A/HRC/10/32 page 23 system (SAT) established by the Ombudsman is not fully and effectively utilized. In particular, it was noted that risk situations reported by the system, which are supposed to be acted upon by the Inter-Agency Early Warning Committee (CIAT) headed by the Ministry of the Interior and Justice, produced fewer alerts.45 4. Other vulnerable groups 88. In 2008, there were restrictions on freedom of expression, which often took the form of threats against journalists, particularly in the interior of the country, and new modes of intimidation of the media, including the use of legal action for defamation. 89. OHCHR Colombia continues to be concerned at the situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and transsexual persons, whose right to life and to not be subject to discrimination on grounds of their sexual orientation have been violated. The organization Colombia Diversa (Diverse Colombia) reported 67 murders of members of these groups in 2006-2007. IV. MAIN ACTIVITIES OF OHCHR COLOMBIA 90. As of November 2008, OHCHR Colombia had received 1,262 complaints and had followed up on 1,257 of them. A total of 231 observation missions were undertaken, which represented a total of 656 days in the field. Such missions are the most direct way to collect information for analysis of cases of human rights violations. OHCHR Colombia attended a large number of meetings with authorities and representatives of civil society in order to improve its access to information and analysis. Many of these meetings took place in remote locations where the consequences of the armed conflict are more serious. 91. OHCHR Colombia provided the Ministry of Defence with ongoing technical assistance on human rights and international humanitarian law and supported the recent process of identifying and reviewing cases of alleged extrajudicial executions. OHCHR Colombia provided advice to the Government during the process of drafting Decree 1290 and to the concerned parties during the parliamentary debate on the victims’ bill. 92. OHCHR Colombia is in the process of compiling and reviewing all recommendations so far made to Colombia by the various United Nations human rights mechanisms, including OHCHR, to facilitate follow-up and implementation. 93. With respect to women’s rights, OHCHR Colombia supported the follow-up process on Constitutional Court Order No. 092 regarding sexual violence against women IDPs, and decision No. T-496 about the need for the gender perspective in the design of victim and witness protection programmes. Furthermore, OHCHR Colombia carried out activities relating to Security Council resolution 1612 (2005) on children in armed conflict, and to ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 45 According to the Committee’s own reports, between January and September 2008, 62 early warnings from SAT led to only 28 CIAT actions.

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