“Request for insistence on an official visit to the Republic of Colombia of the United Nations Working Group on the issue of human rights and business by the CSOs Human Rights Roundtable to address corporate power” - March 27, 2023

…On the occasion of the academic visit to Bogotá, D.C. of Mrs. Fernanda Hopenhaym, member for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, held in March 2023, the organizations of the CSOs Human Rights Roundtable to address corporate power we have met with her and have expressed to the Working Group the main concerns and risks regarding business and human rights in Colombia… Therefore, due to the seriousness and continuity of human rights violations in business contexts in the country, and considering that resolution A/HRC/17/4 establishes that the Working Group has the mandate to carry out country visits, we formally request the Working Group to insist on an official visit to the Republic of Colombia. , reiterating the request for a visit made to the Colombian State in July 2019, which has not received a response despite the reminder established by the Working Group in March 2022. It is necessary for the UN to officially evaluate the human rights situation regarding the negative impacts of economic actors in the country, and to pronounce on the specific institutional, legal, judicial, administrative, and de facto situation that allows these human rights violations to continue, that the affected communities are not fully repaired, while companies operate normally, failing in its responsibility to prevent and remedy damage to the environment and human rights… Likewise, we formally request the Colombian State, in particular the Presidency of the Republic, and the responsible bodies (Presidential Advisory Office for Human Rights and International Affairs, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), to respond to the request of the Working Group and accept the official visit to the country of this Special Procedure of the United Nations Human Rights Council…