Colombia
Expected Council Action
In October, the Security Council is expected to hold its quarterly meeting on Colombia. Special Representative and Head of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia Miroslav Jenča will brief on recent developments and the Secretary-General’s latest 90-day report on the mission (S/2026/759), which was circulated to Council members on 25 September and covers developments since 27 June.
The Council is also expected to vote on a draft resolution renewing the verification mission’s mandate ahead of its 31 October expiry.
Key Recent Developments
The reporting period witnessed several major developments in Colombia. On 7 August, Abelardo Gabriel de la Espriella began his four-year presidential term. Three days later, on 10 August, the country was hit by a magnitude 7.4 earthquake that affected more than 487,000 people, including 335 fatalities, 4,516 injuries, and 105 people reported missing, according to official figures cited by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The new administration took office shortly before the tenth anniversary of the Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace between the government of Colombia and the former rebel group Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo (FARC-EP), which was signed on 24 November 2016. During his campaign, de la Espriella criticised some aspects of the 2016 peace agreement, particularly denouncing the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (SJP), the judicial component of the Comprehensive System of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-Repetition established by the accord.
The Secretary-General’s report notes that while the new administration has “[stated] its intention to comply with the constitution and legal obligations arising from the Peace Agreement, the Government has yet to fully outline its approach to the implementation of the Agreement”. In a 24 September interview, José Mauricio Gaona Bejarano, Colombia’s newly appointed Permanent Representative to the UN, noted that the government will conduct an “objective, data-driven review of what functions and what fails” in the peace agreement and will convey its position at the Security Council’s upcoming quarterly meeting on Colombia, which is scheduled for 12 October.
On 27 August, the government presented to the Colombian Congress its proposed national budget for 2027, which will need to be approved by 20 October. The Secretary-General’s report noted that the proposed allocations “suggest greater emphasis on security, with notable reductions for some entities involved in the implementation of the Agreement, including in areas related to rural development, land distribution and reintegration”. Notably, members of the Comunes political organisation, which is composed of former FARC-EP members, raised concerns about budget cuts for the Agency for Reintegration and Normalization (ARN), which coordinates public policy and programmes for the reintegration and reincorporation of former combatants.
Regarding the Comprehensive System of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-Repetition, the Unit for the Search for Persons Deemed as Missing was allocated roughly $15 million less than the funds it requested to carry out its work. The Unit has warned that this will force the closure of at least half of the six Comprehensive Forensic Approach and Identification Centers that it operates, which would hinder its search and identification of the over 10,000 missing people in Colombia. Additionally, the Congress’ economic commissions supported a budget that would leave the SJP with roughly $87.8 million less than it requested. This proposal will go through two additional processes, in the Senate and House of Representatives, before final approval.
The SJP’s President, Judge Alejandro Ramelli, has warned that the cuts would compromise “essential components for the functioning of transitional justice”, including the protection of victims, witnesses, individuals appearing before the Court, and judicial personnel. He has also expressed concern about a bill proposed by the right-wing party Centro Democrático stipulating that the High Military and Police Court will automatically review decisions adopted by the SJP regarding former members of the security forces. (The bill would require a more complicated process of a constitutional reform, while the budget cuts would be easier to approve.)
On 18 September, Ramelli sent a letter to the International Criminal Court (ICC), arguing that the proposed bill and budget cuts “weaken the material, legal, and institutional conditions essential for the functioning” of the Court and are incompatible with the Colombian government’s commitments under the cooperation agreement signed with the ICC in 2021. Ramelli has also noted that he will bring the issue to the attention of other international interlocutors, including the Security Council and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). De la Espriella has rejected Ramelli’s claims, arguing that “the budget of a public entity is not set solely based on what that entity requests”, but rather the needs of the state and its people.
The controversy surrounding the SJP comes during a historic milestone in the Court’s work. On 21 September, former FARC-EP commanders and army officers who acknowledged their responsibility for crimes committed during the conflict began carrying out restorative sentences that were handed down by the SJP a year ago, including by supporting excavation efforts to locate the remains of persons deemed as missing. In a 28 September statement, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said that “Colombia’s landmark restorative measures…are a global achievement for transitional justice” and emphasised the need for the Comprehensive System of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-Repetition to receive sufficient funding to fully implement its mandate.
