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Background: This study explores the impacts of attacks perpetrated in the context of armed conflict, to female health workers in three Colombian territories. Methods: We conducted a document review of the reports and databases of the Colombian Truth Commission, 17 in-depth semi-structured interviews with experts on the national and regional armed conflict and the medical mission, and 26 female health workers who were victims of attacks. Results: Experts and female health workers reported attacks to health activities, facilities, equipment, and personnel, including attacks to traditional doctors belonging to indigenous communities. The most frequent attacks were threats and retention of health personnel; theft of supplies and medicines; damage and use of infrastructure and means of transport for purposes other than health care; and hinderance of health service provision. The attacks occurred in a framework of structural violence that intersects with poverty, racism, and gender bias. The impacts of these attacks include gender-based violence, significant disruption of the lives of health workers, and physical, emotional, psychological, social, and economic effects on the victims and their families. The government response to protect victims and populations has been absent or insufficient. Conclusions: Attacks to health care were reported in all the studied territories obstructing adequate health care. Impacts of these attacks affect negatively the professional and personal life of the workers and are aggravated by structural violence and absent or little institutional response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Colombia has experienced decades of conflict between the government and non-state actors. Attacks on healthcare have been a grave but regular facet of that violence. In response, the Misión Médica (MM) program was developed to support, protect, and defend healthcare. Sporadic violence continues, with many recent attacks perpetrated not by armed actors but by residents. Given the history of conflict and ongoing violence, we sought to capture the perspectives of both healthcare workers (HCWs) and community members (CMs) regarding the characteristics and impacts of attacks on health in Colombia to gain insight into how to better prevent violence and mitigate its impacts. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from January to March 2021 in seven departments in Colombia in regions that witnessed attacks on healthcare. Questionnaires were administered to HCWs and CMs via purposive sampling, probing their experiences with attacks on health with both closed and open-ended questions. The categorical responses were stratified by health worker vs. non-health worker and descriptively analyzed. Narrative responses were analyzed via a hybrid deductive/inductive thematic approach. Results: Seventy-three individuals participated in the study (36 HCWs and 37 cm). Approximately 77% of HCWs believed that attacks on healthcare impacted health outcomes while 68% of CMs did not see a direct connection between violence against healthcare and poor health outcomes. Awareness of the MM program was significantly different between HCWs (83.3%) and CMs (37.8%). The survey responses explored the characteristics of attacks on health, compounded impacts of violence on the health system, personal impacts, and perspectives on mitigation efforts. Conclusions: The study demonstrates that: (1) attacks on healthcare are context-dependent and require a local lens for mitigation and management; (2) both HCWs and CMs have critical perspectives that must be considered, (3) the impacts of violence against healthcare are complex and compounded and (4) that awareness of the legal protections of the Geneva Conventions must be combined with education on the health impacts for robust protection strategies. Critically, Both CMs and HCWs experience fear and psychosocial ramifications of these attacks, suggesting the need for stronger protections and resources to support the health workforce and the local community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The changing nature of contemporary conflicts has resulted in the proliferation of non-international armed conflicts and the active involvement of non-state armed actors. For this reason, it has become essential to combat these groups and encourage them to act in accordance with the law. This study examines the motivations of non-state armed actors who comply with international humanitarian law in order to gain legitimacy and credibility. In this study, the FARC in Colombia and the JEM in Sudan will be examined and it will be tried to determine how they respect the law regarding child soldiers. With the aim of preserving trust in international humanitarian law and increasing respect for human dignity, the study will try to determine the reasons that push non-state armed actors to comply with international humanitarian law as a result of the case analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transitional justice systems generally aim to achieve two goals. One is to bring the perpetrators of past atrocities to justice to ensure that they do not go unpunished, which involves the State fulfilling its duty to investigate, prosecute and punish serious human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law (IHL). The other is to bring about reconciliation to heal a divided society and achieve peace and stability. This normally requires the adoption of measures of clemency, such as granting amnesty, so that those who took part in the country's violent past can return to civilian life. The use of IHL is relevant in attaining both these goals because its complex nature means that it provides the legal basis for their implementation. However, this very complexity can mean that there are contradictions or complementarities between its characteristics. This article looks at the case of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) in Colombia, showing how this transitional jurisdiction has used IHL as a legal basis both for investigating, prosecuting and punishing serious violations committed during the Colombian armed conflict and for granting amnesty to those who took part in the hostilities. These different uses by the JEP demonstrate that IHL is a flexible tool that can facilitate the process of delivering both justice and peace after a conflict has ended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Verba Iuris is the property of Universidad Libre Bogota, Centre de Investigaciones Socio Juridicas de la Facultad de Derecho and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

