The war crimes tribunal said that 12 regions throughout Colombia suffered a reactivation of armed conflict last year.
In a press release, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) said that 2021 was the most violent year since the government and now-defunct guerrilla group FARC signed peace in 2016.
The highest levels of violence since the signing of the Final Peace Agreement were recorded. Thus, it became the year with the highest number of massacres (93), massive forced displacements (146), combats between the security forces and illegal armed groups (228), and harassment of the security forces (134). There was also an increase in the number of cases of forced recruitment of children and adolescents (89).
Special Jurisdiction for Peace
The JEP said that its monitoring unit registered 329 violent deaths because of armed conflict last year.
Armed conflict deaths in 2021
Many of the regions where armed conflict resurged were prioritized for intervention in the ongoing peace process.
The International Red Cross said last year that Colombia was home to five armed conflicts between state forces and multiple illegal armed groups.
The main illegal armed groups that are active in these conflicts are paramilitary group AGC, a.k.a. guerrilla group ELN and groups formed by dissidents of the peace process with the FARC.
The AGC was the primary violator of international humanitarian law (IHL), followed by the FARC dissidents and he ELN guerrillas, the JEP said.
Most of the possible violations of IHL were due to the use of unlawful means and methods of warfare, mainly the use of prohibited weapons such as explosive devices that prevent the targeting of a specific objective.
Special Jurisdiction for Peace
President Ivan Duque, who has been criticized for government failures to implement the peace deal, did not immediately respond to the war crimes tribunal’s alert.
