Summary

State Party Colombia ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 10 September 2015. It has participated in every meeting of the convention. Colombia has voted in favor of the key annual United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention every year since it was first introduced in 2015.

Colombia has never produced cluster munitions, though it imported them in the past and destroyed a stockpile of 72 cluster munitions and 10,832 submunitions in November 2009. Colombia is not retaining any cluster munitions for training or research purposes.

Policy

The Republic of Colombia signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified it on 10 September 2015. The convention entered into force for the country on 1 March 2016.

Law 1604, adopted in December 2012, approved Colombia’s ratification of the convention and incorporated its provisions into domestic law.[1] Colombia has reported this law and other legislation and decrees under its national implementation measures for the convention.[2]

Colombia provided its initial Article 7 transparency report on 28 August 2016, and has submitted annual updated reports since then, most recently in May 2021.[3]

Colombia participated in several meetings of the Oslo Process that produced the convention and said that its decision to join stemmed from its concern about the “humanitarian impact” of cluster munitions.[4]

Colombia actively engages in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It has participated in every Meeting of States Parties of the convention, as well as the Second Review Conference held in November 2020 and September 2021, and the First Review Conference in 2015. Colombia also attended intersessional meetings in 2011–2015 and in May 2022. It has participated in regional workshops on the convention.

Colombia voted in favor of the key annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution promoting the implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in December 2021.[5] It has voted in favor of the annual UNGA resolution on the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.

Colombia has “deplored” the use of cluster munitions in countries such as Syria.[6] It has voted in favor of UNGA resolutions expressing outrage at the use of cluster munitions in Syria.[7]

Colombia is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).

Interpretive issues

Colombia has provided its views on certain important issues related to the interpretation and implementation of the convention. In 2011 and 2010 responses to Monitor questionnaires, Colombia said it “absolutely rejects and prohibits any manner of transfer or storage of foreign cluster bombs in Colombian territory,” as well as “military operations with states not party to the convention in which they carry out exercises or actions prohibited by the Convention.”[8] Colombia interprets the convention as prohibiting investment in the production of cluster munitions.

Production and transfer

In a May 2011 letter to the Monitor, Colombia stated that it has never produced cluster munitions.[9] In the past, Colombia imported cluster munitions from Chile, Israel, and the United States (US). In 2010, Colombia stated that it has never transferred cluster munitions “to a third state.”[10]

In 2012, Chile’s Ministry of National Defense shared a document with the Monitor detailing two transfers—totaling 191 cluster munitions—to Colombia in the 1990s: 132 250kg cluster bombs in 1997, and 55 250kg cluster bombs, four air-dropped 250kg cluster bombs, and one fin stabilizer for a CB-250kg cluster bomb in 1994.[11]

Use

In April 2012, an official from the Colombian Ministry of External Relations told the Monitor that the Colombian Air Force decided to stop using cluster munitions after an evaluation found that they did not meet the operational requirements or needs of Colombia.[12]

In May 2009, Colombia’s then-Minister of Defense, Juan Manuel Santos, acknowledged that the Colombian armed forces had used cluster munitions in the past “to destroy clandestine airstrips and camps held by illegal armed groups” and said the submunitions sometimes did not explode and “became a danger to the civilian population.”[13]

The Monitor has reported on the case of apparent cluster munition use by the Colombian Air Force at Santo Domingo in the municipality of Tame, Arauca department, on 13 December 1998, which killed 17 and injured 27 others.[14] An investigation showed that a World War II-era “cluster adapter” of US origin was used to disperse several 9kg fragmentation bombs during the attack.[15] In December 2012, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) published its verdict on the case, finding that the Colombian Air Force used an AN-M1A2 bomb, which it said met the definition of a cluster munition.[16] The court found that Colombia should treat victims of the attack in accordance with its victim assistance obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions. In November 2017, the Supreme Court of Colombia upheld the decision.[17]

Stockpiling and destruction

Colombia announced that it had completed the destruction of its cluster munition stockpile on 24 November 2009.[18] It destroyed 72 cluster munitions (31 ARC-32 and 41 CB-250K cluster bombs) containing a total of 10,832 submunitions.[19]

Colombia has not retained any cluster munitions or submunitions for research or training.[20]

Policy

The Republic of Colombia signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 6 September 2000. Colombia became a State Party on 1 March 2001.