International humanitarian law (IHL) has traditionally been seen as a legal framework regulating armed hostilities, having little to do with peace. However, recent peacemaking and peacebuilding practice has consistently relied on IHL to frame peace efforts, mainly in non-international armed conflicts. This article explores the relationship between IHL and peace, looking at practice in Colombia, where IHL has been used in a creative way as a means to build trust, facilitate peace negotiations and enforce the resulting peace agreement. Looking at this case, the article offers general insights on how IHL can facilitate the end of conflict and reintegration, frame accountability and reparation, and shield peace deals under a framework in which both State and non-State actors can find a common bargaining zone in their search for peace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the existence of an international obligation for the State of Colombia to guarantee access to abortion services for women and girls who are victims of conflict-related sexual violence in the context of the Colombian armed conflict. By examining international humanitarian law rules from an international human rights law lens, it sets out the interdependence between both frameworks from reproductive health and human rights perspectives. Furthermore, the article provides considerations on the recognition and redress of these violations in the transitional justice scenario in Colombia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Academia & Derecho is the property of Universidad Libre - Seccional Cucuta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Prolegómenos Derechos y Valores is the property of Prolegomenos Derechos y Valores and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Jurídicas CUC is the property of Corporacion Universidad de la Costa, CUC and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Ever since the first quarter of the nineteenth century, Colombia has shifted from one war to the next, be it the War of Independence, the fierce confrontations between liberal and conservative parties or the countless conflicts among guerrillas, paramilitary groups and the State. These wars have brought along a unique contribution to the development of international humanitarian law (IHL). The purpose of this article is to explore the myriad of ways in which Colombia has implemented (and at times made progress on) IHL rules, and to analyze how different conflicts have led the country to explore issues such as the protection of minors, the meaning of the principle of precaution, the compensation of armed conflict victims and the creation of some rather sophisticated transitional justice mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This investigation seeks to vindicate the importance of constructing, as an object of study, a category of law called operational law, to contribute to the socio-juridical debate of the relations that arise or occur in the actions of the Public Force, understood these as Military Forces and National Police. In that sense, it is entirely plausible to build complete knowledge around the normative imperatives that regulate the procedures of military and police institutions, respectively. Thus, an attempt is made to make an approximation to the axial or defining axes of this legal arrangement. Eventually, it could give in-deep explanations to phenomena of the social environment and that are related to the containment of the threats of society. Finally, the document proposes an analysis of the validity and effectiveness of the operational rules, given their administrative roots, justifying them as a principle of lex artis of the science and art of military operations and police operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transitional justice in the countries of Latin America has a long history, both in its doctrine as in its legislation, but implementation has brought the breach of international law, in concrete international law of human rights and international humanitarian law. This document shows the structure of the current model of transitional justice in Colombia and what is to be implemented with Havana agreements, and offers a reflection about limits of legislative autonomy of the states against the design and development of its own transitional justice models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is about the armed conflict in Colombia and the situation for people with disabilities. Decades of internal conflict have created a complex situation which both gives rise to disability but also fails to take account of the many urgent needs of people with disabilities. Despite the ratification by Colombia of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, persons with disabilities are still not accorded a voice in the peace agreements. Although there is little known about the extent of disability in Colombia, it is important to understand the history of the Colombian armed conflict to see how it impacts on disability issues. We conclude by highlighting the legal instruments in Colombia which provide opportunities now to redress some of those wrongs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article has the objective of analyzing if the bacrim groups can be considered as part of the non-international armed conflict in Colombia. To answer the abovementioned question, this article studies the norms, cases and doctrine applicable under IHL, in order to establish when does a non-international armed conflict exists and when the concept of direct participation in hostilities applies. Also, it analyses two cases of bacrim groups, in order to determine whether they fulfill the requirements of IHL. Having addressed this analysis, this article concludes that the bacrim groups can be recognized as part of the armed conflict, considering the intensity of the hostilities between these groups and the Colombian military forces and/or the farc; the internal organization of the groups and the threat they impose on civilians. As a consequence, this article recommends that the State should reconsider how to fight these groups, since the actual measures are not enough to end with the bacrim. