Committee against Torture

List of issues prior to submission of the seventh periodic report of Colombia *

Specific information on the implementation of articles 1–16 of the Convention, including with regard to the Committee’s previous recommendations

1.In its previous concluding observations, the Committee requested the State Party to provide information on its follow-up to the Committee’s recommendations concerning the response to violence in the context of the armed conflict and criminal activity, conditions of detention, monitoring of places of detention and attacks on human rights defenders, social leaders and journalists (see paras. 19 (a), 25 (a), 33 and 37). After examining the replies to the Committee’s request for information, received on 12 May 2024, and taking into account the letter from the Committee’s Rapporteur on follow-up to concluding observations dated 3 December 2024, as well as the additional information provided by the State Party on 18 November 2025, the Committee takes the view that the adoption of Act No. 2371 of 2024 on the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention is a direct response to the recommendation made in paragraph 33 of the previous concluding observations and that the recommendations contained in paragraphs 19 (a) and 25 (a) have been only partially implemented.

Articles 1 and 4

2.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations, please provide updated information on the steps taken by the State Party to bring articles 178 and 137 of the Criminal Code into line with article 1 of the Convention.

Article 2

3.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations, please provide detailed information on the measures taken to ensure that all detainees are afforded, in practice, all fundamental safeguards against torture and ill-treatment from the outset of their deprivation of liberty, in accordance with international standards. In particular, please indicate any measures taken to guarantee the right of detainees to: (a) notify a relative or other person of their choice of their detention and whereabouts; (b) request and obtain, free of charge and confidentially, a medical examination by an independent professional or one of their choice; (c) have effective access to an independent lawyer of their choice without delay and in full confidentiality or, should they not have sufficient means to pay for legal representation, to free legal aid; and (d) appear before a judge within the legal time frame, in accordance with international standards, and to have a court review the legality of their detention. In addition, please indicate the control measures taken, including any disciplinary or criminal action taken since the consideration of the previous periodic report, to ensure that law enforcement and other officials respect, in practice, from the moment of deprivation of liberty, all fundamental legal safeguards of detained persons. Please also include information on the measures taken to prevent arbitrary detention, in particular when carried out by police officers without identification and/or in unofficial detention centres, and on the measures taken to prevent abuse in the implementation of “transfers for protective purposes” provided for in article 155 of the National Code of Citizen Security and Coexistence. In this regard, please provide updated data on the number of transfers for protective purposes conducted since the consideration of the State Party’s previous periodic report, indicating the specific reason for the transfer, its duration and the establishment to which the person was transferred. Please explain how legal safeguards, including notification of family members, access to medical care, recording of admission and stay, and personal safety, are upheld for persons detained in the so-called centres for protective transfers or assistance centres.

4.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations and the State Party’s follow-up replies regarding Act No. 2371 of 2024, please describe the progress achieved in establishing the national preventive mechanism. Specifically, please provide information on the measures taken to ensure that the mechanism has a clear constitutional or legal basis, that it has the independence and technical, financial and human resources necessary to carry out its mandate effectively and that it enjoys full financial and functional autonomy in the exercise of the functions entrusted to it under the Optional Protocol. Please provide information on the measures taken to ensure the effective participation of civil society in the establishment and operation of the mechanism.

5.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations, please indicate the legislative or other measures taken by the State Party to ensure that the ordinary courts are the only ones with jurisdiction over serious human rights violations and other abuses committed against civilians by military personnel, including acts of torture and ill‑treatment, and that such acts are excluded from the jurisdiction of the military courts.

6.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations, please describe the progress made on the reform of the National Police, including the corps’ possible transfer from the Ministry of National Defence to a civilian State body and the tangible results of the Working Group on Police Reform. In that connection, please provide updated information on regulatory and other measures, including decrees, manuals and protocols, concerning the use of force and less lethal weapons. Furthermore, please explain how these measures align with international standards, including on: (a) clear and differentiated criteria for the use of force and less lethal weapons; (b) independent civilian oversight mechanisms to ensure compliance; (c) accessible complaint mechanisms; and (d) investigation of alleged police misconduct. In addition, please provide information on the development of a bill, with a human rights perspective, that would guarantee the right to social protest, in particular measures to prohibit the misuse of antiterrorism legislation and other serious criminal charges to prosecute individuals accused only of property crimes committed in the course of social protests. Please describe the measures taken to ensure that law enforcement and public safety functions are carried out by the civilian police, except in extraordinary cases provided for by law.

