Auto 092 of 2008

Nature of the Case

In 2004, the Constitutional Court of Colombia decided case T-025, where it declared an unconstitutional state of affairs in regards to the situation of millions of internally displaced persons (IDPs) due to the country’s armed conflict. The unconstitutional state of affairs was due to the massive human rights violations associated with systemic failures in the safeguarding of IDPs by the State. In order to put an end to the unconstitutional state of affairs, the Court established a structure for follow-ups that consisted of two types: (1) special proceedings to evaluate the progress made by various state agencies, in which agencies were required to provide periodic reports on their compliance with the Court’s orders; and (2) autos de seguimiento, additional written materials from the court which expanded and clarified the Court’s orders in T-025, with specific focus on groups of persons at greater vulnerability and disproportionately impacted by the internal armed conflict. Auto 092 of 2008 is one of such orders, referring specifically to the situation of displaced women.

Enforcement of the Decision and Outcomes

In response to Auto 092, the government formally committed to achieving gender equality within the displaced population in its National Development Plan of 2010-2014. Additionally, it established laws in 2011 and 2014 (Law 1448 and Law 1719 respectively) that guarantee access to justice for victims of sexual violence, especially during the armed conflict, and established pathways for the restitution of lands. It allocated billions of pesos to these efforts, for a duration of 10 years. Furthermore, the government issued reforms to the Penal Code to expand categorization of sexual crimes, to include forced sterilization, forced pregnancy, and forced nudity, among others. It also created a Group on Women and Gender, tasked with shedding light on the impacts on specific rights for displaced women in receiving aid and obtaining reparations, among others, in order to properly address them. Finally, in 2013, the government concluded its work on a guide on public policies geared towards prevention of risks, protection and guarantee of displaced women’s rights in the armed conflict.

Unfortunately, the creation of the programs and budget allocations has not resulted in effective implementation. On December 18, 2017, the Court issued yet another follow-up report, Auto 737, focusing on the displaced women’s issues addressed in Autos 092, 098, and 009, persisting in the context of post-conflict Colombia.

In that follow-up, the Court gave the National Government’s response a grade of “low,” finding no compelling information or evidence that the thirteen programs had been established, nor that the constitutional presumptions had been effectively applied. In regards to the creation and implementation of the thirteen programs, by 2017: “85% of actions were 100% completed, 3% of actions had significant progress between 80-99%, while 9% of the total number of actions were between 80-99%, while 9% of the remaining actions had progress of less than 80% compliance, and another 3% had no progress and another 3% did not report.” In regards to the individual orders of protection required by the Court for 600 women, by 2017 only 100 of those women had been properly attended to.

Significance of the Case

With Auto 092, the Court visibilized, characterized, and categorized the effects of forced displacement and internal armed conflict on women. While women make up a significantly disproportionate part of the IDP population,  it was not until this judgment that women IDPs were recognized as right-holders suffering specific impacts from the conflict, as well as the recognition of the systemic nature of the gender-based violence and discrimination they experience. This recognition allows the State of Colombia to tailor reparations and remedies that address these specific injuries, which are unique to them.