Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Asylum-Seekers from Colombia United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) September 2015 HCR/EG/COL/15/01 NOTE UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines are issued by the Office to assist decision-makers, including UNHCR staff, Governments and private practitioners, in assessing the international protection needs of asylum-seekers. They are legal interpretations of the refugee criteria in respect of specific profiles on the basis of social, economic, security, human rights and humanitarian conditions in the country/territory of origin concerned. The pertinent international protection needs are analysed in detail, and recommendations made as to how the applications in question relate to the relevant principles and criteria of international refugee law as per, notably, the UNHCR Statute, the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, and relevant regional instruments such as the Cartagena Declaration, the 1969 OAU Convention and the EU Qualification Directive. The recommendations may also touch upon, as relevant, complementary or subsidiary protection regimes. UNHCR issues Eligibility Guidelines to promote the accurate interpretation and application of the above- mentioned refugee criteria in line with its supervisory responsibility as contained in paragraph 8 of its Statute in conjunction with Article 35 of the 1951 Convention and Article II of its 1967 Protocol and based on the expertise it has developed over the years in matters related to eligibility and refugee status determination. It is hoped that the guidance and information contained in the Guidelines will be considered carefully by the authorities and the judiciary in reaching decisions on asylum applications. The Guidelines are based on in-depth research, information provided by UNHCR’s global network of field offices and material from independent country specialists, researchers and other sources, rigorously reviewed for reliability. The Guidelines are posted on UNHCR’s Refworld website at http://www.refworld.org. Table of Contents ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................................................ 2 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................... 4 I. MAIN DEVELOPMENTS IN COLOMBIA .................................................................................... 4 A. BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................................... 4 B. CHANGING STRUCTURES AND PATTERNS OF ORGANIZED VIOLENCE..................................................... 6 1. New Armed Groups (NAGs) ......................................................................................................... 6 2. Guerrilla Groups ......................................................................................................................... 12 C. ABILITY AND WILLINGNESS OF THE STATE TO PROVIDE PROTECTION ................................................. 17 1. Overview .................................................................................................................................... 17 2. Conflict-Induced Displacement and Returns ................................................................................ 21 II. ELIGIBILITY FOR INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION ............................................................ 22 A. POTENTIAL RISK PROFILES ............................................................................................................... 22 1. Members of social and political movements associated to the Havana Peace Process and persons otherwise perceived to be associated with the Havana Peace Process ............................... 23 2. Indigenous Communities ............................................................................................................. 25 3. Afro-descendant population ......................................................................................................... 27 4. Persons in professions susceptible to extortion, including agricultural workers and small landowners, peasant farmers, as well as persons involved in informal and formal commerce such as tradesmen, public transport workers, taxi drivers, and street vendors ................................ 31 5. Local and regional governmental authorities ................................................................................ 33 6. Public officials involved in the administration of justice, including judges and attorneys, as well as witnesses and other stakeholders in judicial proceedings .................................................. 35 7. Human Rights Defenders, including land restitution claimants and their leaders ........................... 37 8. Journalists ................................................................................................................................... 39 9. Trade union officials, including teachers ...................................................................................... 41 10. Women with certain profiles or in specific circumstances............................................................. 42 11. Children with certain profiles or in specific circumstances, including in particular boys, and girls in areas where NAGs or guerrilla groups engage in underage recruitment ............................. 45 12. Individuals of diverse sexual orientations and/or gender identities ................................................ 48 B. REFUGEE STATUS UNDER UNHCR’S BROADER MANDATE CRITERIA OR REGIONAL INSTRUMENTS, OR ELIGIBILITY FOR COMPLEMENTARY FORMS OF PROTECTION ......................................................... 50 1. Refugee Status under UNHCR’s Broader Mandate Criteria .......................................................... 50 2. Refugee Status under the Cartagena Declaration .......................................................................... 51 3. Refugee Status under Article I(2) of the 1969 OAU Convention ................................................... 51 4. Eligibility for Subsidiary Protection under the EU Qualification Directive .................................... 52 C. CONSIDERATIONS RELATING TO THE APPLICATION OF AN INTERNAL FLIGHT OR RELOCATION ALTERNATIVE .................................................................................................................................. 52 1. Relevance of IFA/IRA ................................................................................................................. 52 2. Reasonableness of IFA/IRA ........................................................................................................ 53 D. EXCLUSION FROM INTERNATIONAL REFUGEE PROTECTION ................................................................ 54 1 ABBREVIATIONS AFP Agence France Press AFRODES Asociación Nacional de Afrocolombianos Desplazados AI Amnesty International ASCSUCOR Asociación de campesinos del sur de Cordoba AUC United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia BACRIM Bandas Criminales CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women CERAC Centro de Recursos Para el Análisis de Conflictos CINEP Centro de Investigación y Educación Popular CODHES Consultoría para los Derechos Humanos y el Desplazamiento DAS Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad DDR Demobilization, Disarmament and Reintegration ECOSOC United Nations Economic and Social Council ELN Ejército de Liberación Nacional ERPAC Popular Revolutionary Anti-Terrorist Army of Colombia FARC Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia / Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia FIP Fundación Ideas Para la Paz FLIP Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa HRW Human Rights Watch IACHR Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ICG International Crisis Group ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross IDPs Internally Displaced Persons IFA/IRA Internal Flight Alternative/Internal Relocation Alternative Indepaz Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo y la Paz IOM International Organization for Migration LGBT Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual NAGs New Armed Groups NGOs Non-Governmental Organizations NPU National Protection Unit NRC/IDMC Norwegian Refugee Council/Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre OAU Organisation of African Unity OCHA United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs OHCHR United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights ONIC National Indigenous Organization of Colombia RNI Red Nacional de Información SIADDHH Information System for aggression against Male and Female Human Rights Defenders in Colombia UNCDES The National Unit Against the Crimes of Enforced disappearance and Displacement 2 UNGA United Nations General Assembly UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNODC UN Office on Drugs and Crime US DoS United States Department of State USAID United States Agency for International Development ZRC Zonas de Reserva Campesina 3 Introduction These Guidelines supersede the May 2010 UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Asylum-Seekers from Colombia (2010 Guidelines).1 They contain information about recent developments that may impact the assessment of international protection needs for persons from Colombia falling within certain risk profiles or finding themselves in certain circumstances.2 The risk profiles outlined in this document are