The internal armed conflict in Colombia deeply affected victims, communities and territories, and in particular the indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants. After the signing of the 2016 Final Peace Agreement, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace [JEP] was mandated to investigate the most serious and representative crimes committed during the conflict. In Macro-Case 09, which focuses on crimes committed against ethnic peoples and territories for which amnesty cannot be granted, the JEP established a sub-case, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and Serranía del Perijá, that involves the Wiwa, Arhuaco, Kogui, Kankuamo, Ette Ennaka, Yukpa, and Wayúu indigenous peoples.
On 17 June 2026, the Chamber for the Recognition of Truth issued Order No. 03, and found five defendants, members of the Caribbean Bloc, criminally liable for extermination, persecution, murder, enforced disappearance, forcible transfer of population, torture, rape, and the looting and destruction of cultural property and sacred sites, all of which are classified as crimes against humanity and war crimes. The Chamber documented a provisional total of 423 crimes (163 murders, 211 cases of forced displacement, 53 cases of enforced disappearance and 25 acts of sexual and gender-based violence) and established that these crimes were part of a systematic, large-scale criminal pattern of social, territorial and cultural control using five methods: the removal of ethnic authorities and leaders; the elimination or displacement of persons deemed enemies; the punishment of persons who did not comply with the rules; the control of women and girls through sexual violence; and the control of strategic corridors, which had severe consequences for the territory and sacred sites.
Among the more than 400 cases documented by the Chamber is that of the murder of Luis Fernando Montaño Armenta, a member of the Wiwa indigenous group, a community leader and inspector in the village of La Peña de los Indios (San Juan del Cesar, La Guajira). The murder was committed on 8 April 2004 by members of the 59th Front of the now-defunct FARC-EP. The victim had a mobility impairment, was approached outside his home by hooded guerrillas and shot seven times. According to his partner, the crime was a consequence of his community leadership work, which the guerrillas viewed as a form of autonomy that did not suit their interests.
The forced displacement of twelve Wiwa families is another example of the violence perpetrated against communities. On 12 October 2005, 300 guerrilla fighters attacked and took the community of Gongra, located in the Riohacha municipality; they then seized their homes and crops and set up their camp and base of operations.
From the outset of their involvement in Macro-Case 09, the FIDH, as the legal representative of the Wiwa people, and the OWYBT focused their litigation strategy on having the Chamber recognise: the victims collectively; the damage to the spiritual, cultural and social aspects of the territory; and the sexual and gender-based violence perpetrated against the communities. The strategy was maintained throughout all proceedings, hearings, and in the written submissions to the court. Part of the work included documenting the connection between sexual violence against Wiwa women and girls and its impact on the spiritual life and cultural survival of the people.
This approach is reflected in Order No. 03 which recognizes the three forms of harm (individual, collective and territorial) that the FIDH and the OWYBT had argued were inseparable throughout the proceedings. The Chamber also explicitly recognised, for the first time, that sexual and gender-based violence constituted a practice tolerated by the General Staff and the commanders of the Caribbean Bloc; this constitutes a step forward in addressing crimes that have been silenced for years.
Despite the significant headway, the FIDH and the OWYBT caution that the acknowledgement still falls short of the magnitude of these crimes: the Chamber focused its analysis on just 83 of the 423 documented incidents and failed to address spiritual harm, gender-specific violence against women and girls, and the negative impact on self-governance. In addition, there are the persistent denial narratives circulated by some of the representatives of the now-defunct FARC-EP which undermine the legitimacy of the process of recognizing responsibility.
With the issuance of Order No. 03, the proceedings can now advance towards the next phases, for all five parties: establishing the truth and responsibility and then trial and sentencing. The accused have 30 working days to respond to the charges brought against them. Also pending are the reparation proceedings for the affected communities which will have an ethnic and territorial perspective, the adoption of ethnicity-sensitive non-repetition measures, and the complete implementation of measures to protect the leaders of the Wiwa people whose safety remains an urgent concern.