Human Rights and Democracy - Official Documents

Colombian police were present – he welcomed the president’s clear statement of
intent on human rights and called for continued improvements. Mr Browne held
many meetings on human rights in Colombia in London during 2010, including with
the Colombian ambassador, the director of CINEP (a respected Colombian thinktank),
and the NGOs ABColombia, Peace Brigades International, Justice for
Colombia and Amnesty International.
In November Vice-President Angelino Garzón signed a tripartite agreement with civil
society and the Group of 24, comprising various EU countries, the US, Japan,
Canada, Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Mexico which committed the government to
holding a National Human Rights Conference in December 2011. The government
also pledged to create a National Human Rights Centre. The British Ambassador
will chair the Group of 24 in 2011. The UK and Colombian governments have many
interests in common and the relationship between us is set to deepen and widen.
Helping Colombia deal with its human rights issues will continue to be part of this
relationship. We acknowledge the Colombian government’s intention to improve its
human rights record but also recognise that this must translate into results on the
ground.
Access to justice
In his inauguration speech, President Santos set out a programme which included
reform of the justice system. He held early meetings with senior judges and
committed to implementing a package of reforms to depoliticise the judiciary,
improve its administration and give it greater resources. To support this process, our
Embassy funded a project with the Attorney-General’s Office, the Supreme Court of
Justice and the Ombudsman to produce a set of legal and administrative
recommendations to strengthen the criminal justice system. Some of these have
already been included in the text of the new Justice and Peace Law which is
expected to be approved in the second half of 2011.
The controversial issue of the appointment of the new attorney-general was resolved
on 1 December. The Supreme Court had been unable to agree on any of the
candidates proposed by former President Uribe which meant that the post has been
vacant for 15 months. The election of ex-Congresswoman Viviane Morales by a
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