COLOMBIA

A billboard on a school in Toribio, Cauca, warns armed actors to stay away from the school property. The area sees frequent combats between guerrillas of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian army. © Stephen Ferry

Children in a school close to Toribio, Cauca, practice waving flags, as combat in the area often requires them to evacuate the school. They are instructed to hold the flags high when they go outside, so the combatants will not shoot at them. © Stephen Ferry

Colombia Colombia’s internal armed conflict continues to result in serious abuses by irregular armed groups, including guerillas and successor groups to paramilitaries. Today, hostilities that threaten education continue between the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia — Ejército del Pueblo (FARC-EP), the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) and the Colombian national army. Armed groups [are] using schools as meeting places for spreading their political views or threatening the community, regardless of opposition from teachers and the school authorities. Between 2007 and 2009, the Escuela Nacional Sindical figures for violations against education union members included 455 death threats, 245 forced displacements, 52 murders, five kidnappings, five arbitrary detentions, four attacks without causing injury, three forced disappearances (presumed dead), two illegal raids, and one case of torture. In May 2008, two schools in Dagua Municipality, Valle del Cauca Department, were seriously damaged as a result of clashes between FARC and the national police and national army respectively. In June 2008, four teachers in Narino Department were abducted and killed by FARC reportedly because they were suspected of being army informants. The UN has also verified information on the occupation of schools by the Armed Forces including a school in Montana that was occupied by troops, then attacked and seriously damaged by FARC on June 13, The military use of schools by the Colombian National Army was reported in several departments, including Antioquia, Arauca, Cauca, Córdoba, Huila, Nariño, Norte de Santander and Valle del Cauca. In August 2011, in Cauca, members of the Colombian National Army used a school for seven days, resulting in the suspension of classes. Widespread and systematic recruitment and use of children by non-State armed groups was documented in Although the full scale and scope remain unknown, around 300 cases of recruitment and use were reported by the country task force in 23 of the 32 departments and in Bogotá. In July 2012, the army used a school for military purposes in fighting against FARC-EP in Cauca. The infrastructure of the school was damaged and unexploded ordnance found in the vicinity.

Colombia Testimonies [Coming Soon]

Colombia Resources UN Security Council Report: Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed ConflictReport of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict UN Security Council Report: Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed ConflictReport of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict HRW Report: “Schools and Armed Conflict”: A Global Survey of Domestic Laws and State Practice Protecting Schools from Attack and Military Use“Schools and Armed Conflict”: A Global Survey of Domestic Laws and State Practice Protecting Schools from Attack and Military Use UNESCO Report: Education Under AttackEducation Under Attack