Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights considers report of Colombia

MORNING

 

5 May 2010

 

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has considered the fifth periodic report of Colombia on how that country implements the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Introducing the report of Colombia, Esteban Piedrahita, the Director of the National Planning Department of Colombia, said security was fundamental to ensuring economic, social and cultural rights. The murder rate in Colombia had fallen by 45 per cent and kidnappings had dropped by 92 per cent, which had led to increased trust in the authorities and an increase in social development because the Government was able to divert resources from security to social services. They had also increased protection of trade unionists and other activists who might have been vulnerable to violence from 5,000 persons to 11,000 people and invested $ 55 million in these efforts. The better economic performance was a reflection of the better security conditions in the country. Colombia had a poverty reduction programme that was quite ambitious and in 2009 despite the economic crisis there had not been a great increase in poverty. In fact, there had been a slight reduction in the index while other Latin American countries had seen an increase. Rather than cut back on social investment in programmes during the economic crisis, the State actually boosted what it spent on health and education so even in circumstances of crisis they were able to increase social protection measures.

Among the questions and issues raised by Committee Experts were concerns about the illegal displacement of people in Colombia, which was also an area of concern for the Committee in 2001, yet the number of displaced people seemed to be on the rise. Committee Experts wanted to know what policies were in place to prevent the displacement of people and what was being done about the restoration of their lands or providing them with compensation, redress and social services.
The Committee also expressed concern about the ongoing violence in Colombia, the conditions that led to continued violence and why the violence had a disproportionate impact on certain groups more than others such as people of African descent, women, children and indigenous groups. The Committee also raised questions about the protection of reproductive rights in Colombia and the protection of the intellectual property rights of indigenous peoples there.

In concluding remarks Jaime Marchan Romero, Committee Chairman, said that the three meetings had provided a fruitful dialogue and he applauded the noteworthy effort made by the delegation of Colombia to provide the Committee with concise replies which highlighted the progress made by the country in promoting economic, social and cultural rights. The Chairman thanked the delegation for their written replies to questions, which gave them a snapshot of the situation in Colombia and hoped that they would take into account the Committee’s concluding observations.

Mr. Piedrahita thanked the Committee Experts for their penetrating questions and he hoped that the delegation had dealt with some of them. The delegation would do everything in its power to ensure that recommendations were considered by the national Government and adopted and he thanked the Committee for the opportunity to outline the challenges and progress Colombia had made in the implementation of the provisions of the Covenant in that country.

The Colombian delegation included representatives from a number of Ministries including the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Education, Health, Labour, Culture, and Interior and Justice as well as Colombia’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations.

The next meeting of the Committee will be at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 May, when it will begin its consideration of the combined third and fourth periodic report of Algeria. The Committee is scheduled to consider the report of Algeria over three meetings, concluding on Thursday, 6 May at 6 p.m.

Report of Columbia

The fifth periodic report of Columbia (E./C.12/COL/5) states that in spite of the difficulties confronting the country, in particular poverty, inequality and violence, comprehensive policies have been formulated and carried out to give effect to the economic, social and cultural rights addressed in Chapter 3 of the Constitution under the heading “Rights, guarantees and duties”. The social indicators deteriorated as a result of the economic crisis at the end of the 1990s and the complex phenomenon of violence in Colombia, and the progress achieved in the 1970s and 19809s in combating inequality went into reverse. Nevertheless, the efforts made over the past five years, under the “Seven Tools of Equity” programme, which is the basis of the Government’s social policies, have led to an improvement in the indicators of poverty and the people’s living conditions, especially with respect to education and health, the areas in which a greater supply and coverage have been achieved.

The Colombian State is founded, pursuant to article 1 of the Constitution, on respect for human dignity, which must inspire all the acts of the State. Human integrity constitutes the reason for the existence, the principle and the ultimate purpose of the organization of the State. In accordance with this principle, article 44 of the Constitution addresses the right to a balanced diet as a fundamental children’s right and the right of pregnant women to a food subsidy if they are unemployed or lack protection. In addition, article 65 establishes protection for farming activities, according priority treatment to persons or entities producing food. During the period evaluated (1996-2002) the country generally succeeded in reducing the rates of child malnutrition (among under-fives) by strengthening the programmes of agro-industrial promotion and the food-supplement programmes for vulnerable groups, although the progress varied from region to region. Despite the efforts made, the country’s socio-economic and political situation caused increasing forcible displacement, abandonment of the countryside, economic crises, unemployment, etc., problems which in turn increased the level of food insecurity among the affected population.

Presentation of Report

ALVARO ENRIQUE AYALA MELENDEZ, Minister Plenipotentiary and Acting Charge d’Affaires of the Permanent Mission of Colombia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said Colombia’s engagement with the United Nations human rights system and its many bodies was reflected through the consideration of Colombia’s report by the Universal Periodic Review Working Group as well as the efforts of Colombia to make progress in implementing the recommendations of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, by collaborating with the Special Procedures and the treaty bodies.

