Colombia’s Emblem Law (2004) states: “Religious personnel that form part of the armed forces benefit from the same protection as medical personnel”. 

Colombia’s Decree No. 138 (2005), which implements the Emblem Law (2004), states: “All authorities and persons in Colombia must protect the … religious personnel of the public forces [i.e. the armed forces and the police].” 

In 2007, in the Constitutional Case No. C-291/07, the Plenary Chamber of Colombia’s Constitutional Court stated that the obligation in the 1977 Additional Protocol II to respect and protect religious personnel “has attained customary status, mainly due to its impact on State practice and on conflicts in the last decades”.