7.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations and the information provided by the State Party in its follow-up report, please describe the measures being taken to implement the public policy and permanent action plan for dismantling criminal organizations and criminal conduct that undermine peacebuilding, including the so-called paramilitary successor groups and their support networks, and provide updated information on its results and the main implementation challenges. Please also describe the measures taken to fully guarantee the rights of victims, including Indigenous victims, during negotiations and dialogue with non-State armed groups and criminal organizations. In addition, please provide information on the State Party’s efforts to build the capacity and strengthen the methodology of the Intersectoral Commission for Rapid Response to Early Warnings and to provide a timely response to early warnings. Please include information on efforts to increase the reach of the Attorney General’s Office and the Public Prosecution Service in areas affected by violence by armed groups. Please also indicate the specific measures taken to protect persons belonging to Indigenous Peoples and persons of African descent from violence by non-State armed groups and criminal organizations. Please provide information on the measures taken to prevent sexual and gender-based violence committed by security forces, including applicable protocols, in accordance with the zero‑tolerance policy of the Ministry of National Defence.

8.In the light of the information provided by the State Party regarding the public policy and road map on prevention, which has been implemented since 2019, and other measures to prevent and punish child recruitment and sexual violence against children and adolescents, please describe the progress achieved in updating the policy or adopting a comprehensive policy to prevent and punish the commission of these offences by non-State armed groups, with a special focus on victims belonging to Indigenous Peoples, communities of African descent or migrant communities. Please also provide information on the measures taken since the consideration of the previous periodic report to ensure that victims receive comprehensive reparation, taking into account the harm suffered as a result of acts of torture and ill-treatment.

9.Please provide updated information on the legislative or other measures taken to combat gender-based violence against women and girls, including femicide, especially those cases involving actions and omissions by State authorities or other entities that engage the international responsibility of the State Party under the Convention. Please also provide comprehensive up-to-date statistical data, disaggregated by the age and ethnic or national origin of the victims, on the number of complaints, investigations, prosecutions, convictions and judgments recorded in cases of gender-based violence since the consideration of the State Party’s previous periodic report. Please provide information on the protection and assistance services available to victims of gender-based violence, including legal assistance, medical care, psychological support and access to appropriate shelters.

10.Please provide updated data, disaggregated by the victims’ age, sex and ethnic origin or nationality, on the number of complaints received, investigations carried out, proceedings initiated and convictions returned in cases of trafficking in persons since the consideration of the State Party’s previous periodic report. In addition, please provide information on the protection and compensation measures awarded to victims. Please also report on the mechanisms established by the State Party to identify trafficking victims who may be among the migrant population and refer their cases to the appropriate services.

Article 3

11.Taking into account the Committee’s previous concluding observations, please describe the measures taken during the period under review to ensure respect for the principle of non-refoulement in practice and asylum-seekers’ access to the refugee status determination procedure, especially in airport transit areas, given the information provided by the State Party on the recent Constitutional Court judgment concerning Decree No. 1067 of 2015. Please provide detailed information on the assessment of the strategies implemented to protect children and adolescents who are unaccompanied or separated from their families during the asylum procedure and on the measures taken to identify asylum-seekers who are in a vulnerable situation, including victims of torture or related trauma, and to ensure that their specific needs are met in a timely manner. Please also provide information on the manner in which the State Party ensures that any abuse and acts of violence that migrants in its territory experience are investigated and punished and the action taken in cases of death or disappearance of or sexual violence against migrants.

12.Please provide updated information on the number of asylum applications received during the period under review, the number of successful applications and the number of cases in which asylum was granted on the grounds that the applicant had been tortured or might be tortured if returned to his or her country of origin. Please include detailed statistical information on the number of persons who have been returned, extradited or expelled since the consideration of the previous periodic report. Please provide details of the grounds on which those persons were sent back and the list of the countries to which they were returned. Please also indicate how many returns, extraditions or expulsions have been carried out by the State Party during the period under review on the basis of the acceptance of diplomatic assurances or the equivalent thereof and in how many cases the State Party has offered such diplomatic assurances or guarantees. Please provide information on the measures taken to ensure appropriate, effective and independent monitoring of individuals after they have been extradited, expelled or returned to other countries pursuant to assurance agreements.

