Although we are only getting started, we aim to progressively extend our coverage of countries around the world.
As of September 2021, 611 environmental defenders had already been assassinated in Colombia
since the signing of the 2016 Peace Deal,
according to the Colombian Institute of Studies for Development and Peace (Indepaz).
Of those 611 people, 332 were Indigenous.
6.72
Full democracyFlawed democracyHybrid regimeAuthoritarian regime
42.43
GoodSatisfactoryProblematicDifficultVery Serious
Colombia is among the longest-standing democracies in Latin America, but one with a history of widespread violence and serious human rights abuses. Public institutions have demonstrated the capacity to check executive power, and the country’s main left-wing guerrilla group signed a peace accord in 2016. Nonetheless, Colombia faces enormous challenges in consolidating peace and guaranteeing political rights and civil liberties outside of major urban areas. In June 2022, opposition candidate and former left-wing guerrilla member Gustavo Petro was elected to the presidency and formed a government comprised of a broad left-wing coalition, becoming Colombia’s first leftist government since the reestablishment of competitive democracy.
Internet freedom in Colombia declined for the fifth consecutive year. Journalists faced an escalation in sometimes deadly violence in suspected retaliation for their online reporting; widespread disinformation impacted online debate ahead of the 2022 presidential elections; and the government launched a campaign to monitor social media and shape online narratives around nationwide protests held in 2021. Moreover, during the coverage period, service providers blocked at least one website. Despite these challenges, the judiciary issued multiple rulings in favor of free expression and access to information online, including against the disproportionate removal of content and striking down a reform to the electoral code that threatened citizens’ political expression over social media.
The Republic of Colombia is a country mostly in South America with insular regions in North America.
The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuela to the east and northeast,
Brazil to the southeast, Ecuador and Peru to the south and southwest, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and Panama to the northwest.
Colombia has a high crime rate due to being a center for the cultivation and trafficking of cocaine.
Freedom of religion in Colombia is enforced by the State and well tolerated in the Colombian culture.
The Colombian conflict began in the mid-1960s and is a low-intensity asymmetric war between Colombian governments,
paramilitary groups, crime syndicates,
and left-wing guerrillas such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and the National Liberation Army (ELN),
fighting each other to increase their influence in Colombian territory.
Two of the most important international actors that have contributed to the Colombian conflict are multinational companies and the United States.
The Colombian peace process is the peace process between the Colombian government of President Juan Manuel Santos
and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC–EP)
to bring an end to the Colombian conflict,
which eventually led to the Peace Agreements between the Colombian Government of Juan Manuel Santos and FARC-EP.