Law 759 took effect on 25 July 2002 and serves as Colombia’s national implementing legislation for the Mine Ban Treaty.[1] Colombia reports that activities prohibited by the treaty are criminalized under its Penal Code.[2] Colombia has also enacted laws on victim assistance, land restitution, and mine clearance.[3]

Colombia has submitted twenty-one Article 7 transparency reports since 2002, with its most recent report provided on 23 May 2022.[4]

Colombia has participated in every meeting of the Mine Ban Treaty, and hosted its Second Review Conference in Cartagena in November–December 2009.[5] Most recently, it attended the Nineteenth Meeting of States Parties held virtually in November 2021, and the intersessional meetings held in Geneva in June 2022.

Colombia has made significant contributions to the Mine Ban Treaty at the highest levels, and is serving as President of the Twentieth Meeting of States Parties in November 2022.[6]

Colombia is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on landmines, and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war (ERW). Colombia is also party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Production, transfer, stockpiling

Colombia’s State Military Industry (Industria Militar, INDUMIL) ended production of antipersonnel landmines in September 1998, and destroyed its production equipment on 18 November 1999.[7]

The government of Colombia is not known to have ever exported antipersonnel mines.

Colombia completed the destruction of its stockpile of 18,531 antipersonnel mines on 24 October 2004.[8]

Colombia no longer retains any mines for training purposes. In 2014, Colombia reported that it had destroyed its previously retained 586 MAP-1 mines.[9]

Use

There is no evidence that Colombian government forces have used antipersonnel mines since the Mine Ban Treaty’s adoption.

Use by non-state armed groups

Colombia has detailed at least 12 different types of mines produced by non-state armed groups (NSAGs), including antipersonnel, antivehicle, and Claymore-type directional fragmentation mines, some fitted with antihandling devices.[10] Its Article 7 report submitted in 2022 reiterated that antipersonnel landmines are made and used both by organized armed groups, and by criminal enterprises involved in the manufacture of narcotics and in illegal mineral extraction.[11]

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo, FARC-EP or FARC), National Liberation Army (Unión Camilista-Ejército de Liberación Nacional, ELN), Popular Liberation Army (El Ejército Popular de Liberación, EPL), and other NSAGs continue to produce and use antipersonnel landmines.

The Colombian government’s Office of the High Commissioner for Peace attributed responsibility for 216 antipersonnel mine events from January–December 2021 to residual or dissident FARC forces, with another 77 events attributed to the ELN. In the same period, 20 events were attributed to other armed groups, while 54 events occurred where the responsible group was unknown. In total, 367 new mine events were reported in Colombia during 2021.

There were numerous additional reports up to mid-2022 of military and civilian casualties caused by landmines in Antioquia, Bolivar, Cauca, Chocó, Meta, Nariño, Norte de Santander, and Valle del Cauca. These are all areas where armed conflict was ongoing between the National Army of Colombia and NSAGs. It is difficult to determine precisely when these mines were laid.[12]

From January–July 2022, the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace registered 232 landmine events involving new use. It attributed 58 incidents to the ELN, 139 to FARC, and 14 to other actors, while stating that responsibility could not be determined for the remaining 21 events.[13]

New antipersonnel mine contamination was reported in Balboa municipality, in Cauca department, in July–August 2022, following fighting between FARC and another armed group. The area had previously been cleared of mines by CCCM.[14]

In September 2021, seven communities in Dabeiba, in Antioquia department, reported ongoing antipersonnel landmine use amid fighting between the ELN and Autodefensas Gaitanistas (AGC), confining 1,200 people and denying access to farmland.[15] Mines were also reportedly used during conflict between the ELN and AGC in Medio San Juan, in Chocó department, in January 2022.[16] Landmine injuries were reported during armed conflict between AGC and ELN in Cúcuta, in Norte de Santander department, in January 2022.[17]

Between late 2021 and mid-2022, numerous media reports detailed new mine use and seizures of improvised mines. Colombia’s military discovered a cache of 1,984 improvised mines in Puerto Concordia, in Meta department, in May 2022.[18] A cache of FARC mines was also discovered in Meta department in September 2021, while it was also reported that FARC rebels had emplaced improvised mines in trees.[19]

The government of Colombia signed a final peace agreement with FARC on 24 November 2016, which commits both parties to end the conflict and build peace, including via landmine clearance.[20] Yet in 2019, some FARC dissidents abandoned the peace agreement and resumed armed activities against the government.[21] More recently, former FARC fighters have reportedly begun providing information on areas mined during the armed conflict to the Colombian authorities, under the framework of the 2016 peace agreement.[22]