Articles 5 to 9

13.Please provide information on any new laws or measures adopted by the State Party to implement article 5 of the Convention, in particular to establish its jurisdiction over cases of torture where the alleged offender is present in any territory under its jurisdiction and it does not extradite him or her. Please provide information on any extradition treaties concluded with other States since the consideration of the State Party’s previous periodic report and indicate whether the offences referred to in article 5 of the Convention are included as extraditable offences in such treaties. Please clarify what treaties or agreements on mutual judicial assistance the State Party has entered into with other entities, such as countries, international tribunals or international institutions, and whether those instruments have resulted, in practice, in the transfer of any evidence in connection with prosecutions concerning torture or ill-treatment. Please provide examples.

Article 10

14.Please provide updated information on the training and educational programmes developed by the State Party to ensure that all public officials involved in the custody, interrogation or treatment of persons deprived of their liberty, including law enforcement officials, prison staff, border guards and members of the military, are fully aware of the provisions of the Convention and know that breaches will not be tolerated and will be investigated, and that any offenders will be prosecuted. Please also provide updated information on the steps taken to strengthen existing in-service and mandatory training programmes for judges and prosecutors in order to improve the quality of investigations into cases of torture and ill-treatment and to ensure that the acts constituting such offences are correctly characterized. Please indicate whether law enforcement officials receive adequate training on the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. Please provide information on the programmes used to train police officers and prosecutors in non-coercive investigation techniques. Please indicate what measures are being taken to mainstream a gender perspective in the identification of stereotypes, the prosecution of sexual and gender-based violence and the human rights training provided to justice and law enforcement officials. Please indicate the number, institutions and percentage of public servants that have participated in such training programmes.

15.In the light of the Committee’s previous concluding observations, please provide updated information on training programmes for forensic doctors and medical personnel who are in contact with persons deprived of their liberty to strengthen their ability to detect and document the physical and psychological after-effects of torture. Please indicate whether those programmes include specific training on the Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Istanbul Protocol), as revised.

Article 11

16.Please provide detailed information on the steps taken to ensure that rapid response team facilities and local National Police stations are not used for pretrial detention purposes, even temporarily, owing to insufficient capacity in prisons. In addition, please describe the action taken by the State Party to improve conditions of detention in temporary detention centres and prisons, including measures to reduce overcrowding, and to promote the application of alternatives to deprivation of liberty, both prior to and following judgment. With reference to the information provided in the State Party’s follow-up report regarding various public policies aimed at coordinating plans to reduce prison overcrowding and making structural changes to conditions of detention in all temporary detention facilities and prisons, please describe the specific measures taken in this regard, including information on the improvements introduced in prisons and on new facilities that have been constructed. Please provide statistical data, disaggregated by sex, age and ethnic or national origin, on the number of pretrial detainees and convicted prisoners and on the occupancy rate of all places of detention. Please provide clarification on the legislation and policies relating to pretrial detention and on the measures taken to avoid the excessive use of such detention. Please provide information on the measures taken to ensure that persons in pretrial detention are separated from convicted persons.

17.Please report on the steps taken by the State Party to ensure that solitary confinement is used only in exceptional cases and as a last resort for the shortest possible time (no more than 15 consecutive days), and that it is subject to independent review and imposed only with the authorization of the competent authority. In addition, please explain the action taken to ensure adequate conditions in solitary confinement cells. Please indicate whether such measures can be imposed on persons deprived of their liberty who have a physical, intellectual or psychosocial disability and, if so, under what conditions.

18.Taking into account the Committee’s previous concluding observations and the information provided in the State Party’s follow-up report regarding the adoption of Act No. 2292 of 2023, which introduced a crime policy with a gender perspective and alternatives to deprivation of liberty for women heads of households convicted of an offence, please provide up-to-date detailed information on the progress made in implementing the Act, particularly in the framework of the relevant interinstitutional development strategy. In this regard, please describe the types of measures granted to women inmates and provide statistical data on the number of women who have benefited from them. In addition, please report on progress achieved in providing specialized services with a gender perspective to women deprived of liberty, including measure relating to hygiene and sexual and reproductive health. Please enumerate the functional assessment and interdisciplinary support protocols that have been adopted to ensure differentiated and inclusive care for persons with disabilities. Please indicate whether there are specific protocols in place for the treatment of certain groups of persons deprived of their liberty, such as foreigners, older persons and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons.