ESTEBAN PIEDRAHITA, Director of the National Planning Department of Colombia, introducing the fifth periodic report of Columbia, said the delegation wanted to speak frankly about the progress that was being made under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, but also the challenges the State still faced. Economic, social and cultural rights were an important matter for Colombia and the delegation was grateful for the support of the Committee and the constructive dialogue they knew they would have. Colombia had a long way to go and hoped this session would help them to add to and improve the policies they had in place. This was an election period in Colombia and in August there would be a new Government in Bogota, so they would work with the incoming Government to learn from what had already been done so that they could make the adjustments and corrections they believed were necessary to continue to make progress in meeting their obligations.

Mr. Piedrahita informed the Committee of some of the demographic specifics of Colombia, including information on the indigenous population. There were special rights for minorities when it came to political representation and the Constitution was the foundation on which they had built their human rights protection system through legislation. The governance of the State was based on rule of law with an independent judiciary and supervisory mechanisms to ensure that people enjoyed their rights fully and effectively. There were three areas of policy action for the Government to ensure full and steady compliance with the Convention. The three policy areas included improving security to guarantee that the State had the full ability to ensure that Colombians could enjoy all their human rights, economic growth, and a reduction in poverty and promotion of equity.

According to Mr. Piedrahita, security was fundamental to ensuring economic, social and cultural rights. The murder rate in Colombia had fallen by 45 per cent and kidnappings had dropped by 92 per cent, which led to increased trust in the authorities and an increase in social development because the Government was able to divert resources from security to social services. They had also increased protection of trade unionists and other activists who might have been vulnerable to violence from 5,000 persons to 11,000 people and invested $55 million in these efforts. The better economic performance was a reflection of the better security conditions in the country.

There was considerable economic difficulty at end of the last century, but now they had seen an improvement. Between 2002 and 2009, the economy grew by about 5 per cent and in 2009 despite the international economic crisis the country still had a growth rate of 0.4 per cent. They now expected economic growth of 2.5 per cent per year and they hoped to revise that number upwards. This economic performance had led to an increase in per capita income. Between 1996 and 2000 there was a 7 point increase in poverty, meaning 4 million more people descended into poverty, but since 2002 that figure had been reduced. Colombia had a poverty reduction programme that was quite ambitious and in 2009 despite the economic crisis there had not been a great increase in poverty. In fact, there had been a slight reduction in the index when in other Latin American countries there was an increase. There had been a reduction in extreme poverty as well due to the considerable efforts that had been made to increase social expenditures per capita. There were other countries in Latin America which, in comparison, actually spent less in terms of social expenditure which the delegation felt was important to point out. Mr. Piedrahita said that rather than cut back on social investment in programmes during the economic crisis, the State actually boosted what it spent on health and education so even in circumstances of crisis they were able to increase social protection measures. There had also been efforts made to measure poverty in a way that did not only cover low income levels so they would have a fuller view of poverty in the country. Colombia had made significant progress toward the Millennium Development Goals and they formulated social policy around meeting these goals.

Mr. Piedrahita said that the concept of social protection had changed and broadened in Colombia. The law now enshrined concepts of risk management and social inclusion which had led to a much broader strategy. There was a policy for the promotion of access to capital which included a microfinance programme that in seven years had involved seven million recipients of micro credit. The State had increased investment in human capital via primary and middle school education as well as vocational training. There was now 100 per cent coverage of basic education and the poorest and most vulnerable of the population was specifically targeted for educational inclusion. A programme called JUNTOS targeted 10 per cent of the population, namely 1.5 million of the poorest families, a third of whom were displaced people, to ensure that they were reached by all the programmes from various sectors of society. There were social workers who helped them with every aspect of their lives and this innovative policy targeted poverty from a cross cutting perspective and tried to involve the State in every sector to ensure access to all State services. The programme involved the private sector as well.

The State had also worked to shore up health provisions. Currently, 60 per cent of the population had health insurance, while 17.8 per cent were members of a contributory health scheme and 24 million people were part of a subsidized programme, for example an employee contribution scheme. In total, over 90 per cent of the population was covered. The State had made real advances in healthcare coverage and it also wanted to improve the quality of care.

Mr. Piedrahita said that Colombia had traditionally had high unemployment rates, but for first time in 15 months they had seen unemployment rates dropping again. The challenge for the next Government would be to bring unemployment rates down below double figures to ensure that the social protection system, which was based on employee contributions, could be maintained and expanded. The shadow economy remained an issue and needed to be addressed for long-term labour market security. Trade union membership rates continued to rise and between 2002 and 2009 membership increased by 76 per cent. They had also seen a decrease in violence against trade unionists and trade leaders. In terms of women’s employment, there were still more unemployed women than men, but one needed only to look at the delegation present today to see that women were very active in public life in Colombia. There was also a department for women’s advancement which monitored these issues carefully.

Turning to education, Mr. Piedrahita said that there had been great advances made in terms of coverage for primary, middle and high school. There was a 425 per cent increase in public school investment over the last seven years and the State had also tried to implement a programme to cover all school fees for 40 per cent of the population, the poorest sections, so that 5.3 million students went to school for free, while others paid on a sliding scale according to their income and level of need. Access to higher education had also seen a significant increase, with over 35 per cent of people of university age actually going to university. There were over 1.5 million enrolled university students, over half of whom were women. The State also provided subsidies and grants for higher education for the poorest students. There had also been a downward trend in illiteracy due to a real effort to target the most vulnerable sections of the population, particularly displaced children. In the area of child mortality, the State had seen a significant decrease and was on track to fulfil this particular Millennium Development Goal.