CCCM uses radio messages, face-to-face workshops on risk prevention, and written materials in its work to provide warnings about the threat posed by landmines, and urges NSAGs to stop using them.[23] In August 2021, a CCCM clearance team working in Puerto Leguizamo municipality, in Putumayo department, was approached by a dissident FARC group who told deminers that they would not interfere with demining activities, but would not stop using antipersonnel mines.[24]

Country Summary

The Republic of Colombia’s landmine problem is the result of more than five decades of conflict with non-state armed groups (NSAGs). Mines have reportedly been laid since 1990 in isolated rural areas of Colombia by NSAGs, and were usually victim-activated or command-detonated artisanal explosive devices. Most landmines were planted in remote and hard-to-reach rural areas, to protect strategic positions, drug laboratories, access roads, and illicit crops.

While contamination in Colombia is low density and scattered, landmines continue to affect local communities in the most contaminated departments of Antioquia, Arauca, Caquetá, Chocó, Meta, Nariño, and Norte de Santander.[1] Since a 2016 peace agreement was signed with one of the main NSAGs involved in the conflict, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo, FARC-EP), annual casualties due to mines have  reduced significantly, while civilian casualties began to outnumber military casualties.[2] Yet use by NSAGs has continued, and in February 2021 Colombia declared the planting of mines a war crime.[3]

Landmine clearance began in Colombia in 2005, and steady progress was made in clearing mined military bases. Yet the continued use of improvised mines by NSAGs meant that Colombia did not meet its original clearance deadline of 2011 nor its first extended deadline of 2021. In 2020, Colombia requested and was granted a second extension to its clearance deadline, until 31 December 2025.

Risk education was implemented primarily in the municipalities accessible to clearance operators, Challenges for risk education included reaching remote communities, and ensuring that approaches were tailored to the needs, culture, and language of different indigenous ethnic groups.

Landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) victims receive assistance through a national law on reparations for conflict victims. [4] In 2021, improvements in access to services for survivors were reported. Yet many victims still faced financial, physical, and administrative barriers to obtaining medical care and accessing rehabilitation services, especially in rural mine-affected areas.[5] 

Impact

Contamination

Contamination (as of December 2021)[6]

*Contamination remains unknown in 185 municipalities.

Note: CHA=confirmed hazardous area; SHA=suspected hazardous area; ERW=explosive remnants of war.

Landmine contamination

As of the end of 2021, Colombia reported a total of 2.96km² of land contaminated by antipersonnel mines (primarily improvised mines) across 66 municipalities and 12 departments, comprising 219 confirmed hazardous areas (CHAs) measuring 1.63km² and 188 suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) totaling 1.33km².[7] In 2021, Colombia reported 80 new SHAs, with an estimated size of 0.74km²; and 93 CHAs, comprising 0.61km².[8]

A further 185 municipalities were known to be affected by antipersonnel landmines, with the extent of their contamination unknown, including 131 that were inaccessible for security reasons.[9]

Landmines in Colombia are essentially victim-activated or command-detonated artisanal explosive devices, laid by NSAGs. Mined areas are low-density, nuisance minefields, designed to target military or paramilitary forces.

Improvised mines were usually planted 10–13cm deep, and close to roads, riverbanks, ridge lines, and infrastructure commonly used by the military, but also by the civilian population.[10] The improvised mines contain very low metal content, with explosive substances derived from agriculture products which are hard to detect during clearance. Their composition varies, depending on the region and the availability of primary components.

Geographic and climatic conditions, as well as the absence of mapping, has made identification of contaminated areas difficult.[11] While some NSAGs allegedly still lay mines, demobilized FARC-EP rebels contributed to the identification of 137 possible minefields in multiple departments, and collected data on 53 possible mined areas in Antioquia and Tolima between 2019 and July 2022.[12]

There was no national baseline of contamination in Colombia. Non-technical and technical survey data was used to develop a more accurate picture of contamination. In areas where survey had not taken place, Colombia relied on data about “events,” including mine/ERW incidents or reports of suspected contamination.[13] Yet operators reported previously that these events were often unreliable, and do not always correspond to the presence of mines/ERW.[14]

New contamination was suspected in municipalities where humanitarian demining had not yet been carried out. It was reported that from December 2019 onwards, the conditions required to carry out a dialogue process with armed actors using improvised antipersonnel mines did not exist.[15]

