Issue-Rule of Law
Tocqueville’s recipe
Judicial reform is of little use as long as there are no profound changes in judicial habits and, more specifically, in the moral integrity of magistrates.
Read MoreChallenges and opportunities for rural transformation: Territorial Approach Development Programs
This mechanism is an extraordinary opportunity to accelerate the structural transformation of the countryside in order to live better, reverse the effects of the conflict and contribute to reparation and reconciliation in the territories.
Read MoreAgainst the bad: transparency
As we take deeper measures to deal with the serious judicial crisis that we are experiencing, the Courts and the General Attorney’s Office must adopt immediate transparency actions to face corruption and regain citizens’ trust.
Read MoreWhen missing people cannot be found, what happens with their property?
The property of missing persons is not only a home acquired, like for most Colombians, with much effort. For relatives of missing persons, this is the place where they have waited for the return of their loved one for years.
Read MoreIndolence against femicide
According to Forensic Medicine, of the 50,707 case of domestic partner violence registered in 2016, 86% were for violence against women, violence that in many cases ended in femicides.
Read MoreThe rise of robots
We cannot ignore the rise of artificial intelligence. In the next 10-20 years, about half of paid work will be at risk. How to adapt education and employment accordingly?
Read MoreOpportunities left behind by the crisis
The backwardness of Cartagena’s social welfare has much of its roots in corruption and the successive institutional crises that it has produced. Except for honorable exceptions, clientelism has been the governance model, which includes bribing oversight authorities to guarantee impunity.
Read MoreThe priorities of Héctor Abad Gómez
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the death of Héctor Abad Gómez. As a good public health worker, he believed that children should be vaccinated, adults should adopt hygiene measures, food should be improved and people should not kill each other fighting. In short, he fought against the two epidemics that kill most people: poverty and war.
Read MoreTruthful discussions
If we want to overcome the post-truth era and escape the the polarization that threatens us, Colombia needs a solid but informed public debate; a debate with vigor but without lies, falsehoods or unjust attacks like the one I was subjected to last week by the ex Inspector General Alejandro Ordóñez.
Read MoreThe pain of not knowing
Today enforced disappearances continue to be used as a political weapon, not only in dictatorships like Venezuela, but in democracies, countries undergoing internal conflict, and political transitions.
Read MoreIrrelevant political rights?
Colombia is far from being a country protective of political rights. But now, it not only fails to protect them it also openly disparages them.
Read MorePetro’s Constituent Assembly
Gustavo Petro is right to denounce the Inspector General´s Office and the government´s illegal decisions that ended his mandate as mayor before the Inter-American System of Human Rights. However, he is making a mistake in knocking over the board game, so to speak, he unfairly lost and joining the call for a constituent assembly.
Read MoreLegal Chauvinism
None of the arguments made by the government or its lawyers explaining why they will not comply with the precautionary measures of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (ICHR) in Petro´s case are convincing.
Read MoreWhy Santos should Comply with the Precautionary Measures
There are strong legal reasons why Santos should have complied with the ICHR´s precationary measures in Bogota Mayor Petro´s case.
Read MoreDemocracy without a People
Abraham Lincoln, in his famous Gettysburg speech, characterized democracy as the government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
Read MoreBlank Votes: Who Wins?
The blank vote appears to be a strike against political clientelism. But in reality, at least in the congressional elections this Sunday, it is strike against the public itself, since it favors the clientelist machinery.
Read MoreThe Displaced Persons’ “Tutela” Writ
While eveyone discusses the “tutela” writs of Mayor Petro’s case, the 10th anniversary of perhaps the most important tutela decision of the Colombian Constitutional Court has been forgotten: the T-025 of 2004. Since then, then, this decisions has been protecting the rights of five million colombians that are victims of forced displacement.
Read MoreLeaks, Impeachments and Military Justice
The conversations between high ranking military officials revealed by Semana magazine not only shows serious cases of corruption, it also refutes one of the main arguments the government used to expand the jurisdiction of military justice in Colombia.
Read More#TheDayWeFightBack
The ease with which we are able scan voices and data generates abuses that affect other equally valid objectives: intimacy, freedom of expression, integrity and life.
Read MoreAnd Who Gave the Order?
Some abuses may be the work of derailed agents. But other abuses can only be explained if these agents were acting on orders of someone more powerful.
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