Retrospective on Aidan Fennelly, “Impunity in the Wake of Conflict” from Colombia: From Crisis to Renewal Perspectives on Business and Economics, Volume 31, 2013 Aidan Fennelly ‘13 is a teacher in ethics and English at the Allen-Stevenson School in NYC. Fennelly argued that Colombia’s legal system struggled to administer justice and identified issues of high rates of impunity, corruption, and inefficiency. How has Colombia attempted to be more efficient and protect its citizens in court cases since 2013? Colombia still has much to do when it comes to effectively working through their backlogs of court cases and protecting its citizens. Crimes remain underreported and there is insufficient monitoring of crimes and reparations for victims (World Justice Project, 2023). Two initiatives aim to help. First, in an effort to protect those at risk of violence, the Colombian government has allocated over $1M to the National Protection Unit, a branch of the Interior Ministry. However, this effort has been ineffective in protecting many persons in need, such as those in rural areas and social leaders across the country. The lack of human rights protection in court cases is due in part to the structure of the legal system and the country’s corruption, issues that funding alone will not eliminate. A second initiative to improve the legal system in Colombia was launched in 2018 by the American Law Association’s Rule of Law Initiative, which, in partnership with the Colombian government, has implemented several programs to strengthen Colombian legal institutions, create boundaries for human and citizens’ rights, and advance public understanding of the law (American Bar Association, 2023). Since the article was written, how has corruption and safety in Colombia compared to other countries? Based on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), Colombia has become less corrupt since 2013 (Transparency International, 2022). CPI scores are based on perceived levels of public sector corruption. Though improving, Colombia has much room to reduce corruption further: it ranks 91 out of 180 countries. According to the General Population Poll 2022, citizens negatively view fundamental freedoms and worsening corruption, and confidence in the justice system has decreased (World Justice Project, 2023). In particular, three challenges have made it difficult for the country to fight torture. First, the COVID-19 quarantines intensified crime and created more scenarios for the commission of torture or cruel and inhumane treatment by the state. Second, these inhumane acts by state agents were committed to repress social demonstrations and protests throughout the country. And, third, not all provisions of the Final Peace Agreement of 2016 had been implemented by 2022, notably the Comprehensive Rural Reform. The gap allowed armed conflict and human rights violations to persist, including a pattern of torture, especially against women (International Human Rights Office…, 2023). References American Bar Association. (2023). Colombia programs. International Human Rights Office-Action on Colombia (OIDHACO). (2023). The situation of human rights in Colombia 2018–2022. Transparency International. (2022). Corruption Perceptions Index. World Justice Project. (2023). The rule of law in Colombia: Key findings from the general population Poll 2022. Retrospective by Isabel Carino-Bazan Molecular biology and economics . Martindale Retrospectives 6 December 2023
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