afro-descendants and Indigenous peoples, but their representation is still limited. This is due to clientelism, poverty and their physical distance from the polls. In contrast, neither Roma people nor peasants have special political representation quotas. 

Media spaces in Colombia do not offer many opportunities for the contribution or representation of minority groups. In response, Indigenous groups, Afro-Colombians and peasants have created their own media networks. Although these are meant to educate the larger population on their culture and perspectives, they have limited reach.

Civil society in Colombia is largely made up of organizations composed of ethnic and minority groups. Some organizations are exclusionary and fail to address ethno-racial issues, but these are the exception. Several human rights organizations, in contrast, promote an intersecting approach to ethnic rights. 

For the most part, the private sector does not respect diversity. While peasants are an important part of the workforce, they rarely take part in ownership. Afro-Colombians, Indigenous groups and Roma peoples are excluded from the private sector almost entirely. When included, they often occupy non-managerial roles.

Political representation quotas have promoted the creation of diverse parties. For example, Indigenous and Afro-Colombian parties have become more common. Still, these tend to be minority associations. Moreover, organizations that promote progressive agendas are more likely to be targeted by violence.

Colombia has the greatest inequalities across subethnic groups in Latin America. The armed conflict has negatively affected ethnic groups, particularly through threats of displacement and dispossession. Indigenous and Afro-Colombians often live below the poverty line and receive wages below the legal minimum. Peasants and Roma people have also been affected by the conflict, mainly due to a lack of access to land and displacement.

Access to social well-being, education and health is vastly unequal across Colombia. Afro-Colombians are the most affected, especially concerning access to water and education. High levels of social inequality also exist between Indigenous groups and peasants compared to the general population. Notably, Roma people have above-average access to basic services, and high literacy levels in their populations.

Cultural practices are respected so long as they do not represent a threat to the status quo. This has resulted in the deterioration of cultural practices. For example, Roma people are increasingly not using their native language. Indigenous groups, on the other hand, cannot access social services that align with their cosmovisions (i.e. their perspectives on the world and the meaning they assign to life).

Afro-descendants, Indigenous groups, peasants and Roma people are subject to extensive rights violations. These cases often go unheard due to institutionalized forms of racial discrimination and impunity. Because of a lack of accountability in the justice sector, these groups have not yet received significant reparations for past rights violations.

State and non-state actors exert violence against ethnic groups who hold different views. Nearly 20% of Indigenous peoples in Colombia suffered harm as a result of the conflict. Social leaders from peasant and Afro-Colombian communities are often victims of homicides. These groups have been targeted more frequently due to the lack of implementation of the Peace Agreement.

There is fairly high trust between members of different oppressed groups in Colombia. Peasant, Indigenous and Afro-Colombian organizations often converge and collaborate. However, these groups are also frequently subjected to stigmatizing narratives in the public sphere.

Trust in public institutions varies depending on the group. There is limited data on ethnic groups’ perceptions of public institutions. Findings show that ethnic groups view the services provided by the state as created without any consideration for their cultures or traditions.

Overall, Colombia is a highly exclusionary country. The distribution of resources, services and power is highly unequal between groups. Although peasant, Indigenous, Afro-descendant and Roma groups feel Colombian, they are discriminated against. In other words, they are not considered by others to be Colombian.

Minoritized groups tend to have stronger feelings of ownership in their own communities than in the wider society. These groups still insist on mobilizing for change and participating in politics. Although their sense of belonging is low, their desire to mobilize and participate shows a significant dedication to improve Colombian society and make it more accepting of differences.