Colombia had also increased help for elderly citizens, with 150,000 receiving either food or financial assistance. There had been an increase in their income over the last seven years under the social security scheme and an increase in access to subsidized health schemes.

In order to tackle the issue of forced displacement, the State had created a register of displaced communities in 2007 and a recent court ruling that deemed forced displacement an unconstitutional state of affairs had allowed the Government to address the 3.3 million Colombians that were displaced. According to the register, these numbers had been reduced over time, and Mr. Piedrahita said investment in this area had been increased tenfold to make sure these communities had access to healthcare and education, but there was a lot left to be done to ensure they had a decent life and were provided with compensation for lost land and income generation. Other advances that had been made in addressing the needs of displaced communities included a 2008 measure that established a new measurement for displaced persons and enjoyment of their rights so the State would know the gap that needed to be filled. Thanks to the court ruling that established enforced displacement as illegal, they were also focusing on areas such as land and housing. The land ownership question was complex and there were many court proceedings underway to work out these issues. The State would submit a policy action plan in July to the courts to fulfil their obligations under the Covenant to displaced people and ensure the enjoyment of their rights.

There had also been progress made in legislative developments and case law regarding indigenous people, but there remained the question of land transfers for them. The increased, large-scale exploitation of this land should ensure these groups had access to State programmes and there was special representation for them in Congress to represent their interests. There were also attempts to establish policies to promote these groups such as affirmative action programmes for example, to improve living conditions and access to services.

In conclusion, Mr. Piedrahita said Colombia had made significant steps forward. However, increasing security was the only way to ensure the rights for everyone because it increased the State’s capacity to devote money to social sectors. Colombia had a long road to travel and needed to better target public policies. There remained many challenges including providing security and regional diversity as there were areas that were doing well and others that had not benefited equally. He expressed hope that all the State’s actions and policies would benefit from the discussion with the Committee.

Questions by Experts

A Committee Expert raised the question of whether non-governmental organizations and the Ombudsman had contributed to the preparation of this report. Another Expert wanted to know whether the international cooperation requested by Colombia to help implement social programmes for vulnerable people had been successful and if there were concrete examples of how citizens had benefited from this international cooperation. The Expert also had questions about armed conflict in the State and the fact that armed groups did not observe international humanitarian law. The Expert wanted to know what impact this had on citizens and political stability in the State.

A Committee member raised concerns about the illegal displacement of people in Colombia, which was also an area of concern for the Committee in 2001 when Colombia presented its last periodic report, yet the number of displaced people seemed to be on the rise. What policies were there to prevent the displacement of people and what was being done about the restoration of their lands or providing them with compensation or redress? Also, what had been done to provide social services to these people and how had the money that was allocated to this issue been spent? The Expert also wanted clarification about why crimes against this marginalized group were not prosecuted in large numbers.

Another Committee member wanted to know how the State defined sustainable development, and how the economic projects that were mentioned in the report impacted the economic, social and cultural rights of indigenous peoples.

The Colombian delegation was asked to provide an update on where the State stood in terms of drafting an international plan of action on human rights and international humanitarian law, and what measures had been undertaken to address the situation of an independent judiciary. Also, the Committee asked if there could be data provided on particularly vulnerable groups such as Afro Colombians because that would provide a better sense of what needs these groups had and how they were being met by the Government. The question was also put to the delegation whether there was enough being done to address the various issues that affected women.

Looking at the security situation, one Committee Expert was curious to know what fed the internal war in Colombia. What were the internal conditions that perpetuated this war and why did it impact certain vulnerable groups more than others such as people of African descent, women, children, and certain indigenous groups? This Expert also wanted to know how having Catholicism as the official religion of the country affected economic, social and cultural rights in the nation, as well as how the taxation policies affected equality in the country.

The Committee raised the question of whether Colombia could achieve the goal of halving the number of people in poverty in five years to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

One Expert raised the issue of changes in the State’s tax regime and asked how this would impact the distribution of wealth in the country, social expenditures, and poor people, while another Committee member asked how free trade agreements would impact the poor and what impact the rulings of the Constitutional Court against these agreements would have on their implementation.

Response by Delegation

ESTEBAN PIEDRAHITA, Director of the National Planning Department of Colombia, answering the questions of the Committee along with other members of the delegation, said there had been no direct participation by non-governmental organizations in preparing this report, but the delegation had broad input from governmental agencies that had contact with these groups so there was indirect participation from them.

Responding to the question of international aid and how it had been spent, Mr. Piedrahita said they were attempting to bring in more private investment to the country and were moving away from international aid.

In terms of armed groups in the region and their lack of compliance with international standards, he could not say why they would not recognize international law and Colombia could use help from the international community to force these groups to comply with international humanitarian standards.

