Colombia
The security situation in Colombia remains unstable, due to rising armed violence and poverty – despite a peace agreement signed in 2016 between the Colombian government and the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC).1 As of 2023, reports state that human rights violations persist.2 As a result of this instability, Colombia has very high levels of weapons and ammunition trafficking.3 Landmines also remain a significant threat in the country as non-state armed groups have continued to plant them in various areas.4
The UN Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) is working on the ground to support the through-life management of ammunition, in collaboration with the Colombian Ministry of Defence. Efforts have included organising regional and national seminars on conventional ammunition management, and undertaking a study on small arms ammunition control measures contained in the legal frameworks of Latin American and Caribbean states.5
1 “Conflict in Colombia: Increasing Violence, Political Changes and External Influences,” International Institute for Security Studies, March 16, 2022, https://www.iiss.org/events/2022/03/conflict-in-colombia-increasing-violence-political-changes-and-external-influences.
2 “World Report 2023: Colombia Events of 2022,” Human Rights Watch, accessed September 11, 2023, https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2023/country-chapters/colombia.
3 Philip Alpers, Miles Lovell and Michael Picard, Colombia – Gun Facts, Figures and the Law (GunPolicy.org, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, 2022), https://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/colombia.
4 "Colombia: Demining in Colombia Must Remain a Priority,” ABColombia, May 14, 2021, https://reliefweb.int/report/colombia/colombia-demining-colombia-must-remain-priority.
5 "Ammunition Management Activity Platform (A-MAP),” GICHD, 2022, https://a-map.gichd.org.
Launch the country dashboard
Further information
Accidental explosions
Since the Small Arms Survey began collecting data in 1979, four accidental explosions have been reported in Colombia.
Table 1. Accidental explosions in Colombia (1979–2021)
Year | Location | Owner/manager | Deaths | Injuries |
2017 | Santa Marta | State (military) | 0 | 4 |
2007 | N/A | State (military) | 0 | 0 |
2007 | Medellin | State (military) | 6 | 8 |
2003 | Yopal | State (military) | 0 | 0 |
Source: “Unplanned Explosions at Munitions Sites (UEMS) Database,” Small Arms Survey, updated December 15, 2021, https://smallarmssurvey.org/database/unplanned-explosions-munitions-sites-uems.
Cases of diversion
Several cases of diversion have been reported since 2013 in Colombia.
Table 2. Cases of diversion of arms, ammunition and explosives in Colombia since 2013
Year | Location | Description |
2022 | Teusaquillo | Two officers were robbed of a rifle, a pistol and over 40 rounds of ammunition. |
2016 | Tolemaida | A group of men stole weapons’ spare parts from military stocks to resell to non-state armed groups. |
2014 | Bogota | Seventeen pistols and three rifles were stolen from a police armoury. |
2013 | Cali | 400 weapons (including at least 50 AK-47s) were stolen from an evidence room of the army’s Third Brigade in Cali over a period of four years. |
Source: Mimi Yagoub, “Military Officers Arrested for Trading Stolen Arms,” Colombia News, December 19, 2013, https://colombiareports.com/military-officers-arrested-trading-stolen-arms/amp/; David Wing, “Thieves Drug Guard, Steal 17 Pistols and Three Rifles from Police Armory,” Colombia News, December 5, 2014, https://colombiareports.com/amp/thieves-drug-guard-steal-17-pistols-three-rifles-police-armory/; “Desmantelan Red De Tráfico De Armas En La Que Participaban Militares Activos,” RCN Radio, April 28, 2016, https://www.rcnradio.com/colombia/desmantelan-red-trafico-armas-la-participaban-militares-activos; “Even the Military Is Not Spared Insecurity in Bogotá: They Stole a Soldier's Rifle,” infobae, April 22, 2022, https://www.infobae.com/en/2022/04/22/even-the-military-is-not-spared-insecurity-in-bogota-they-stole-a-soldiers-rifle/.
Disposal
Insufficient information on the disposal of ammunition in Colombia.
Needs
To further enhance safe and secure ammunition management, the following needs have been identified for Colombia:
- Development or refinement of standards and procedures on stockpile management;
- Capacity development for the destruction of surplus stockpiles;
- Information related to special ammunition, non-conventional ammunition, multiple-load ammunition and their components; and
- Methods of disclosure on the serial identification of firearms and their materials.
Source: Colombia, National Report on the Implementation of the Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons (PoA) and the International Tracing Instrument (ITI) (New York: Permanent Mission of Colombia to the UN, 2022), https://smallarms.un-arm.org/country-profiles/COL.
