Related Rule
Colombia
Practice Relating to Rule 105. Respect for Family Life
In 2007, in the Constitutional Case No. C-291/07, the Plenary Chamber of Colombia’s Constitutional Court stated:
Taking into account … the development of customary international humanitarian law applicable in internal armed conflicts, the Constitutional Court notes that the fundamental guarantees stemming from the principle of humanity, some of which have attained ius cogens status, … [include] the obligation to respect family life.
Colombia, Constitutional Court, Constitutional Case No. C-291/07, Judgment of 25 April 2007, p. 112.
[footnote in original omitted]Colombia’s Basic Military Manual (1995) provides that in order to guarantee the rights of the civilian population, soldiers shall “facilitate the reuniting of families that have been dispersed by the conflict and permit the exchange of information”.
Colombia, Derecho Internacional Humanitario – Manual Básico para las Personerías y las Fuerzas Armadas de Colombia, Ministerio de Defensa Nacional, 1995, p. 22.
The manual further states that it is a duty of the parties to “permit the exchange of information within families”.
Colombia, Derecho Internacional Humanitario – Manual Básico para las Personerías y las Fuerzas Armadas de Colombia, Ministerio de Defensa Nacional, 1995, p. 28.
Regarding respect for the civilian population, the manual specifies that it is a duty “to facilitate the contact and reuniting of families”.
Colombia, Derecho Internacional Humanitario – Manual Básico para las Personerías y las Fuerzas Armadas de Colombia, Ministerio de Defensa Nacional, 1995, p. 29.
In addition, the manual provides that, when the conflict is over, parties shall “strengthen mechanisms dedicated to reuniting dispersed families”.
Colombia, Derecho Internacional Humanitario – Manual Básico para las Personerías y las Fuerzas Armadas de Colombia, Ministerio de Defensa Nacional, 1995, p. 31.
According to Colombia’s Law on Internally Displaced Persons (1997), the family of forcibly displaced persons must benefit from the right to family reunification.
Colombia, Law on Internally Displaced Persons, 1997, Article 2(4).