Regarding displaced persons, Mr. Piedrahita said this was a generational issue and went back many years and some policies had been effective in addressing this issue while others were less so. Colombia had increased the budget for this problem tenfold, but in his estimation this was still insufficient to redress, compensate and restore the rights of displaced people. He also informed the Committee that Colombia was developing a financial plan to bring them into compliance with the Covenant and they were working at capacity to channel greater funds into the issue, make policies effective, and increase and strengthen coordination between local state and national governments. Some states in Colombia had made strides, but poorer regions still faced challenges in effectively investing the money they had been given to help displaced people. Mr. Piedrahita said it was not so much that the policies were ineffective, as insufficient and they would present a report on 1 July to the courts detailing how they would go about addressing these issues. Colombia had made strides in providing for healthcare, education and the immediate needs of internally displaced people, but providing housing and land for the estimated 720,000 displaced families were bigger challenges. Millions of hectares of land had been confiscated by the State from organized crime groups to help provide redress to displaced persons, but the process of confiscating this land could take between six and seven years, so while there was an opportunity to give this land back to displaced people, it would take time.

The delegation went on to say that the Government had tried to increase protection of communities before displacement took place via early warning systems. Another component of their response to this problem was the policy of treating people as victims so they would be entitled to compensation. They had also begun to treat displacement as a crime and investigate it as such, and that had not been done in the past.

On the issue of the action plan on human rights and why it had not been implemented, the delegation said there had been difficulties coming to an agreement on a plan but they remained committed to implementing it.

The delegation asked the Committee member who inquired about sustainable development to please clarify their question. The Expert said that they wanted to know how economic, social and cultural rights were included in sustainable development policies and what role did indigenous peoples play in trade agreement negotiations and how they were included and allowed to participate. The delegation said that there were development plans at the federal and state levels and the point of these plans was to ensure that human rights were observed by all elected officials at all levels. In this context, the plans were required to have an economic, social and cultural rights component as well as a human rights component which would include provisions for education, health, housing, and income generation.

There was a conflict between the rights of indigenous groups and mining interests, the delegation said. Thirty per cent of the land in Colombia belonged to indigenous groups, but the Constitution said what was underneath the land belonged to the State so there was a conflict there and they were working to harmonize these items via legislative means and with prior consultation with indigenous groups.

The impact of the bio fuel industry on the rainforest had been minimal, but there was an issue with inefficient land use, with cattle ranching for example.

Regarding rulings by the Constitutional Court, the delegation responded that the judiciary branch was strong and independent despite dangers posed to them by security threats.

Poverty levels for Afro Colombians were about twice that for the general population and numbers were similar for indigenous groups and the delegation could provide detailed data on development indicators for specific communities to the Committee. In terms of why members of these groups were more likely to be victims of displacement, the delegation said most of these victims lived outside the cities where there was a large government presence and so they were more vulnerable to armed groups because they operated in remote areas away from city centres where security was strongest.

The question of what fed violence in Colombia was a good one and people had tried to answer it for years. There had been continual violence for almost 60 years in the country, some of which stemmed from people who were not represented in the political system. He said that inequality and social conditions had not helped and that rural areas outside the purview of the Government had also posed a problem in terms of providing security to remote regions. The presence of illegal drugs had also been a big issue so there were a variety of circumstances and the Government had attempted to act on all of them with a multi-pronged approach. There had been considerable reductions in the levels of violence and Colombia was no longer the murder and kidnapping capital of Latin America, but there was still a long way to go on the economic, social and security fronts to make sure these achievements were lasting, including work on poverty reduction, inequality reduction, employment and social services.

In terms of religious freedom, the delegation explained that Colombia had no official religion and that the Constitution guaranteed freedom of creed. It was true, he said, that 90 per cent of the population of Colombia was Christian, mostly Catholic, but there was also a Jewish and Muslim minority and religion had no bearing on the enjoyment of rights.

Regarding changes in the tax law, in recent years the Government had doubled its take of taxes, but this needed to be increased further if the State was to have the income it needed to maintain the social safety net and deliver social services. The two main sources of tax income in Colombia were VAT or value added tax, which could be considered as a regressive tax because everyone paid it, but not on items such as food and medicine. Income tax was the second form of income and it was highly progressive and concentrated on the upper echelons of society. The lowest half of earners paid 5 per cent, the upper half of earners paid 15 per cent, and the top 10 per cent of earners paid a tax rate of 20 per cent. There was a net benefit for poor people in terms of how much they paid in taxes and the services they received in return.

There were affirmative action laws in place to increase opportunities for women.

In terms of meeting the Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty by 2015, the delegation said that the Government had not experienced the growth they had hoped for last year and this had slowed their progress in meeting this goal. In 2009 there were 20 million poor Colombians, meaning people whose income was $4.5 per day or less, and seven million people who lived in extreme poverty, defined as those earning $1.9 dollars per day or less. He said they were still far away from realizing the goal and this was due in part to the extreme economic crisis they experienced in 1999, which was worse than the Great Depression for Colombia. The State lost seven years worth of progress. It had made up some ground in the last decade, but it was still some way from reaching its goal.

Regarding changes to the tax regime, the delegation said they believed the Committee Expert was referring to the incentives for investment which had proven to be controversial. On the one hand, those who supported them pointed to high rates of investment, while those who opposed them said that lowering the tax rate to attract capital had lowered Government tax revenues and increased demand for cheap labour. So there was a debate about increased investment growth, which did create gaps in tax receipts but it was hard to say how much growth there would have been without these incentives. The new tax regime had not affected social spending, which had grown in real terms even after taking into account inflation, the effects of the economic crisis, and a reduction of 10 per cent in tax revenues for the Government.

