Article by PBI-Canada

On April 8, PBI-Colombia posted: “Today PBI accompanied the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) in Puerto Berrio, Antioquia in a workshop with members of the Humanitarian Action Corporation for Coexistence and Peace in Northeast Antioquia (CAHUCOPANA) on cases of victims of forced disappearance and sexual violence against the LGTBI community in the region.”

The current situation

According to Colombia Diversa, there have been 624 homicides and femicides of LGBTI people over the last six years in Colombia.

And Colombia Hoy recently reported that 76 lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people were killed in Colombia last year.

In the first three months of this year, 8 LGBT people were killed.

15 of the people killed in 2020 lived in the Antioquia region where PBI-Colombia accompanied CREDHOS for the workshop.

During the armed conflict

Furthermore, Caribe Afirmativo recently produced a report about violence against LGBT people during the armed conflict in Colombia.

It found that violence against been committed against the LGBT community by the FARC-EP, the paramilitaries, the ELN and the Public Force.

Semana Rural reports: “The Caribe Afirmativo team worked with leaders and human rights defenders from the Magdalena Medio region [and the departments of] Cesar, Arauca, Caquetá and Cauca [to produce the report].”

“The leaders mentioned the importance of the gender approach in the Peace Agreement [reached in 2016], the defense of human rights in the country’s municipalities, community resistance, differential attention in legal entities and the importance of making visible the efforts and effects of the population.”

Caribe Afirmativo says: “There are almost 100 documented cases of LGBT people who are victims of the armed conflict who have experienced threats, forced displacement, persecution, harassment and all kinds of violence [from legal and illegal armed actors] due to their sexual orientations and diverse gender identities and expressions.”

Ensuring non-repetition

This report was presented last month to the Truth Commission (the Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence and Non-repetition).

Semana Rural notes: “Despite progress, LGBT leaders and human rights defenders proposed that greater coordination with civil society, institutions and the Government is necessary to guarantee non-repetition.”