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From an international perspective, there has been a tendency to try and restrict or even avoid the use of military tribunals to prosecute members of the military or police responsible for serious human rights violations. Colombia has become a part of this trend over the past few decades, particularly through its Constitutional Court jurisprudence and a handful of legislative developments. However, Colombia's Legislative Act 02 of 2012 interrupted this trend by attempting to amend the country's Constitution and extend the scope of military jurisdiction in Colombia, arguing that more confidence should placed in Colombia's military and police. Although Colombia's Constitutional Court quickly declared this constitutional reform unconstitutional due to some flaws in the congressional approval process, the substantial content and implications of this attempt at reform must be the starting point for subsequent debates about the benefits and scope of military criminal justice reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of weapon technology has represented a great challenge for the implementation of International Humanitarian Law. As such, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in armed conflict has been controversial, and has been criticized under different scenarios. Recently, the Colombian Military has acquired this technology, with the possibility of arming these aircraft and using the in the Colombian internal conflict. This text studies the implications of using this technology in Colombia, and concludes that as long as as they are used in accordance to the mandates of international humanitarian law, it does not constitute a violation of the law of armed conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following study has the purpose of illustrating the history and development of international law that led to the configuration of the homicide crime against a person protected by the International Humanitarian Law, and its importance and impact in Colombia through the constitutionality block and the Colombian criminal code. At the same time, we will study the figure of homicide of protected person with the different mutations that have suffered the armed conflict, which is why we will qualify the prosecution consolidation of this crime, and its application and effects about what's called "falsos positivos", social cleansing and criminal bands according to the national recent sceneries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the Colombian historical behavior facing the Human Rights regime; the tensions that had been produced by the armed conflict and that had impeded the Colombia's compliance of the Human Rights international standards; the relation between the transitional justice instruments in Colombia and the Human Rights international standards; the incidences of the state actors, the international organizations and the global civil society actors for the adoption and compliance of the juridical international instruments. Finally, it analyses the Victims and the Lands Restitution law as a government attempt not just to repair the damage suffered by the victims of the armed conflict, but to improve the internal adhesion to the international standards of the HR and the IHL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to understand what the impact is International Humanitarian Law and International Law of Human Rights in cases involving children and adolescents in armed conflict, it is necessary to define the international corpus of its various instruments and then show how these elements have formed the basis and foundation in the decisions that had to face the Constitutional Court in constitutional rulings that have been subjected to study, for which emphasizes the application of the constitutional instrument as a formal source Law . It does show that, in the delimited area, the interest and the Colombian reality show extensive review by the Court, demonstrated a high degree of concern regarding the various forms of association of children and adolescents in conflict internal armed mainly by the recruitment figures for the High Court which goes not only to international treaties, but also to international custom, specialized teaching, research and statistics between the non-binding instruments, but which serve as parameter for final decision. This identifies a comprehensive international legal framework is a static analysis of the judgments of the Court in these matters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) in the so-called War on Drugs has considerable implications for the application of international humanitarian law and raises concern about the respect for human rights under antidrug assistance programs. This article will focus, in particular, on the ways in which the lack of state control over PMSC activities poses a major challenge for human rights protections in the short-term--by restricting the application of human rights law--as well as in the long-term--by further undermining state capacity and weakening the rule of law. Using the cases of Colombia and Mexico, this article will illustrate how PMSCs tend to add another dimension of complexity to complicated situations where the application of the rule of law is already uneven, increasing the risk of human rights violations and impunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of CIVILIZAR: Ciencias Sociales y Humanas is the property of Universidad Sergio Arboleda and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper results from research work performed on the enforceability of the Right to the Truth under Public International Law. This paper is intended to analyze the duties undertaken by the States regarding the compliance with this specific human right after serious violations of International Human Rights Law or International Humanitarian Law during non-international armed conflicts. The main purpose of this work is to demonstrate that States have no longer the discretion to handle post-conflict situations in breach of their international obligations regarding Human Rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to show how the lack of moral reflection, so common in our society, prevents an institutional comprehension of certain discourses from taking place, discourses that try to limit some of the bellic tactics displayed in Colombia's armed conflict. To achieve this, the first step will be to make clear the philosophical perspective from which the task will be undertaken. The second step will resort to a theory that allows the reconstruction of the routes taken by the Colombian conflict in the last twenty years. As a last step, the concept of massacre as a specific type of widely used war strategy in Colombia will be introduced, in order to show the type of moral reaction that it generates and the silence that towards it is kept in Colombian law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]