Turning to the Committee’s questions on healthcare, the delegation felt there would be challenges financing this system going forward, but he said that they were trying to achieve 100 per cent coverage and were also trying to harmonize a constitutional court ruling regarding coverage of children.

Questions by Experts

In follow-up questions, Experts again raised the question of how indigenous groups were included in trade negotiations as they felt this question had not been fully answered by the delegation. The Committee also wanted to know if the delegation could shed light on why the United States had not ratified a free trade agreement with Colombia.

Response by Delegation

Responding to the issue of participation of indigenous groups in trade negotiations, the delegation said they could provide written answers if that would be helpful and that the Colombian states were responsible for implementing their own economic plans so the delegation did not have an answer as to how well the states did in terms of including indigenous groups.

The courts had ruled that some agreements, with the lumber industry for example, were invalid because there was no prior consultation with groups which would be affected. The delegation also spoke of inclusion of indigenous groups from the Colombian Amazon region as an example of one of the ways in which they had included these groups in the decision making process. The State also made an effort to inform these people of their rights so that they could assert and protect these rights.

In terms of the trade agreement with the United States, the delegation said one of the reasons it had not been approved by the United States was because of opposition in that country by people who were concerned about Colombia’s track record on labour issues, as well as the difficulty of passing any trade agreement in an economic climate such as this with high unemployment.

Questions by Experts

An Expert asked the delegation how it addressed the imbalance between urban and rural areas in so far as employment growth was concerned. The Expert also pointed out that in terms of healthcare coverage more than 7 million people remained without health insurance and encouraged the State to continue to attempt to reach universal coverage. The Committee member also wanted to know if there were any plans to redistribute wealth through the taxation system. Also, what were the obstacles faced when trying to include economic, social and cultural rights in trade agreements?

The Committee then turned to trade union activities. While the numbers showed that murders and kidnappings of trade unionists had gone down, there was a rise in harassment of trade union members as well as their relatives. Could the delegation provide more information on this issue? What policies were undertaken to combat violence against trade unions and their leadership? Also, what rights were enjoyed by contractual workers? Could they negotiate, join unions and strike? On the issue of cash transfers, the Committee expressed concern that they could be harmful in the long term as they did not address the question of social insurance or social security. The delegation was asked how these cash transfers were funded. For example, were they funded from taxation, grants or loans from international sources and what happened when these funds ran out?

The Committee expressed concern that job creation took place largely in the informal sector which had a negative impact on social security. There were reports that 60 per cent of the workforce was employed in the informal sector. What was being done about that? There were also reports that Afro Colombians and indigenous people experienced discrimination based on the colour of their skin and the darker their skin the greater the discrimination from institutions like banks and employment centres.

The Committee asked the delegation if it could elaborate on child labour laws and to what extent those laws had been successful in combating child labour problems.

Another question raised by the Committee was what measures had been taken to ensure priority was given to labour and workers’ rights in light of the State’s policy to attract economic development through large scale projects? How did the State balance the need to attract investment and protect the economic, social and cultural rights of workers and indigenous groups?

Response by Delegation

The delegation said the State had tried to address the employment imbalance between rural and urban areas through vocational training and increasing access to social services, but that it was very difficult to compare the rural and urban labour markets.

In terms of growth in healthcare coverage, the delegation said 12.5 million people had joined the subsidized system. The number of people who participated in the contributory system had grown from 11.4 to 17.8 million people, which meant 3.5 million people, or 7 per cent of the population, remained uncovered. There were budget provisions for the 2010 budget to provide universal coverage.

In answering the Committee’s question about redistribution of wealth, the delegation said it had been determined that $14.5 billion per year was what it would take in terms of income to lift all the poor of Colombia out of poverty. Government programmes and policies cost $ 8.4 billion per year, so there was already a wealth transfer of this amount in terms of education, healthcare and other services so that represented a redistribution of about 58 per cent of the wealth in the country.

The delegation agreed with the Committee that the free trade agreement with the United States was not a panacea, but many of their neighbours in the region already had an agreement with the United States so not having one put them at a disadvantage.

In terms of increased harassment of union leaders, the delegation said there was data available on complaints filed and investigations opened into violence against trade unionists and they would provide this data to the Committee. Colombia prosecuted such cases of violence and since 2002 they had increased convictions of those accused of violence against union members so things had improved. In terms of prevention, Colombia offered a protection programme for those at risk including bodyguards, armoured cars and special communications equipment people could use in case they were in imminent danger. Since implementation of the programme in 2002, no trade union leader under protection had been killed. Legislation was also amended and adapted to make sure it was in compliance with International Labour Organization conventions, and penalties had been increased for those convicted of violence against trade union leaders.

Regarding contractual and part time workers and their right to strike, the delegation said many of these workers were already members of unions, but even if they were not they had the right to strike.

On the question of cash transfers and whether they were sustainable, the outcome of an analysis was that families and children benefited in terms of their physical and educational development and great pains were taken to ensure that the achievements were sustainable. The State did not just transfer money to the families; they also tackled the underlying factors that led to poverty. The hope was that it would have an impact generationally by leading to an increase in human capital and achievement by helping in childhood development and growth.