19.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations and the replies contained in the State Party’s follow-up report concerning the comprehensive care model and the funding of the healthcare system for persons deprived of their liberty, please provide updated information on other measures taken to strengthen medical, psychological and health care for persons deprived of their liberty and to ensure that prisons and temporary detention centres are assigned sufficient human and material resources to that end. Please also provide information on the measures taken to ensure that persons deprived of their liberty have adequate and continuous access to drinking water and sufficient food in places of detention. In addition, please provide updated information on the efforts made and progress achieved in reforming the prison system and formulating comprehensive social reintegration policies that ensure that inmates have access to education, vocational training and recreational and cultural activities, including culturally appropriate programmes for Indigenous persons deprived of their liberty. Please indicate whether the State Party has taken into account the International Guidelines on Human Rights and Drug Policy in the implementation of its prison and crime policy and, if so, how.

20.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations and the State Party’s follow-up replies, please provide up-to-date statistical data on the number of deaths in custody during the period under review, disaggregated by place of detention, sex, age, ethnic or national origin and cause of death. Please describe the measures taken to ensure that investigations into this type of case are conducted by an independent body and that forensic examinations carried out in the course of these investigations are conducted in keeping with the Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death. Please indicate whether the strategies and programmes for the prevention, detection and treatment of infectious and other diseases in prisons have been reviewed. Please provide information on acts of inter-prisoner violence, especially cases involving possible negligence by officials and authorities, and on the number of complaints filed and the results of investigations into those complaints. Please provide detailed information on the crisis intervention and suicide prevention programmes in place in all prisons and on the measures taken to implement programmes aimed at ending inter-prisoner violence, including sexual and gender-based violence, and to prevent excessive use of force by prison personnel. In this regard, please describe the training provided to prison personnel in the proportionate and differentiated use of force, specifying the content and duration of the training and whether it is compulsory. In addition, please provide information on the progress achieved in reviewing the legal framework governing the use of force in places of deprivation of liberty to ensure its compliance with the relevant international standards. Please indicate whether specific protocols have been established on the use of firearms and conducted energy devices in places of deprivation of liberty, specifying the number of such incidents recorded and the results of the investigations into them.

Articles 12 and 13

21.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations, please provide information on the measures taken to ensure the effectiveness, accessibility, security and independence of mechanisms for the lodging of complaints of torture and ill-treatment in places of deprivation of liberty. Please describe the measures taken to protect persons deprived of their liberty who report acts of torture or ill-treatment from intimidation of any kind, reprisals or any other negative effects. In addition to the information provided by the State Party in its follow-up report regarding the total number of trials held and sentences handed down in cases of torture from 2023 to 2025, please provide up-to-date statistical data, disaggregated by place of detention, on the number of complaints received, investigations initiated, cases closed, prosecutions led and convictions handed down in relation to acts of torture and ill-treatment, including excessive use of force, during the period under review and on the sentences imposed in cases where the alleged perpetrators were found guilty. Please give examples of relevant cases and court decisions. Please provide detailed information on the results of the investigation into the events that occurred at La Modelo prison in March 2020.

22.Please provide up-to-date disaggregated data on the number of complaints of acts of torture or ill-treatment, including sexual and gender-based violence, excessive use of force and enforced disappearance, allegedly committed by police officers and members of the Mobile Anti-Riot Squad or the Unit for Dialogue and Maintenance of Order tasked with, inter alia, controlling public gatherings, during the period under review. Please include information on the investigations initiated, including whether the Minnesota Protocol and the Istanbul Protocol were applied in the course of these investigations, the disciplinary and criminal proceedings opened, the convictions and criminal or disciplinary sanctions handed down and the redress obtained by the victims or their families. In addition, please indicate the measures taken to strengthen psychosocial treatment programmes for victims and their families, as well as the specific programmes for caring for victims of eye injuries sustained during protests. Please provide examples of relevant cases and judicial decisions. Please also indicate the specific reparation measures taken by the State Party to comply with the judgment of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the case of the U ’ wa Indigenous People and its members v. Colombia, of 4 July 2024, relating to the deployment of the armed forces during social protests and the excessive and inappropriate use of force against the U’wa Indigenous people.