Around 480,000 people were estimated to be affected by mines/ERW, mainly located in rural areas across the departments of Antioquia, Arauca, Bolívar, Boyacá, Caquetá, Casanare, Cauca, Chocó, Córdoba, Guainía, Guaviare, Huila, La Guajira, Meta, Nariño, Norte de Santander, Putumayo, Risaralda, Tolima, Valle del Cauca, Vaupés, and Vichada. Mines hindered access to land, water, livelihoods, healthcare, education, and humanitarian services.[16]

Cluster munition remnants contamination

It is unclear whether Colombia is affected by cluster munition remnants. Since 2017, Colombia has maintained that no known evidence of cluster munition contamination had been found.[17] The Inter-American Human Rights Court (IAHRC) found that the Colombian Air Force used an “AN-M1A” bomb, which it said meets the definition of a cluster munition, during an attack on Santo Domingo in 1998.[18] A study reported in 2021 that cluster munition contamination was a possibility, as in the 1990s, the Colombian Air Force had acquired two types of cluster bombs, the CB-250K from Chile and the ARC-32 from Israel, and did not seem to have provided sufficient information on their use prior to ratifying the Convention on Cluster Munitions and subsequent stockpile destruction.[19]

ERW contamination

The full extent of ERW contamination in Colombia remains unknown. Yet humanitarian demining reports and casualty data showed that ERW accounted for 29% of all items destroyed between 2007 and December 2021, and caused 5% of mine/ERW casualties recorded in Colombia since 1990.[20] 

Casualties

Between 1990 and 2021, the Monitor recorded a total of 12,147 mine/ERW casualties (2,340 killed; 9,807 injured), with the highest totals of casualties recorded in the departments of Antioquia (2,628), Meta (1,146), Nariño (1,043), Norte de Santander (951), and Caquetá (950).[21]

Civilians have represented the majority of casualties since the 2016 peace agreement with FARC-EP. This marked a reversal of the previous trend when military personnel accounted for the majority of casualties.

Men represented 86% of all-time casualties (10,474).

Casualties in 2021

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war.

Casualties in 2021

In 2021, OACP-AICMA recorded 152 mine/ERW casualties in Colombia. Civilians accounted for the majority of this total (61%). The proportion of child casualties increased from 13% in 2020 to 16% in 2021.

Nearly half of all civilian casualties (46%) were afro-descendants or indigenous people.

In 2021, most of the casualties (127, or 84%) were from five departments only: Antioquia (21), Cauca (28), Choco (28), Nariño (21), and Norte de Santander (29). Those departments are strategic areas for illicit crop cultivation and trafficking. The municipalities of Argelia (22 casualties) in Cauca department and Tumaco (14) in Nariño department recorded the most casualties in 2021. These two municipalities are known to host amongst the largest coca production in the country.[22]

No civilian casualties were recorded during coca crop eradication during 2021. In contrast, 40% of civilian casualties in 2020 occurred during eradication activities, and 38% during 2019. Six military casualties occurred during eradication of coca crops in 2021, marking a significant decrease from 24 in 2020.[23]

Cluster munition casualties

Seventeen civilians were killed and 27 injured during a cluster munition attack in Santo Domingo, on 13 December 1998.[24] No cluster munition remnants casualties have been reported by Colombia since 1990.

Management and Coordination

Mine action management and coordination

Mine action management and coordination overview[25]

Management and coordination

The National Intersectoral Commission on Antipersonnel Mine Action (Comisión Intersectorial Nacional para la Acción contra Minas Antipersonal, CINAMAP), an interministerial body created in 2002, is responsible for monitoring and reporting on Colombia’s Mine Ban Treaty obligations. CINAMAP oversees cooperation between national and international mine action stakeholders.[26]

Under CINAMAP, the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace (Oficina del Alto Comisionado para la Paz, OACP) is the national mine action authority. OACP and Comprehensive Action against Antipersonnel Mines (Acción Integral Contra Minas Antipersonales, AICMA) coordinate all mine action activities. This structure integrates mine action coordination under the government’s broader national peace-building policy, led by the High Commissioner for Peace.[27]

Through AICMA Department Committees, national strategic planning and technical requirements related to mine action are incorporated into local action and development plans.[28]

The Inter-Institutional Court for Humanitarian Demining (Instancia Interinstitucional de Desminado Humanitario, IIDH) is responsible for accrediting and tasking clearance operators. IIDH is composed of OACP-AICMA, the Ministry of National Defense, and the General Inspection of Military Forces.[29]

The Organization of American States (OAS) is responsible for quality management and oversight of all mine action operators in Colombia; except for Humanicemos DH, as it is composed and led by ex-FARC-EP combatants.[30] OAS plans to transfer its responsibilities to the Government of Colombia by 2023.[31]

