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Article

23 Feb 2017

Author:
John Morrison, Institute for Human Rights and Business

Colombia: Institute for Human Rights and Business discusses challenges companies face in transitional justice & peace-building

“Colombia: A new social contract?”- 22 February, 2017

Colombia's experience of civil war (lasting for more than 50 years) whilst also being one of South America's earliest democracies with a vibrant civil society gives it some important lessons for the rest of the world…Business is an important player in Colombia. Unlike many of its neighbours, Colombia has more hectares open to mining than to agriculture and foreign investment is not new…[Many] Colombian and foreign companies have been at the centre of a civil war that has ravaged the country, sometimes as a victim, but sometimes complicit in human rights abuses. Now the peace process, which will be ongoing for many years to come, needs to decide what it will do with "third parties" - and in particular business leaders…[In] Bogotá I have had the privilege of joining a colloquium on the issue of the role of business in transitional justice co-hosted with our local partner CREER. Speakers from across the Colombian government, civil society and business associations have taken a deep dive into truth and reconciliation will really mean. How to balance on the one hand, the need to take effective criminal law action against those in business directly linked to war crimes whilst also engendering a culture of responsibility and trust between business and society more generally. Not easy. Even the concept of "knowledge" does not sit easily between criminal law - where it can link the perpetrator to the smoking gun - and other forms of law which might expect companies to proactively acquire such knowledge in order to prevent harms occurring: due diligence in other words…