23.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations, please describe the progress made on the implementation of the provisions of the Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace (Peace Agreement), in particular with regard to the investigation and prosecution of cases of torture, including alleged acts of sexual or gender-based violence, enforced disappearance and ill-treatment, that occurred in the context of the armed conflict. In this regard, please report on any cases in which an investigation was conducted into the responsibility of hierarchical superiors who knew or should have known about these acts but failed to take appropriate action to prevent or punish them. Please also indicate whether, in these cases, the commission and circumstances of the offences were analysed, and what measures have been taken, including the establishment of clear guidelines and the provision of training to prosecutors and judges, to ensure that acts of torture are adequately documented, investigated and prosecuted, including when they are committed concurrently with other offences. Please provide updated information on the measures taken to ensure access to justice for victims of torture and other human rights violations committed during the armed conflict, including access and full participation by Indigenous victims. Please describe the measures taken to ensure comprehensive, culturally appropriate reparation for Indigenous victims, as well as reparation with a gender perspective, and the efforts made to strengthen urgent search mechanisms in cases of enforced disappearance.

Article 14

24.Please provide information on redress and compensation measures, including the means of rehabilitation, ordered by the courts or other State bodies and actually provided to the victims of torture or their families in cases unrelated to the armed conflict since the consideration of the State Party’s previous periodic report. Please provide information on ongoing reparation programmes, including those providing for the treatment of trauma and other forms of rehabilitation, for victims of torture or similar traumas, and on the material, human and budgetary resources allocated to these programmes to ensure their effective functioning.

Article 15

25.Please provide updated information on the specific measures that have been adopted to ensure that the principle of the inadmissibility of evidence obtained through torture is observed in law and in practice. Please provide examples of any cases that have been dismissed by the courts owing to the introduction of evidence or testimony obtained through torture.

Article 16

26.Taking into account the Committee’s previous concluding observations and the State Party’s follow-up replies, please provide information on the measure taken to protect human rights defenders, journalists, social, Indigenous and Afrodescendent leaders and other representatives of civil society from homicide, assault, violence and harassment. In particular, please provide detailed information on the actions taken to implement the judgment of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the case of José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers Collective v. Colombia of 18 October 2023. Please also provide information on the measures taken to prevent, investigate and punish violence and abuse committed by police officers and members of the security forces against individuals, especially when these actions are motivated by the person’s real or assumed sexual orientation or gender identity. In this regard, please enumerate the specific steps that have been taken to strengthen and modernize the National Protection Unit through the National Development Plan 2022–2026. Please also describe the measures taken to implement Constitutional Court judgement No. SU-546/23, in which the Court ordered, among other measures, the strengthening of protection pathways and complaint mechanisms to improve the resolution of cases of violence against these individuals and the adoption of a comprehensive protection plan. Please report on any other legislative or other measures taken to ensure the effective protection of these individuals and groups so that they can carry out their work safely. Please provide statistical data on the number of complaints of homicide, assault and harassment that were filed and investigated during the period under review. Please indicate whether the persons who were prosecuted and subsequently convicted of this type of offence included public officials and provide information in this regard. Please also indicate the specific protection and reparation measures that have been awarded.

27.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations, please describe the steps taken to strengthen legislative measures and policies to assist persons, in particular Indigenous Peoples, who are internally displaced in the territory of the State Party as a result of the situation of violence related to illicit activities in the country, and the measures taken to ensure their effective protection. Please report on the measures taken to design and implement a human-rights-based strategy in this area, in keeping with the section of the Peace Agreement regarding the substitution of illicit crops. In addition, please describe the efforts made to address the situation and ensure the safety of refugees and displaced persons along the border with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, where, among other issues, armed groups continue to operate.

Other issues

28.Please provide updated information on the measures taken by the State Party to respond to threats of terrorism. Please indicate whether those measures have affected human rights safeguards in law and in practice and, if so, in what manner. Please also describe how the State Party has ensured that its counter-terrorism measures are compatible with its obligations under international law, especially the Convention. Furthermore, please indicate the nature of training given to law enforcement officers in this area, the number of persons who have been convicted under legislation adopted to combat terrorism, the legal remedies and safeguards available in law and in practice to persons subject to counter-terrorism measures and any complaints relating to the non-observance of international standards, as well as their outcome.

29.Please inform the Committee of the steps taken to follow-up on Colombian nationals who have been deported from the United States of America, including to third countries, specifying the procedures and mechanisms in place to ensure that persons who are transferred and subsequently returned to their country of origin or to a third country fully enjoy their rights under the Convention.

General information on other measures and developments relating to the implementation of the Convention in the State Party

30.Please provide detailed information on any other relevant legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures taken since the consideration of the State Party’s previous periodic report to implement the provisions of the Convention or the Committee’s recommendations. Such measures may include institutional developments, plans or programmes. Please indicate the resources allocated and provide statistical data. Please also provide any other information that the State Party considers relevant.