Since 2018, the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) has provided technical assistance, capacity-building support, and quality management to Humanicemos DH. [32] A workplan for 2020–2022 was established jointly by UNMAS and OACP-AICMA in this regard, and Humanicemos DH deployed its first demining team in March 2021, in Caquetá department. UNMAS also coordinates the Mine Action Area of Responsibility under the Protection Cluster for Colombia.[33]

OACP has received technical assistance from the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (Fondation Suisse de Déminage, FSD) since 2016, and from the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining  (GICHD) since 2018.[34] In 2021, FSD’s support focused on environmental management in clearance operations, developing national standards, and information management. [35] GICHD developed a capacity-building program for gender focal points in 2019–2021, and published a study in April 2022 on the contribution of mine action toward sustainable development in Colombia.[36]

Legislation and standards

In February 2021, Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace (Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz, JEP) recognized the planting of landmines as a war crime.[37]

On 15 June 2021, OACP-AICMA adopted 17 Technical Norms, which act as Colombia’s national mine action standards. Humanitarian demining operators were given three months to submit their operating procedures for approval to OACP-AICMA, revised in line with the Technical Norms.[38]

Strategies and policies

In 2019, Colombia developed a new five-year Mine Action Strategic Plan covering 2020–2025.[39] The accompanying Operational Plan for Humanitarian Demining 2020–2025 included an annual workplan and financial projections.[40] Task orders were delivered, based on the 156 contaminated municipalities selected for demining in the operational plan, and were valid until 2023.[41]  

Information management

Colombia uses the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA). FSD, GICHD, and UNMAS provide technical support.[42] OACP-AICMA enhanced its reporting and monitoring tools in 2021 through interactive digital dashboards including maps, graphics, and disaggregated data. The dashboard and mine action datasets were publicly accessible online.[43] 

UNMAS reported that a working group involving the Colombian government, the United Nations (UN), and FARC planned to develop an information-sharing system between the government and FARC, with the aim of mapping the location of explosive ordnance emplaced during the conflict.[44]

Gender and diversity

Gender and diversity variables were included in Colombia’s information management system, with data on risk education and victim assistance disaggregated by age, gender, and ethnic group.[45]

Demining positions remained largely occupied by men, women represented 4% of the accredited deminers or non-technical survey team members in 2021.[46] Risk education was more inclusive, with 60% of certified staff in 2021 being women. The Colombian Campaign to Ban Landmines (Campaña Colombiana Contra Minas, CCCM) reported that 67% of its staff were women. For UNMAS in Colombia, the figure was 65%. Humanicemos DH had a woman director, while 24% of its staff were women.[47]

Risk education management and coordination

Risk education management and coordination overview[48]

Coordination

The National Mine Risk Education Board under OACP-AICMA is the main coordination body for risk education. Colombia reported that the national board held three meetings during 2021.[49]

The National Learning Service (Servicio National de Aprendizaje, SENA) is the accreditation and certification body for risk education in Colombia, under the Ministry of Work.[50] As of the end of 2021, a total of 33 organizations were accredited to conduct risk education by SENA.[51]

GICHD supported OACP to include gender variables in its risk education data collection.[52]

National standards and guidelines

A Technical Norm approved in June 2021 updated and replaced the former Standard for Mine Risk Education 3.9.[53] The update was undertaken with the participation of all risk education operators, and aligned with International Mine Action Standard (IMAS) 12.10.[54] 

Technical Norm 6481 required all risk education operators to consider the age, gender, ethnicity, disability, and sexual orientation of persons in supported communities during projects.[55]  

National risk education strategy

A risk education strategy is included within the 2020–2025 strategic plan, and will be implemented through yearly action plans monitored by the National Mine Risk Education Board.[56]

Victim assistance management and coordination          

Victim assistance management and coordination overview[57]

 Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war.

Coordination

Responsibility for victim assistance is a shared by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, the Presidential Council for the Participation of Persons with Disabilities, OACP-AICMA, and the Unit for Attention and Integral Reparation to the Victims (Unidad para la Atención y Reparación Integral a las Víctimas, UARIV).[58]

The Victim Assistance Technical Subcommittee under OACP-AICMA approves an annual budget and workplans for victim assistance operators.[59]

UARIV is responsible for implementing Law 1448 for civilian conflict victims, including mine and ERW survivors. UARIV develops action plans and budgets for multisectoral planning.[60]