According to the delegation, discrimination against Afro Colombians and indigenous people was illegal of course, but racism existed in Colombia like in so many countries with ethnic diversity. There were affirmative action programmes in place to help alleviate the burden of historic and current discrimination toward these groups.

The delegation asked the Committee to please clarify a question regarding visas for refugees. The delegation said Colombia was not a major country for migrants and immigration and there were some restrictions for visas, but this was true for everyone, including professionals. Recently, Colombia had made the process of determining who was a refugee more flexible.

In order to address the high rates of youth unemployment, the delegation said there was an incentive plan in place for employers who took on apprentices and they had also expanded technical education of young people. Unfortunately, in some cases supply and demand in the labour market were not well matched in Colombia. The informal labour market was also a factor in youth unemployment as well.

In 2008, Colombia, along with trade unions and private sector businesses, had developed a strategy to eradicate all forms of child labour by 2015. The issue of child labour was very entrenched in Colombian society so they had to do some basic groundwork with families to make sure they understood that putting children to work made them highly vulnerable and put them at risk. Many families did not think it was risky or strange to have their children pick coffee, for example. The delegation said child labour was very difficult to tackle at the national level so they worked closely with local level authorities to break the backbone of this work. In its last survey, the State found that it had cut the child labour rate by 70 per cent between 2001 and 2009, but this was due to various government programmes in addition to the child labour eradication strategy.

The right to strike was enshrined in Colombia’s law, according to the delegation, but there was a restriction for those in essential public services. The delegation added that the legality of a strike had to be ruled on by judges, not the Government.

In terms of policies to attract economic investment and their impact on workers’ rights and indigenous people, the delegation said companies which took advantage of these Government incentives had to comply with all labour laws. They were not exempt from getting the proper environmental permits for example and had to abide by all other laws as well. The delegation added that indigenous groups were also included in any talks when large scale projects or investors were proposed for their communities. If a community was to be affected by a project of this kind there was specific guidance on their inclusion, prior consultation and informed consent and many aspects of this had been ruled on by the Constitutional Court.

Questions by Experts

An Expert asked if the poverty eradication programmes in place targeted specific groups, whether displaced groups had been compensated for the loss of their lands, and whether there was a national housing strategy in place to reduce forced evictions and homelessness.

The Committee also wanted to know whether vaccination programmes were the same in rural areas as in urban areas and requested further information on the situation of malnutrition among children and pregnant women and what specific remedies the Government proposed to respond to this issue.

The delegation was asked to outline the results they had achieved through programmes to lower violence against women, whether there was any legislation concerning human trafficking, particularly for people who used women as drug mules, and what prevention policies were in place to deal with the rising problem of drug abuse and addiction in Colombia.

The Committee also asked questions about reproductive health rights and what was being done in terms of education and via the health system to ensure these rights.

One Expert expressed concern about Colombia’s education system, which was not free of charge, and seemed to be undergoing a certain amount of privatization, when primary education should in fact be free and compulsory. The delegation was also asked to address why illiteracy rates were still so high and whether disaggregated literacy numbers could be provided for Afro Colombian and indigenous groups. The Committee also wanted to know if there was any human rights education curriculum in schools and for public authorities such as police and judges and what had been done to promote access to and participation in cultural life.

The Committee inquired about the status of children, particularly child soldiers, children living with armed conflict and street children and it also wanted further information on the minimum age for marriage in Colombia and data on the lack of birth registrations in the country.

Regarding the status of women, the delegation was asked if there was concrete data on how women had benefitted from quota programmes and why only 40 per cent of working women qualified for pension schemes.

The Committee also requested data on Internet access in Colombia as well as what was being done to combat sex tourism and sex trafficking of women and children.

On the question of intellectual property, the Committee wanted to know if there was any protection of the intellectual property of indigenous groups whose rich cultural heritage had been developed over millennia and also how the State would address the issue of trade agreements that would lead to people losing access to medications when the intellectual property aspects of those agreements were implemented.

Response by Delegation

The delegation said they worked late last night to prepare adequate answers to the Committee’s questions and they would answer them thematically to respond to all the issues raised. They had also prepared the answers in writing to submit to the Committee as well, and offered numerous additional documents to augment their responses.

Concerning resources of international cooperation for social development projects, the delegation said there were eleven such projects with countries and bodies including the United States, the European Union, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan, Canada, China, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and Italy for a total of $ 547 million. These projects focused mainly on the Millennium Development Goals, environmental protection projects, the war on drugs, and reconciliation and governance.

Regarding displacement policies, the delegation said the Colombian Government had created a registry of displaced populations based on statements given by displaced people. This record was put into place in 1995 when the State began to recognize displacement as a major issue facing the country and according to their records there were 774,000 families totalling 3.8 million people affected by displacement. The delegation gave the Committee various demographic information about this population based on a census that was performed in this community. In terms of progress, the delegation felt that the Government had been successful in raising awareness of this issue, identifying people who were affected and providing them with health and education services. According to their records, 81 per cent of the displaced population had access to healthcare and 85 per cent now had access to education, and the Government had sufficient resources and laws in place to guarantee continued access to these services. As this was a population that was often in flux, the delegation admitted it was a challenge for internally displaced persons to formally enter healthcare and education systems. The Government had also made great strides in providing emergency humanitarian assistance.

