Colombia

Out of the total indigenous population registered in Colombia in the year 2005, 796,916 inhabited reserves (57.2 % of the indigenous population).

Growth in the indigenous population in recent years is notable, since in the year 1993 the indigenous population represented a mere 1.6% of the national total. The great majority of the indigenous population is affiliated with the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC), which brings together 80% of Colombia’s indigenous population, equivalent to 1,394,202 persons and 335,784 families, grouped into 49 regional associations and 530 affiliated reserves. ONIC is also one of the principal players in the negotiation and implementation of the final peace accord in Colombia. The Constitution of 1991 recognized the fundamental rights of indigenous peoples and ratified ILO Convention 169 (currently Law 21 of 1991).

In 2009, Colombia supported the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. With Order 004 of 2009, the Constitutional Court mandated that the State protect 34 indigenous peoples at risk of disappearance due to the armed conflict, and qualified that situation as “a state of unconstitutional things.” In addition, President Juan Manuel Santos signed Decree 1953 of 7 October 2014, which creates a special regime to implement the administration of the indigenous peoples’ own systems in their territories. For its part, the Congress issued the Organic Law on Territorial Zoning, which will define relations and coordination between indigenous territorial entities and the municipalities and departments.

In December 2016 the negotiations culminated between the government of President Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to end an armed conflict that had lasted half a century and that drove many peasant, indigenous, and Afro-Colombian families out of their territories.