A/HRC/43/51/Add.1 Afro-Colombian peoples,2 and enshrines the rights and autonomy of indigenous peoples 3 and the Afro-Colombian population.4 7. Colombia has ratified nine key international human rights treaties, 5 the core regional human rights treaties 6 and the International Labour Organization (ILO) Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169)7 and supported the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Once ratified by Congress, human rights treaties have constitutional status and prevail over domestic law. 8 8. On 24 November 2016, the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) concluded the Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace, which put an end to more than five decades of armed conflict between the two parties. 9 The Peace Agreement, which was subsequently endorsed by the Congress, constitutes a special agreement in accordance with common article 3 of the Geneva Conventions relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts for the purposes of its international validity. 10 9. In recent years, the State, in partnership with civil society, has made significant efforts to improve its legal and institutional framework with a view to facilitating a safe and enabling environment for the defence and promotion of human rights. 11 10. In 2009, State institutions and human rights organizations, with the support of the international community, launched the national mechanism to safeguard the work of human rights defenders and social and community leaders, with a mandate to adopt legislative, institutional and other measures focused on prevention, protection and investigation in the field of human rights, and established a permanent forum for dialogue between civil society and the Government through the National Committee on Safeguards for Human Rights Defenders and the 14 regional committees. 11. The National Protection Unit was established in 2011 under the Ministry of the Interior.12 Two months later, the Ministry of the Interior and the National Protection Unit 13 launched a prevention and protection programme focusing on the rights to life, freedom, physical integrity and security of persons, groups and communities, which establishes the duty of the State to protect human rights defenders and others through individual and collective prevention and protection measures based on a differentiated and gendersensitive approach. The National Protection Unit has become one of the most sophisticated systems for the protection of human rights defenders in the region (see paragraphs 56 to 59 below on the Unit). 12. The recognition and protection of women defenders has been strengthened following the adoption by the National Protection Unit of a gender-sensitive approach in 201214 and 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 4 Ibid., arts. 7, 8, 10, 13, 17 and 70. Ibid., arts. 1, 7, 10, 63, 70, 96, 171, 176, 246, 286, 287 and 328 to 330. Ibid., art. 33 and transitory art. 55. https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?CountryID=37&Lang=SP. www.oas.org/es/cidh/mandato/documentos-basicos/ratificacion-adhesion-denuncia-intrumentosinteramericanos-derechos-humanos.pdf. www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/es/f?p=1000:11200:0::NO:11200:P11200_COUNTRY_ID:102595. Constitution, arts. 53, 93, 94, 102 and 214 (2). www.altocomisionadoparalapaz.gov.co/procesos-y-conversaciones/Paginas/Texto-completo-delAcuerdo-Final-para-la-Terminacion-del-conflicto.aspx. In August 2019, a small group of former FARC-EP combatants, led by Iván Márquez, announced a return to armed struggle. The Fuerza Alternativa Revolucionaria del Común (People’s Alternative Revolutionary Force) (FARC) party confirmed that 95 per cent of former combatants support the Peace Agreement (S/2019/780, para. 3). Office of the Presidential Advisor on Human Rights and International Affairs, Informe de Homicidios contra Líderes Sociales y Defensores de Derechos Humanos 2010–2019 (Report on murders of social leaders and human rights defenders), pp. 2–4. Decree No. 4065 of 2011. Decree No. 4912 of 2011, amended by Decree No. 1225 of 2012. In 2012, the National Protection Unit adopted a specific gender-sensitive protocol focused on the rights of women, established the Committee on Risk Assessment and the Recommendation of GE.19-22542