The Committee had asked about subsidies allocated for housing to help alleviate homelessness among internally displaced persons and the delegation said that dispossession was an extremely important challenge that the Government was facing. Their strategy involved budget analysis as well as legal changes to facilitate restitution of land, and technical support by the United Nations Development Programme, which worked with the Government on some pilot projects to determine the most viable methods of land restitution. The federal Government also worked with states and local governments to integrate action plans to deal with displaced persons and provide care, justice and reparations.

The delegation explained to the Committee that Colombia’s presidential programme on human rights was led by the Vice President of the Republic. There was an advisory body related to human rights and humanitarian law led by a director and its aim was to assist the President in the promotion and coordination of actions directed at guaranteeing adequate protection of human rights and international humanitarian law. The advisory body suggested measures the Government could take to guarantee and respect these rights. The body also had a coordinating function to channel these issues and human rights claims to the proper authorities. There was a decentralization process that was underway as well with the goal of building capacity of citizens on the ground and increasing municipal efficiency. These strategies were undertaken with consultation with civil society groups and churches. Since 2007 the Ministry of Interior and Justice had also worked with the presidential body to ensure that various areas of the country implemented the programme to ensure human rights.

In terms of tax reforms and how they had impacted poor people, the delegation said that between 2001 and 2008 calculations had confirmed that resources allocated for education, health and clean drinking water and sanitation for the most part had not been reduced as a result of tax reform. In fact, between 2002 and 2007 the resources for education grew in real terms by 67 per cent, the resources for health grew by 42 per cent, and spending on clean drinking water and sanitation grew by 14 per cent. As a result of this spending, school enrolment rates were up 18 per cent and there had been a 111 per cent increase in enrolment in the subsidized healthcare system.

The delegation went on to point out that in Colombia it was not the poor who paid the most into the tax system. There was a study that showed that Colombia had the most progressive tax system out of all the Andean countries. A copy of this study would be provided to the Committee. Another study, which looked at how public expenditures were actually invested, showed the impact this spending had on the larger society. For example, in 2003 there was a reduction in the poverty level of 10.9 per cent and for 2008 poverty fell by 14.4 per cent. The application of public expenditures had also helped to reduce inequality in the country by 5 per cent. The application of public expenditures had thus led to a more equitable and just society.

In terms of security expenditures, 55 per cent of the security spending budget went to non-war activities such as national police work, sanitation, the housing of armed forces and other logistical issues.

Regarding the question on how Colombia defined sustainable development, the delegation said this was defined as development that met the needs of the country today without jeopardizing the ability of later generations to meet their own needs in the future.

Concerning the rights of women, the delegation felt progress had been made in developing and implementing laws to combat human trafficking, including a new strategy from 2007-2012 that rested on four pillars including prevention through mass media campaigns, care for victims, judiciary involvement, and international cooperation. Drug trafficking and trafficking in persons were treated as two separate offenses, so if someone was caught using someone else as a drug mule they would be charged with both drug related offences and human trafficking laws. Sex tourism was seen as a means of exploitation which fell under the same category of crimes as human trafficking. Concerning minors, there was a specific law criminalizing child pornography.

In an attempt to increase the participation of women in leadership roles in civic life, the quota system in place was strictly monitored and sought to attain the minimum level of 30 per cent. The delegation said there of course should be much more participation by women in high leadership posts and in decision making positions and progress could be seen in this area in that many governmental bodies had more than the required 30 per cent of women in leadership positions. The idea and hope was that efforts would continue and these numbers would continue to increase.

Turning to the minimum marriage age in Colombia, the delegation said under the Constitution the interests of children prevailed over the interests of others. While 18 was the minimum marriageable age, it was permissible for children to get married at age 14 with consent of a parent or guardian and any person who performed a marriage was obligated to ask for identification documents. If the people who sought to get married were minors, the official performing the marriage was also required to obtain proof of parental permission. If they did not meet these legal standards, then the marriage was not valid. To put this information in context, the delegation explained that it was decided years ago that 14 was the age of reproduction so that was established as the marriage age, but the Constitutional Court ruled this could not be applied without infringing on the rights of girls. As a result of this ruling, in 2007 a bill was introduced that sought to change the legal marriage age, but the bill was still being worked on.

There was also a new child and adolescent code that had been adopted based on the International Convention on the Rights of the Child. There were no children in the armed forces and there was a 2007 law that stipulated that those under 18 could not be enlisted in military forces. Conscientious objection had also been approved for military service, which the delegation saw as a major step forward. There was also a campaign against recruitment of children by illegal armed forces and 3,800 children had been taken out of the illegal armed forces and put into child protective services. There were also ongoing actions and activities by the Government with a view to promoting and fostering the rights of young people and public policies for the constitutional protection and institutional strengthening of these rights to lessen risk factors that could lead to infraction of their rights. The delegation said there had been isolated cases of children being used as informants in the war on drugs, but that was not a public policy or something that was widely used. The Ministry of National Defence made sure there no minors were used in intelligence actions and there was a programme to make sure that children who had been demobilized from illegal armed forces got the services they needed.

With regards to street children, they were cared for through programmes geared toward restoring their rights and projects supporting them were set up with cooperation of the European Union to provide specialized care and tackle the problem in the different cities where this problem had arisen.

