UN Warns Colombia's Drug Crackdown Risks Racial Discrimination

UN experts have warned that Colombia's intensified focus on drug trafficking and armed groups could worsen discrimination against Afro-Colombians unless human rights protections are integrated into security policies. The concerns were raised in a report following a visit to several cities, including Bogotá, Quibdó, Cartagena and Cali.

The report highlights how Afro-Colombian communities face systemic challenges, such as repeated police stops and fines that restrict employment opportunities, as well as prolonged detention in facilities lacking basic necessities. These issues are compounded by the government's new security agenda, which includes intensified eradication of illicit crops using aerial herbicides.

The UN experts acknowledged Colombia's security challenges but emphasized that punitive and militarized approaches have failed to restore peace and have disproportionately affected Afro-Colombian communities. They stressed the need for community participation in decisions that could reshape residents' safety, health and livelihoods.

The report also cautioned against resuming aerial spraying without fully assessing its health, environmental and food security impacts, especially for Afro-Colombian and other marginalized communities living in or near affected areas. Expert Víctor Rodríguez called for security and drug policies grounded in human rights and public health, with an approach that recognizes ethnic and racial inequalities and gives affected communities a meaningful voice.

Systemic racism remains deeply embedded in Colombia's law enforcement and criminal justice systems, with stereotypes linking people of African descent, particularly young people, to criminality. This influences police encounters, criminal and disciplinary sanctions, access to justice and opportunities to obtain an effective remedy for abuse. The experts received extensive information about repeated, unjustified stops and searches, excessive and sometimes lethal force, and discriminatory police summons and fines known as comparendos, potentially linked to informal enforcement quotas.

Plans to expand policing, such as 'urban security defence units,' raised concerns that expanded policing could worsen racial profiling, stigmatisation and violence without clear legal safeguards, independent oversight and accountability. The experts urged the government to prioritize evidence-based policing and protect against racial profiling and unnecessary or disproportionate force.