As the congressional debate over the National Development Plan (PND) under the present GOC currently stands, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), the Truth Commission and the Disappeared Persons Search Unit (UBPD) will operate on budgets that are, respectively, 28%, 40% and 68% lower than requested. The gravest consequences of the budget cuts will be experienced in the territories and in the hiring of personnel: the Unit of Investigation and Accusation of the JEP will only operate in ten of the planned 18 locations; the 455 persons needed for the 26 territorial Truth Houses of the Commission, will be cut to 212; and 203 of the required 261 persons for the UBPD, of which half were supposed to work in 17 territories, are without funding.¹  

In a report by the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, the organization warned that the division in Colombian society caused by the political debates around the JEP has been exacerbated. Although the report noted the progress of the JEP in several cases of violations of human rights in the context of the conflict, the agency was concerned about the levels of political polarization around transitional justice. He called for the statutory law to be promulgated as soon as possible.²

The JEP received two reports on the violence experienced by the LBGTI population in Tumaco, Nariño and Antioquia, areas prioritized in Cases 002 and 004 of the JEP.  The reports, delivered on 29 March by the organizations Affirmative Caribbean and Colombia Diversa, detail persecution and systematic violence against this community as a result of prejudice. For seven months, an investigative team from both organizations gathered testimonies and information from victims in seven departments who suffered sexual violence, homicides, femicide, forced labor, forced displacement and threats. At least five additional reports are expected to be delivered to the Truth Commission and the UBPD. This marks the first time that a transitional justice tribunal has received information on the violence suffered by LGBTI people during an armed conflict.³

Around 1,700 people (500 families) were displaced from various villages in Córdoba this past week following confrontation between the Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia (AGC) and armed structures made up of FARC dissidents.⁴ Early warnings of the risk to the civilian population were issued by the Ombudsman's Office at the end of 2018.   The incident comes at a time when forced displacement is seeing steep climbs in other departments as well, including Cauca, Catatumbo and Chocó.⁵  In the case of Catatumbo, the war between the ELN and the EPL since mid-March 2018 has subsided in recent months; however, the fighting between armed groups and the Armed Forces has intensified, following the deployment of 5,000 troops to the area at the end of November 2018, which has caused three massive displacements since December.  Registered victims in Catatumbo increased from 7,368 in 2017 to 30,380 in 2018.⁶  In the Chocó, at least 2,400 people from ten indigenous communities have experienced restrictions on mobility, threats to leaders, and other violations of human rights during the past month due to the presence of the ELN and the AGC.  During March, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs issued seven alerts for massive displacements and humanitarian crises in at least nine municipalities in five departments of the country. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the increase in forced displacement between 2017 and 2018 is 90%, rising from 14,594 to 27,780 people.⁷ Since the signing of the Peace Accord, the ICRC has reported cases of forced displacement, on average, every four days.  

Violence against women social leaders is crueler than their counterparts, according to a report published by the Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement.  The report “Social Leaders in Colombia: The Invisible Story of Cruelty” found that that the purposes of the violence is distinct for women victims: while the objective is elimination, violence is intended to punish them.  Sisma Mujer reported that 66% of murders against women social leaders are aggravated by sexual violence and torture.⁸