Earlier this year, surreal images poured out of major Colombian cities and into international news headlines. Videos emerged of thousands gathered in the streets, draped in Colombian flags and carrying posters composed of mismatched materials and biting phrases. Dramatic photos of collisions with policemen dressed in layers of black armor depicted dystopian-like scenes. These dramatic images are evidence of a nearly seven weeklong, nationwide protest that initially began as a resistance to a tax hike amidst the state’s economic crisis. The government’s security forces had countered the initial demonstrations with a militarized police response, and tales of abuse at the hands of officials escalated the situation. The protests soon evolved into a mass movement against police brutality as well as a cry for social and economic reform. It is important to note that 88.5% of the protests were peaceful, but it was these instances of excessive force that drew international condemnation from human rights groups, leaders of international organizations, and other governments alike. The National Protests called into question the taboo attached to peaceful protest in Colombia’s post conflict society.
As of July 20th, the National Strike Committee has technically resumed these protests, although the initial movement between April 28th to June 15th of 2021 was an exceptional period of mass mobilization. The world will watch and anticipate any new reforms announced by the new Congressional session, and wonder if the relationship between security and the right to peaceful protest in Colombia will be reconceptualized. Until then, this article will review the timeline of the initial protests, highlight the findings of various human rights reports, and provide an update of the latest political and legislative outcomes.
In late April of 2021, President Iván Duque Márquez proposed a new tax reform policy that would have lowered the salary threshold that could be taxed, eliminated many current tax exemptions, and increased the amount of goods included in Value Added Tax (VAT). This anticipated financial burden catalyzed massive resistance. Colombians were already suffering from exorbitant poverty rates and rampant income inequality that is only being exacerbated by the pandemic: 3.6 million people have been pushed under the poverty line in just a year while the state’s three richest men own more than 10% of Colombia’s GDP. Protests broke out all over the country, and the National Strike Committee formed in order to represent a multitude of subgroups within the protest movement including unions, indigenous organizations, civil society, and student groups.
While a large majority of the protests were peaceful, demonstrators were met with violent force from the state security forces including Colombia’s police riot unit, ESMAD. According to an Atrocity Alert in early June by the Global Center for the Responsibility to Protect, “Colombian human rights organizations have identified almost 3,500 cases of abuse, including killings, excessive use of force, torture, disappearances and sexual violence”. Types of excessive use of force include tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets, and even live ammunition. The abuses committed by the police perpetuated and escalated the situation.
While protests broke out over the entire nation, the majority of the violence against protestors was centered in the city of Cali. This is most likely due to a culmination of factors such as the ongoing economic recession and instances of social inequality, but also structural racism against the large Afro-descent and indigenous populations within the city. Further complicating the situation and contributing to the social unrest is the region’s history of conflict with internal armed groups. One prominent lens of explaining why so much of the violence occurred in Cali is that the security forces in this region are equipped to fight against paramilitaries, and were not trained to handle peaceful protestors. In regard to such conflicts, the police have been regarded as a “critical player in a counterinsurgency strategy” which was key to holding territory and bringing about the 2016 Peace Agreements. Yet many are calling for a paradigm shift in use of the police, particularly how they view peaceful political protest: as a human right exercised by fellow citizens, not as an act of armed rebellion.
Throughout the first seven weeks of protests, Amnesty International found three major human rights violations that were committed in Cali, including an attack on the Indigenous Minga community, an attack near Valle University, and a joint incursion known as “Operation Siloé”. These violations were characterized by excessive and lethal force by National Police Officials or by armed citizens with the acquiescence of police officials.
Amnesty International published a recommendation that the Colombian authorities should not respond to peaceful protests by trying to “stigmatize” protestors as criminals. One could conclude that by painting such a narrative over the seven week period, the government incited enough fear to drive counter protests, enable armed civilians, and publicly justify the deployment of military troops. The situation seemed to be increasingly escalating as protestors responded to the troops by blockading roads and bridges trying to cause economic damage and block the flow of goods.
The situation deescalated when the National Strike Committee announced the pause of protests after nearly seven straight weeks in order to allow for political negotiations. While the initial negotiations for a pre-agreement failed, the National Strike Committee developed a 10-point plan of demands to propose at the next congressional session on July 20th. Some of these asks included the dismantling of ESMAD (the riot police unit), health care reform, and universal income. Protestors also promised to restart the protests during the next legislative period to further pressure government officials for these demands.
So far into the new legislative period, President Duque’s administration has asked Congress to implement human rights training for police and measures such as visible QR codes on police uniforms, but has not called to dismiss ESMAD. Rather, Duque has said that Colombia “will seek international expert advice on best practice for the ESMAD”. Currently, three police officers are facing murder charges and seven will be tried for “failing to uphold their duties” when they allegedly stood by while civilians opened fire at protestors.
During this new session, the Duque administration has presented a $3.95 billion tax reform bill to congress. The bill is supposed to raise 15.2 trillion pesos per year, which is significantly less than the 23.4 trillion pesos per year that was defined by the tax reform bill back in April.
“‘The social investment law, which we will build between all of us, is the largest jump in human development in recent decades’” Duque said on July 20th. His administration also spoke on how important the new bill is to ensuring social programs. Yet, do the reforms represent a meaningful shift in how the state views the right to protests and the role of security forces, or are these reforms just designed to be enough to placate domestic and international pressure?
Some Colombians worry that the reforms in the new bill are superficial. Journalist Mario Murillo describes one particular example of this outcome in an interview by Democracy Now. He referenced one component of the 10 reforms, the demand to move the National Police from the Defense ministry into the Interior Ministry, which was hoped to bring about the demilitarization of the police and to encourage a paradigm shift to thinking of protestors as citizens, not as combatants. Yet, instead of removing the National Police from the military, the new reform bill simply gives them new, different color uniforms that are supposed to be less threatening.
The international community spoke out throughout the summer about the right to peacefully protest in Colombia, and recently human rights groups and international organizations have compiled and published reports on the violence that occurred during this period. The Inter-American Court on Human Rights (IACHR) released its reports and recommendations in July, finding human right violations and urging social reconciliation. Furthermore, the Inter-American Commission will be conducting a Special Monitoring Mechanism for Human Rights in Colombia “to support the consolidation of peace within the various sectors of Colombian society”(OAS).
While these protests and political movements and reforms are still unfolding, the international community envisions a Colombia where the rule of law, security, and the human right to peacefully protest all coexist.
