A/HRC/43/3/Add.3
B.
Sexual and reproductive rights
77.
Nineteen per cent of children born between January and September 2019 were born
to mothers under the age of 19.63 To avoid such a high incidence of teenage pregnancies,
the State should take measures to guarantee full access to sexual and reproductive rights.
78.
Legislative bill 11 of 2019, which remained before the Senate in December 2019,
was of concern. This bill aims to regulate conscientious objection regarding abortion,
euthanasia and same-sex marriage, in particular by allowing health-care workers to invoke
moral principles to deny medical assistance. If adopted, it would negatively affect access to
legal abortion services and to treatment for complications arising from unsafe abortions. 64
C.
Rights of indigenous peoples and Afro-Colombian communities
79.
On 11 November, after 17 years of efforts and following forensic identification, the
remains of 78 Afro-Colombian victims of the church massacre of 2 May 2002 in Bojayá,
Chocó, 65 were returned to their families for traditional burial. OHCHR promoted the
coordination of State institutions to support this process.
80.
Guaranteeing the right to free, prior and informed consent for indigenous peoples
and Afro-Colombian communities remained a challenge, in particular as the
implementation of the relevant procedures of the Ministry of the Interior did not meet
international standards. OHCHR observed this situation in Putumayo with the Nasa and
Quicwa peoples, in Guainía with the Piapoco and Sikuani peoples, and in Norte de
Santander with the Barí people.
81.
Illegal economic activities of criminal groups and other violent groups negatively
affected the use of traditional lands. Cases which OHCHR observed in 2019 affected the
Wiwa Seyamuke Arimaka indigenous community in La Guajira, the Awá and EperaraSiapidara peoples in Nariño, and the Afro-Colombian community councils along the Pacific
coast of Nariño.
82.
OHCHR is deeply concerned by the high number of killings of indigenous people in
Cauca. In 2019, the National Institute of Forensic Medicine registered an increase of almost
52 per cent in homicides of indigenous people in Cauca, compared to 2018. 66 Between
January and November 2019, OHCHR registered the killing of 66 members of the
indigenous Nasa people in northern Cauca, including 13 who were from Nasa authorities or
were other Nasa leaders. Urgent, effective and culturally appropriate prevention and
protection measures for these communities need to be taken in consultation with the
indigenous authorities.
D.
Rights of persons with disabilities
83.
OHCHR commends the adoption of Law 1996 of 2019, which recognizes that
persons with disabilities above 18 years of age have full legal capacity. This new law
complies with the recommendation of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities.67 The challenge remains of guaranteeing respect for the legal capacity provided
for in the above-mentioned law, including by facilitating access to legal resources to ensure
that persons with disabilities can make their own decisions.
63
64
65
66
67
14
See https://www.dane.gov.co/files/investigaciones/poblacion/bt_estadisticasvitales_IItrim_2019pr-27septiembre-2019.pdf.
CEDAW/C/COL/CO/9, paras. 37–38.
In 2002, approximately 104 persons seeking refuge in a church were killed in the explosion of an
improvised explosive device fired by FARC-EP during a confrontation with the United Self-Defence
Forces of Colombia (a paramilitary group). See
https://www.hchr.org.co/documentoseinformes/informes/tematicos/bojaya.pdf.
See https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=http://www.wradio.com.co/docs/
201911148225997a.pdf.
CRPD/C/COL/CO/1, para. 31.
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