The Ministry of Health and Social Protection leads on referrals for pre-hospital care, emergency care, longer-term  healthcare, rehabilitation, and psychosocial and socio-economic inclusion. It also grants disability certificates, allowing mine/ERW survivors access to services and benefits.[61]

In 2021, there were 83 referral pathways for survivors at municipal and department level, including those developed through survivor organizations.[62] This marked a rise from 63 pathways in 2019.[63] HI included victim assistance in development plans in four municipalities and UNMAS contributed to 46 referral pathways.[64] In Antioquia and Putumayo departments, 14 referral pathways developed in 2021 recognized the cultural impact of mine/ERW incidents in indigenous communities.[65]

Laws and policies

Colombia has a strong legal framework on the rights and needs of conflict victims and persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors. Yet access to services remined unequal in 2021.[66]

The National Victims and Land Restitution Law provides assistance to conflict victims, including mine/ERW survivors. Spouses, partners, and family members also benefit.[67] Many laws or decrees that promote the rights of mine/ERW survivors have been approved since 2007.[68]

During 2021, the Victim Assistance Technical Subcommittee decided not to adopt IMAS 13.10 on Victim Assistance, as it would have been in contradiction with national regulations.[69]

The Colombian Public Forces have a dedicated Comprehensive Rehabilitation System which is led by the Ministry of National Defense.[70]

Information management

OACP-AICMA maintained the Information Service for Mine Survivors (Servicio de Informacion para Sobrevivientes de Minas Antipersonnal, SISMAP), with IMSMA, to share information and to facilitate the registration of victims. During 2021, 159 survivors were newly registered.[71] SISMAP has identified a total of 4,646 survivors in the health and social security system, of which only 72% were covered by state-subsidized health insurance.[72]

UARIV is responsible for the Central Registry of Victims.[73] It also worked to identify mine/ERW survivors who had not yet accessed reparations.[74]

Addressing the Impact

Mine action

Clearance operators

Clearance operators

Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) reported that it had ceased its humanitarian mine action operations in Colombia in 2020, and was in the process of closing its office in March 2021.[75]

Since 2018, Humanicemos DH has received capacity development support from international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and UNMAS, including training on non-technical survey and clearance. Humanicemos DH first deployed in Caquetá department during March 2021, and handed over its first cleared area (totaling 1,974m²) later in the year in La Montañita municipality.[76]

Land release in 2021

During 2021, Colombia released 3.74km² of land through non-technical survey, technical survey, and clearance across 53 municipalities in 14 departments: Antioquia, Bolivar, Caldas, Caquetá, Cauca, Huila, La Guajira, Meta, Nariño, Norte de Santander, Putumayo, Santander, Tolima, and Valle del Cauca.[77] Eighteen municipalities were declared mine-free in 2021.

Land release in 2021[78]

 Note: APM=antipersonnel mine; ERW=explosive remnant of war.

In 2021, Colombia cleared 45% more than planned for the year in its extension request (1.33km²).[79] Colombia was planning to address 78 areas and release 3.15km² between 2022 and 2025.[80]

Clearance was reported to have taken place in densely vegetated and hard-to-reach areas, with some minefields being distant from the nearest road and requiring the use of mule trains to ferry supplies. The remoteness of contaminated areas and the characteristics of contamination (scattered with low metal components) slowed down clearance.[81] The National University of Colombia and Los Andes University had developed new technologies to support demining in Colombia’s terrain, which were being field-tested with improvised mines donated by the Colombian military.[82] 

Land release is key to the economic development of affected communities, allowing activities such as agriculture, cattle farming, and agrotourism to develop. Demining also facilitated the use of land for water, electricity, and telecommunications infrastructure, promoted reforestation, and rendered access roads safe, allowing children to attend school.[83] Yet it was reported that demining carried out during military operations may increase deforestation.[84]

In 2021, UNMAS developed a tool to record changes in land use and infrastructure development after clearance. CCCM, Humanicemos DH, and the Humanitarian Demining Engineers Brigade No. 1 tested it in the municipalities of Bolívar, Caquetá, Huila, and Putumayo. The tool reportedly demonstrated a reduction in illicit crop planting and subsequent reforestation, an improvement in the condition of local roads, and an increase in requests for land restitution by farmers.[85]

Deminer safety

In May 2022, deminers in Colombia were twice targeted by NSAGs: two CCCM trucks were set on fire in Antioquia department, while six personnel of Humanitarian Demining Engineers Brigade No. 1 were injured during an attack in Meta department. In December 2021, Humanity & Inclusion (HI) and the HALO Trust suspended their activities in Antioquia and Meta following arson attacks on their vehicles.[86]