Turning to intellectual property rights for indigenous people, the delegation said there was a 1994 law in place which established norms and a specialized framework to deal with this issue. There was also a 1997 degree which established a domestic procedure related to access to genetic resources and intellectual property, a 2003 law which established that the eco-system and natural resources which were such an important part of indigenous life and culture should be protected, and a biological resources decree governing biodiversity and protection of genetic resources across the country. In 2006 there was also a public policy established for indigenous people regarding access to their traditional knowledge to guarantee rights for indigenous people.

The delegation also responded to Committee concerns about the housing deficit and homelessness by saying that under the current system of funding it was possible for people to obtain subsidies that they could use for housing. A comprehensive housing policy focused on awarding subsidies for access to housing, but also included policies for land use for the building of houses and rules for home builders and construction companies. The delegation also pointed out that since the 2000 census the State had managed to decrease the number of people who lived in deficient housing or were homeless. There was also a State programme in place to help increase homeownership and increase access to credit so that people could obtain home mortgages.

With regard to workers rights, the delegation assured the Committee that freedom of work was protected as was the right to association and assembly and that people who prevented or disturbed a legal meeting would be punished as stipulated by a 2009 labour law.

On the issue of access to health services, the delegation said that vaccination campaigns were carried out in rural and urban areas and there was no difference in the requirements based on location. Maternal mortality had fallen by 10 per cent between 2002 and 2008 and there were public policies in place to address teen pregnancy, prevent maternal mortality, reduce the HIV infection rate and improve access to healthcare services for pregnant women. Strategies had also been implemented to enhance the gathering of data and monitor fulfilment of the programme goals. There had also been an increase in social participation for those suffering from HIV/AIDS and more money allocated to the improvement of the healthcare system. Combating malnutrition was a Millennium Development Goal and the country had established a food security policy to help eradicate the problem of malnutrition.

According to the delegation, legislative advances had been made in public policies on sexual health, roundtables and seminars on the ethical, medical and legal aspects that regulated sexual and reproductive health had been held, awareness raising campaigns had been launched, and educational campaigns were set up to build capacity and educate children in this field. The delegation informed the Committee that additional information could be found on the Ministry of Health’s website.

Concerning women and their participation in the pension system, the delegation conceded that the overall participation in the pension system was very low, and the data they had showed that for 2009 the participation rate was 31 per cent for women and 29 per cent for men, so women were not disproportionately marginalized from pension schemes. The informal economy remained a barrier for both genders with regards to social security and pension schemes.

The Committee had raised a number of concerns about the lack of access to free primary education. The delegation said that the educational development plan for 2002-2010 sought to extend coverage and improve quality and efficiency in the delivery of educational services, particularly to vulnerable populations. One strategy to achieve this was to provide education free of charge. They had begun this process by providing grants of $17 per child in 2009 in primary education and they would extend this to secondary school through grade 11. The Ministry of Education also provided meals to 67 per cent of enrolled school children and this had helped to keep children in school as well. The delegation said that targeting the needs of the school age population had also made it easier to improve societal conditions because they could collect information and determine what impact these initiatives were having on children and families.

The delegation also addressed the issue of Internet access and connectivity. The Ministry of Education was trying to modernize the system and ensure that children were provided with access to technology. Government Ministries were fully connected and 70 per cent of educational institutions were connected to the Internet, but only 40 per cent of schools in rural areas had Internet access, largely due to electricity problems. There were 22 children per computer right now and training programmes for teachers had been implemented so that 34 per cent of instructors had been trained in technology for pedagogical purposes. In terms of the general population, Internet access was 4 per cent in 2002 and grew to 46.2 per cent by 2009 and cell phone coverage was 10.5 per cent in 2002 and now it was above 93 per cent. The delegation felt increased Internet and cell phone access would encourage an increase in access to banking and other assorted services.

Lastly, the delegation addressed how the State promoted and supported participation in cultural life in the country. The Ministry of Culture provided support for films and cinema as a way of increasing cultural participation. It also enacted policies for the promotion and preservation of cultural heritage via libraries, musical programmes and other types of cultural life.

Questions by Experts

One Expert expressed dismay that the marriage age had not been changed and requested clarification on the definition of access to healthcare. The Committee also again raised the ongoing issue of the informal labour market and its impact on pensions as well as the inequality gap which continued to grow in the country.

Concluding Remarks

JAIME MARCHAN ROMERO, Committee Chairman, said in his concluding remarks that the three meetings had provided a fruitful dialogue and he applauded the noteworthy effort made by the delegation of Colombia to provide the Committee with concise replies which highlighted the progress made by the country in promoting economic, social and cultural rights. The Chairman thanked the delegation for their written replies to questions, which gave the Committee a snapshot of the situation in Colombia and hoped that they would take into account the Committee’s concluding observations.

ESTEBAN PIEDRAHITA, Director of the National Planning Department of Colombia, thanked the Committee for their penetrating questions and hoped that the delegation had dealt with some of them. The delegation would do everything in its power to ensure that recommendations were considered by the national Government and adopted and he thanked the Committee for the opportunity to outline the challenges and progress Colombia had made in the implementation of the provisions of the Covenant in the country.

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For use of the information media; not an official record