A/HRC/13/72 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 4 March 2010 English Original: English and Spanish Human Rights Council Thirteenth session Agenda item 2 Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and Reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Colombia*, ** Summary In accordance with the mandate set forth in the 1996 agreement between the Government of Colombia and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the present report analyses the most important developments relating to the situation of human rights and international humanitarian law in Colombia in 2009. It records, among other issues, the significant progress made in terms of a drastic reduction in the number of complaints of extrajudicial executions and the continuous prosecution of members of Congress and public officials for alleged links with paramilitary organizations. The report recognizes the Government’s openness to international scrutiny, which it has demonstrated by receiving four Special Rapporteurs and self-monitoring the recommendations of the universal periodic review. The High Commissioner acknowledges the spirit of cooperation that exists between the Government and OHCHR-Colombia and the commitment of the Government to address human rights challenges. The report demonstrates how the internal armed conflict continues to pose many challenges for the country, including the complete disregard for international humanitarian law by guerrilla groups. This situation is exacerbated by violence against civilians committed by illegal armed groups that emerged after the demobilization of paramilitary organizations, links between illegal armed groups and drug trafficking, and the particularly acute impact of the internal armed conflict on indigenous peoples and Afro-Colombian communities. * The present report is being circulated in all official languages. The annex is circulated in English and Spanish only. ** The present document is submitted late in order to reflect the most recent information. GE.10-11819 (E) 100310