Residual risk

Colombia reported that residual risk was to be addressed by the Humanitarian Demining Engineers Brigade No. 1. Humanitarian demining operators were also responsible for addressing residual risk for a period of six months after the finalization of their clearance tasks. Colombia reported that 14 CHAs totaling 0.08km² were being addressed as areas of residual risk, as of December 2021.[87]

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 clearance deadline

Colombia stated that the presence of NSAGs in landmine-affected areas had hindered humanitarian demining operations, preventing it from meeting its Article 5 deadline of 1 March 2021.[88]

In 2020, Colombia was granted a second extension, for four years and 10 months, until 31 December 2025.[89] Colombia’s extension request included an operational plan, for 2020–2025, based on 156 municipalities that were accessible and where demining operations were ongoing. Yet another 166 contaminated municipalities remained inaccessible due to insecurity.[90] Colombia planned to review its operational plan by April 2023 and assess the situation in the inaccessible municipalities to establish a contamination estimate.[91] The total land area to be released by 2025 will correspond only to clearance in the accessible areas.[92]

Five-year landmine clearance overview

Note: APM=antipersonnel mine and ERW=explosive remnants of war.

Risk education

Operators 

In 2021, Colombia had 50 active risk education organizations: 43 national (including four survivors’ groups) and seven international.

The top five providers of risk education in 2021 were: the Center for Comprehensive Rehabilitation in Colombia (Centro Integral de Rehabilitación en Colombia, CIREC), CCCM, Corporation for Peace and Democracy (Corporación Paz y Democracia, CPD), the Danish Refugee Council, and the Organization of American States (OAS).[93] All humanitarian demining operators in Colombia in 2021 provided risk education integrated with clearance and survey activities.

Risk education operators

Note: IDP=internally displaced person.

Beneficiary numbers

Beneficiaries in 2021[94]

Note: Beneficiary totals reported by OACP-AICMA, which include those of 50 national and international operators.

In 2021, OACP-AICMA reported that a total of 113,395 risk education beneficiaries were reached across 27 departments. The departments recording the most beneficiaries were Antioquia (9,564), Arauca (8,576), Caquetá (9,070), Chocó (22,980), Nariño (18,495), and Putumayo (11,390). Every department with mine/ERW casualties in 2021 was reached with risk education.

Men represented only one-third of all beneficiaries, despite being most affected by mine/ERW accidents. In 2021, afro-descendants and indigenous people, both at-risk groups, represented 44% of beneficiaries.

Key recent developments

In 2020–2021, a risk education project, “Safe Steps,” was developed through a partnership between Antonio Restrepo Barco Foundation (Fundación Antonio Restrepo Barco, FRB) and the Discovery Channel. The project targeted seven departments and 44 municipalities in Colombia, and provided risk education via community sessions, a digital app, an interactive virtual reality game, and a mini-series broadcast on the Discovery Kids television channel.[95]

In 2021, HI developed a guide for providing risk education to minority ethnic groups in Colombia, including materials in six native languages, with the participation of operators and representatives of indigenous peoples in Antioquia, Cauca, Chocó, Nariño, Norte de Santander, and Putumayo.[96]

During 2021, HI and the HALO Trust provided risk education sessions to rural communities. HI implemented training of trainers programs and supported indigenous community leaders to get risk education certification.[97] The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) broadcast radio spots, distributed materials in local languages, and supported the Colombian Red Cross to deliver risk education.[98] OACP-AICMA funded nine indigenous and seven afro-descendant organizations to provide risk education in their communities and disseminate messages in remote areas.[99]

NSAGs sometimes opposed risk education activities, as landmines were perceived as strategically protecting them from enemies and securing coca production.[100] HI reported that insecurity in some municipalities of Caquetá, Cauca, and Meta departments prevented risk education activities.[101]

Implementation

Target groups

Needs, vulnerability, and capacity assessments were used in Colombia to prioritize risk education provision.[102] Both rural and urban communities, and also internally displaced persons (IDPs), were considered at-risk groups.[103] Migrants, crossing the border from Venezuela and entering insecure areas where NSAGs were present, were also at risk.[104]                                                   

In 2021, target groups for risk education included men, afro-descendants, and indigenous persons, especially in poor rural areas, where livelihood activities such as agriculture, ranching, mining, and crop eradication exposed them to mine/ERW risk. Men were hard to reach during the daytime due to outdoor activities. Women participating in subsistence farming and foraging were also exposed to risk, especially indigenous women.[105] Children and teenagers were vulnerable, due to transiting through contaminated areas to attend school and due to picking up explosive items to play with. In rural areas, a higher proportion of children did not attend school, missing out on risk education.[106]

