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Whilst security for claimants and those returning to their land is a key concern,
our 2013 Human Rights Report (released on 10 April 2014) notes that some progress
has been made on the issue of land restitution. Since January 2012 there have been
64,815 registered land restitution claims. In his recent meeting with President Santos
on 7 November, the Deputy Prime Minister, the right hon. Member for Sheffield Hallam
(Mr Clegg), welcomed the Colombian government’s efforts to improve respect for human
rights in Colombia, including through its land restitution and victims reparations
processes. Our Embassy in Bogota runs several human rights projects to help improve
Colombia’s land registry process, increase access to protection measures and raise
awareness of the UN guiding principles on business and human rights. Officials from
our Embassy also meet regularly with indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities and
we also funded a project aimed at developing the role of organisations in protecting
communities’ rights to the territories. We are following closely several emblematic
land restitution cases; our Ambassador raised the cases of the Curvaradó and Jiguamandó
communities with the Ministry of the Interior in July and acts as an observer on the
case.
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