The International Criminal Court has not launched any investigations against Colombia with regard to human rights abuses, but has been monitoring judicial proceedings throughout the country since 2005, Colombia’s ambassador to the court says.
In an interview with radio station La FM, the ambassador, Francisco Lloreda, said “Colombia has been under a position of observation since 2005” in order to supervise how effectively and willingly Colombian authorities are complying with the regulations laid out by the ICC.
Lloreda emphasized that any in-depth involvement of the Court is a last resort and the establishment is an ally of Colombia in the fight against human rights violations. The ambassador stated that Colombia “must consider the ICC as reinforcement in cases where national justice fails regarding serious atrocities committed in the country.”
Colombia recently ratified full cooperation with the The Hague court. It had recognized the Court from the beginning, but suspended full cooperation with the Court to be able to conduct peace talks with the FARC and AUC.