HI also targeted persons with disabilities, combining physical exercise with the promotion of safe behaviors in rural areas.[107]

Delivery methods

Emergency and school-based risk education, and provision of risk education alongside clearance and survey operations, are the primary settings for risk education outlined in Colombia’s national standards.[108] Risk education was integrated into the primary and secondary school curriculum.[109]

Risk education was conducted in rural and urban areas, and focused on improvised mines and other ERW. Operators delivered risk education in municipalities where clearance was taking place, and also in the municipalities where clearance was prevented by insecurity.[110] Operational challenges included low population density in some areas, and regions that were difficult to access.[111]

Victim assistance

Victim assistance providers[112]

In 2021, a total of 15 survivor organizations were reportedly strengthened through the National Network for Mine, ERW, and Booby-Trap Victims of Colombia (Red Nacional de asociaciones de víctimas de MAP/MUSE/TE de Colombia, VICMINCOL). OACP-AICMA funded seven survivor organizations in 2021: in Arauca, Caquetá, Cauca, Huila, Meta, Nariño, and Norte de Santander.[113] Survivor organizations received support to raise awareness on the rights of persons with disabilities and on referral pathways.[114] In early 2021, Colombia hosted a meeting in Bogota aimed at ensuring inclusion of victims from different backgrounds and regions in victim assistance planning.[115]

Bureaucracy often resulted in delayed access to services; while gaps in the provision of healthcare, rehabilitation, and psychosocial support services remained limited, especially in rural areas.[116]

Needs assessment

Data collection on mine/ERW survivors and their injuries was ongoing in 2021.

Among the survivors registered in the national IMSMA database for the period 1990–2021, of all persons injured, 16% incurred amputations; 16% had shrapnel injuries or fractures; 17% had other wounds, burns, or lacerations; and 62% had visual and/or hearing impairments.[117]

Medical care and rehabilitation

A lack of health and rehabilitation centers in the most remote contaminated areas of Colombia was an enduring problem.[118] ICRC reported that attacks against health services impeded the provision of emergency medical care. Seriously injured people were evacuated by the ICRC. The Colombian Red Cross and ICRC trained health workers in wound management and war surgery, and provided first-aid training in affected communities.[119] Access to health services for persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors, was limited and medical follow-up was inadequate. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting limitations on access to healthcare, had a psychological impact on survivors in 2021.[120]

ICRC noted that physical rehabilitation services in Colombia only resumed fully in the second half of 2021, after being disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.[121] ICRC covered the cost of transport, food, and medicine at state-run facilities and at ICRC-supported physical rehabilitation centers for people in need, including 118 mine/ERW survivors in 2021.[122] The Ministry of Health and Social Protection published a manual on wheelchair services, with ICRC support.[123]

In 2021, HI-run municipal physical training centers provided physical rehabilitation where services were lacking. The COVID-19 pandemic had prevented these activities during 2020.[124]

Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

ICRC provided mental health and psychosocial support through in-person or virtual counselling. It also supported sports activities for persons with disabilities, including in places of detention.[125]

UNMAS organized a workshop on psychosocial care for child mine/ERW survivors in 2021.[126]

Colombia established a specific referral pathway for child victims of conflict, including mine/ERW survivors, in 2020, facilitating education support without needing to be registered with the Central Registry of Victims.[127]

Economic inclusion of mine/ERW survivors increased due to projects in areas where demining was taking place, with an emphasis on ecotourism and skills for entrepreneurship.[128]

In 2020, the Republic of Colombia received US$31.4 million in international assistance for mine action from 10 donors; this was 15% less than in 2019.

The largest contribution was provided by the United States (US), which contributed more than half (64%) of all international assistance.[1]

Of the total contribution, 84% ($26.3 million) went toward clearance and risk education activities, the remainder ($5.1 million or 16%) went to advocacy, capacity-building, victim assistance, and other mine action activities that were not disaggregated by the donors.

International contributions: 2020[2]

Note: N/A=not applicable; N/R=not reported.

In the five-year period from 2016–2020, international contributions to Colombia totaled more than $178 million.

Colombia contributed approximately $1 million to its mine action program each year in 2019 and 2020.[3] No information on any national contribution was available for 2016–2018. Between 2012 and 2015, the government of Colombia contributed some $6.6 million to support its national mine action program.

Summary of international contributions in 2016–2020[4]