Regarding the new administration’s security policy, de la Espriella ended the “total peace” policy of former president Gustavo Petro Urrego, which involved dialogue efforts with armed groups operating in the country. He rejected the distinction made by Petro between groups with a political or criminal nature, characterising all armed groups as terrorists. The Secretary-General’s report notes that the new administration has intensified military action against armed groups, carrying out multiple operations in several regions. For instance, two separate airstrikes against two armed groups in late August in the Guaviare department reportedly killed over 30 people, including five children aged 15 to 16 years old. According to the Secretary-General’s report, attacks by armed groups against public security forces also increased, including a 31 August car bomb attack on a police station that killed one civilian and injured 11 others.
Some analysts and civil society organisations have warned that a heavy-handed security approach could lead to an uptick in violence by armed groups and could increase civilian harm. They have advocated for combining a military strategy with dialogue and efforts to bring state institutions and better services, such as electricity connectivity and roads, to remote areas.
The latest annual report of the non-governmental organisation Global Witness, dated 16 September, noted that, for the fourth year in a row, Colombia ranked as the country with the highest number of killings of land and environmental activists, with 39 such cases documented in 2025. The report calls on the government to implement the Public Policy for Security Guarantees for Human Rights Defenders, which Petro established by decree on 5 August. OHCHR has offered the new administration technical support to implement the policy.
Key Issues and Options
A key task for the Council in October is to renew the verification mission’s mandate. Members could choose to adopt a straightforward renewal, without altering the mission’s tasks. They could also consider whether any adjustments are needed.
Supporting the comprehensive implementation of the 2016 peace agreement, including its provisions on transitional justice, is a key priority for many Council members. In a statement ahead of the tenth anniversary of the accord, Comunes members highlighted the important role of the international community in supporting the implementation of the peace agreement and called on it to continue doing so, particularly in this time of institutional transition. Council members can choose to mark the tenth anniversary of the peace agreement and encourage Colombian actors to persist in its implementation. Options in this regard include a visiting mission to the country (the last such visit took place in February 2024); the issuance of a press statement; and the convening of an informal event in New York, such as an Arria-formula meeting.
Council members could also seek the views of relevant Colombian actors—such as SJP representatives and victims’ organisations—on how the international community can support transitional justice processes in the country. An option would be to hold such a discussion in an informal interactive dialogue (IID), a closed informal meeting format that could allow for a frank exchange of ideas.
At next month’s meeting on Colombia, some members could choose to call on donors to enhance their support for humanitarian efforts in the country. OCHA has noted that the August earthquake hit communities that were already suffering from the effects of armed conflict, which has increased their vulnerability. It has further warned that the potential onset of a severe El Niño event during the final quarter of 2026 could further exacerbate humanitarian and recovery needs, while funding gaps to address such needs persist.
Council Dynamics
For many years, Colombia had been considered a file that enjoyed Council consensus. However, strains in the bilateral relationship between Colombia and the US, stemming from disagreements between Petro and US President Donald Trump, created significant challenges in the Council’s engagement on the file in 2025. This was evident in the contentious negotiations on resolution 2798 of 31 October 2025, which last renewed the verification mission’s mandate. Council members have also not adopted any press statements on Colombia since October 2024, although it had previously been the practice to do so after every quarterly meeting.
Resolution 2798 removed two tasks from the mission’s mandate: verification of implementation of the ethnic chapter of the 2016 agreement and compliance with sentences handed down by the SJP. The US insisted that these tasks be removed, while most other Council members strongly advocated for their retention. Considering the position of Colombia’s new administration, it is unlikely that these two tasks will be reinstated in the upcoming negotiations on the verification mission’s mandate.
De la Espriella has made cooperation with the US, including on curbing the drug trade from the country, a key pillar of his policy. It is therefore likely that Colombia’s positions will now be more closely aligned with those of the US, both on its own file and in its engagement on other files as an elected Council member. At the Council’s latest meeting on Colombia, held on 15 July, the US urged the Colombian government to “prioritize the comprehensive and expeditious implementation of its commitments under the peace accord, especially those related to security and infrastructure investment, as part of the permanent solution to Colombian narcoterrorism and insecurity”. Regarding other files, the new administration has severed diplomatic ties with Iran and restored diplomatic relations with Israel, which had been cut under Petro. Colombia has decided to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights—joining the US as the only other country to do so—and to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
The UK is the penholder on Colombia.
| Security Council Resolutions | |
| 31 October 2025S/RES/2798 | This resolution renewed the mandate of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia for another year, until 31 October 2026. It removed two of the mission’s tasks: verifying compliance with the restorative sentences handed by the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (SJP) and monitoring implementation of the 2016 agreement’s ethnic chapter. |
| Security Council Meeting Records | |
| 15 July 2026S/PV.10196 | This was the Council’s quarterly meeting on Colombia, held on 15 July 2026. |
