"However, we are dismayed to see that many of the measures adopted to guarantee greater security are not aimed at illegal armed groups, but rather at the majority of Colombians, whose rights are restricted and whose security against abuses of power and arbitrary actions is undermined. If security means the protection of a few at the cost of the insecurity and lack of protection of the rights of the rest of the population, it is but an illusion."

The measures that Amnesty International is particularly concerned at include attempts to undermine the human rights guarantees contained in the 1991 Constitution. These include the weakening of the Ombudsman’s Office and local State human rights structures (Personerías), the limitation of writs of protection (tutelas), as well as the restriction of human rights which have been imposed within the framework of the state of internal commotion.

"As well as being dragged increasingly into the conflict, the civilian population is becoming a target for abuses committed in the name of security. Many of these abuses happen unnoticed behind a curtain of silence that the government is making more and more impenetrable, including by hindering the legitimate monitoring and reporting activities of human rights organizations," stressed Amnesty International’s Director of Strategy.