Land Reform Critical to Lasting Peace in Colombia, Says UN

The Colombia office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the U.N. Agency for Refugees reiterated its support Thursday for the Victims and Land Restitution law past in 2011, which has been questioned recently for its alleged ineffectiveness.

Related: Solving Land Conflicts in Colombia Is Crucial for Peace

In a joint statement, the two agencies stressed that “full reparation to a universe of about seven million victims” of the armed conflict, “with 80 percent of them being displaced people” is a “huge challenge,” which the Colombian State assumed when it enacted the Victims and Land Restitution law four years ago. 

Land reform has been a pivotal component to the war in Colombia, and one of the main reasons why guerrilla fighters such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, began their struggle against the state in the 1960s. Over the years, land continued to be part of the decades-long conflict, as it was seized from campesinos by paramilitary groups, and in some cases sold to wealthy landowners.  

WATCH: Colombia: Campesino Lands Taken Over by Agribusiness

The topic remains a vexing issue today, where inequality is high and access to land remains limited. According to Oxfam, Colombia has one of the highest concentration of land ownership in the world. 

Attorney General of Colombia Alejandro Ordonez, recently clashed with President Juan Manuel Santos over the Restition law, telling the president that the law could harm those farmers who had acquired and now possess the land, which was once stripped from its rightful owners.  

In response, the U.N. offices stressed that the law was created to “promote respect for and observance of the rights of victims” and is “an important tool to facilitate peace building and reconciliation,” while acknowledging that there are “difficulties of different order” to restoring the land.

In Depth: Colombia Peace Process Explained

The two international peace bodies also stated that arguments questioning the efficiency of the 2011 law “should not be used to cast doubt on the decision to restore land to victims of neglect and violent dispossession.” 

Rights organizations in Colombia have also recently criticized the 2011 Law and President Santos for not making any advances in the land reforms since it was enacted. 

“It's been five years and land restitution has not advanced,” said a new report released by the Forging Futures Foundation and the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities of the University of Antioquia, Colombia. 

​According to the study, at least 87,118 requests for restitution have been made over the years, but only 2,943 have been resolved. 

The Foundation said it supported the land restitution law, but said it should be changed or modified to give way to a faster and more efficient processes.

Land reform also continues to be a central issue in the current peace talks between the FARC and the Colombian government, which have been ongoing in Havana, Cuba, since 2012.