A/HRC/16/22 I. Introduction 1. In October 2010, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Government renewed for three years the 1996 agreement that established the office in Colombia (OHCHR-Colombia), emphasizing all aspects of the original mandate. It was also agreed to assist the Government in establishing a national human rights centre to support human rights and international humanitarian law policies. 2. The High Commissioner wishes to express her appreciation to the Colombian authorities and civil society for receiving and collaborating with her office and expresses her gratitude to the countries and organizations that supported the office during the past 13 years. 3. OHCHR-Colombia continued to observe the human rights situation, to provide legal advice and technical cooperation, and to promote human rights and international humanitarian law in the context of the internal armed conflict. 4. Upon invitation of the Government, the independent expert on minority issues and the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues visited Colombia. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Human Rights Committee reviewed the human rights situation in Colombia and formulated important recommendations. 5. On 12 October, Colombia was elected as a non-permanent member to the Security Council for 2011-2012. This, together with the openness to international scrutiny and the political will of the new Government, should translate into actions aimed at improving the country’s human rights situation. II. Context 6. The first half of 2010 was influenced by the electoral process. On 26 February, the Constitutional Court rejected the possibility of a new re-election of then-President Álvaro Uribe. Elections for Congress were held on 14 March in a generally calm atmosphere, despite some reports about irregularities. A second round of the presidential elections on 20 June resulted in the election of Juan Manuel Santos Calderón, who took office on 7 August as President. 7. President Santos expressed his commitment towards human rights, highlighted the importance of economic and social rights and announced an ambitious land restitution policy. He also promised to engage in social dialogue and political consensus-building as a matter of principle for his presidency. Some of the first positive measures taken by the new administration are an act to pay homage to victims of enforced disappearance1 and a new Military Criminal Code that excludes human rights violations from military jurisdiction; a victims’ draft act that includes the restitution of stolen lands; and improvement in the relationship between the executive branch and civil society and the judicial branch, as well as with Ecuador and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. 8. Other developments impacting human rights and international humanitarian law in the context of the armed conflict include public reflections about possibilities for peacerelated initiatives of the Government of President Santos2 and guerrilla groups;3 the death in 1 2 Act 1408 of 9 August 2010. As conditions for considering an eventual peace process, the Government demanded that guerrilla 3