The Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) included Colombia in a list of countries that need to improve their protection of human rights, in a report released Thursday.
The report, which highlights the advances and setbacks for human rights in 2009 in Latin America and the Caribbean, included Colombia for the second year in a row, reports European Press Agency.
Last year, the IACHR report also placed Colombia on the “blacklist” of human rights violations, alongside Cuba, Haiti, and Venezuela.
The IACHR has received numerous complaints against Colombia for alleged human rights violations over the last year, including family members of the victims of the 1985 Palace of Justice siege, NGOs blasting Colombia’s Peace and Justice process, activists denouncing human rights abuses against the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender community, in addition to evidence that the Colombian security agency DAS spied on the IACHR.
In line with formal IACHR procedure, the countries included in the report were notified prior to its publication, and given the opportunity to counter and refute human rights complaints outlined in the report.
