Civil society organizations warn about violence during the election period

Bogotá, February 12, 2026

The 30 signatory organizations, articulated through the Alliance for Democracy, call on the Colombian government to seriously and promptly respond to the alerts issued by the National Civil Registry, the Ombudsman’s Office, the Electoral Observation Mission (MOE), and Human Rights Watch (HRW), among other institutions and groups, regarding the risk of political violence in the upcoming legislative and presidential elections. The reports coincide in stating that 2025 was a critical year in terms of public order and the expansion of illegal armed groups in Colombia, which threatens to prevent the elections—set to begin in less than a month—from unfolding peacefully and fairly.

We are aware that violence has historically besieged democracy and electoral processes in Colombia, but given the severity of the current situation and the risks currently looming over Colombia’s democratic life, we urge the government to respond urgently to this threat and ensure that free, transparent, and safe elections can take place.

According to a joint analysis by the National Civil Registry, the Ombudsman’s Office, the National Police, and the Attorney General’s Office, in more than one hundred municipalities across the country, the presence of illegal armed groups poses a serious threat to the development of the elections. According to a recent MOE report, there are 339 municipalities in Colombia—equivalent to one third of all municipalities—where violence endangers the electoral process, while in 171 municipalities there is a risk of both violence and fraud, with 81 of them classified as being at extreme risk.

Meanwhile, in its 2025 World Report, HRW stated that Colombia faced one of the worst humanitarian crises of the decade last year, due to abuses by illegal armed groups, limited access to justice, and high levels of poverty. According to the organization, all of this gravely threatens the development of the upcoming elections. The Ombudsman’s Office also warned about the risks that violent discourse and the spread of false information pose to democracy during these electoral months.

Beyond the risks to the immediate electoral future, all these reports and alerts coincide in noting that the growth of illegal armed groups and the lack of state response to their expansion have created a situation in which political violence is already influencing the course of the campaigns. The assassination last year of presidential pre-candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay is already an indelible stain on the 2026 elections. To this must be added, among other incidents, the destruction of campaign billboards for Juan Carlos Pinzón in Catatumbo—after the ELN, according to regional media, announced a ban on any form of electoral advertising in the region—; the attack on Senator Jairo Castellanos’s caravan in Arauca; the kidnapping of Senator Aída Quilcué; the public order situation in Catatumbo under ELN siege; and the recent wave of attacks and threats against candidates, along with curfew announcements by the ELN and other armed groups in different regions of the country.

For all these reasons, the signatory organizations believe that the government must act immediately and systematically to protect the elections in Colombia. It is unacceptable for political violence to determine— as it has already done to some extent— the course of Colombian democracy this year, and for the expansion of territorial control by armed groups to jeopardize the very possibility for Colombians to exercise their most basic democratic rights. It is the responsibility of the national government to correct this situation and ensure that Colombian democracy can function without the threat of violence and illegality.