2023-05-01 22:00:00
Already Colombia, local authorities began discussing a bill that aims to exempt police intervention in “unconstitutional matters” in the South American country. The objective is to fight the penitentiary crisis that devastates Colombia, a country that has overcrowded prisons, which worries human rights defenders. The new law, however, threatens the security of Christians in the region.
Despite the seemingly fair and necessary objective, the journey to reach it, however, concerns the local Christian population — which in Colombia constitutes the majority. This is because there is a possibility that groups that persecute Christians in the country have impunity guaranteed by law. The bill provides for the repeal of Articles 201 to 203 of Colombia’s Penal Code, which include the violation of freedom of religion; preventing or disturbing religious ceremonies and harming or injuring people during services.
escalation of impunity
In practice, the approval of the new law favors persecution in Colombia, because the small legal base that Christians had in order to defend themselves when attacked or persecuted will be extinguished. Thus, crimes that violate religious freedom may go unpunished. As a justification, the local government claims that the number of reports of these crimes is very small.
But a researcher from NGO Open Doors, who analyzed the situation, stated that “guaranteeing benefits for persecutors increases the problem of impunity. Many of the crimes related to religious persecution cannot be reported. Pastors and leaders who already face insults, slander and pressure in silence will now be helpless by Justice. The decision is risky and could lead to an increase in physical, verbal and emotional attacks against Christians without any kind of punishment.”
The bill is still being analyzed by the Colombian Parliament.
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