Proposed budget cuts to Colombia's Ombudsperson's Office would be a blow to the protection of human rights in the country, Human Rights Watch said today.
The Ombudsperson's Office requested a very modest budget increase for 2026, partly to keep pace with the roughly 5 percent annual inflation rate and partly to allow for an expansion of work that is sorely needed in light of Colombia's evolving human rights concerns. Instead, the budget proposed by the government of Gustavo Petro would slash funding to 3 percent below its 2025 level. This would create a US$32.3 million shortfall, which is 9.7 percent of the amount the Ombudsperson's Office believes it requires for effective operations in 2026. It would also slash 30 percent of the office's "investment resources," meaning, those required to expand operations.
"Amid an increase in violence by armed groups and aid cuts by foreign governments, and with critical elections fast approaching, it is essential for the Ombudsperson's Office to receive the resources it needs to carry out its work," said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. "By reducing the Ombudsperson's Office capacity at this critical time, the Colombian government and Congress are weakening the State's tools to protect people from human rights violations."
The Ombudsperson's Office was established in 1991 as an independent body charged with promoting and protecting human rights.
Iris Marín, the current Ombudsperson, told the House of Representatives that the proposed budget cut would prevent the institution from increasing its capacity to monitor human rights threats related to the 2026 elections and lead to a reduction in monitoring killings of human rights defenders. She also said that it would hinder the Early Warning System, a unit within the Ombudsman's Office charged with monitoring risks to civilians in connection with armed conflict, and weaken efforts to prevent abuses.
In 2026, Colombia will hold legislative and presidential elections. The run-up to those elections has already been marred by the killing of congressman and would-be presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay. In the most recent local elections, in 2023, the Electoral Observation Mission documented 176 acts of violence against candidates, including 6 killings.
Colombia is one of the countries with the highest number of human rights defenders killed worldwide, with at least 1,500 killed since 2016, according to the Ombudsperson's Office. The office monitors risks and violations against human rights defenders and facilitates efforts to improve protection policies.
Security conditions in the country are deteriorating due to the escalation of armed conflict and organized crime, Human Rights Watch said.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 1.45 million people were affected by violence in Colombia during the first half of 2025, four times as many as during the same period in 2024. Over 70,200 people have been forcibly displaced, 30 percent more than in all of 2024. Confinements, that is, restrictions on people's movement due to fighting or threats, increased by 44 percent in the first half of 2025 from the same period in 2024. According to the National Defense Ministry, homicides increased by 3.1 percent and kidnappings rose by 53 percent during the same period.
At the same time, UN bodies and civil society organizations that promote human rights and monitor conflict-related violence have been severely affected by cuts in assistance, primarily from the United States.
In June 2025, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia announced the dismissal of nearly half of its staff and the closure of three offices in areas affected by armed conflict. US Agency for International Development (USAID) programs such as InspiraPaz, a US$20 million initiative to prevent and address human rights violations in conflict areas, have been shut down since the US government largely wound down that agency's work.
"Weakening the Ombudsperson's Office at this moment would undermine Colombia's ability to protect its population and respond to growing human rights challenges," Goebertus said. "If the defense of human rights is a priority for the Colombian government, it should be reflected in its budget allocation."
