The Ombudsman’s Office presented the second follow-up report on the “Commitment for a Free and Peaceful Electoral Process in Colombia,” an initiative that seeks to involve presidential candidates aimed at strengthening the quality of democracy and the protection of political rights.
The results indicate, among other things, that the points related to the adoption of a nonviolence policy, constructive language, and the elimination of stigmatization, the dissemination of truthful information, and respect for peaceful demonstrations and protests showed low or critical levels of compliance or alignment on the part of the presidential candidates.
The initiative is accompanied by the Episcopal Conference, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia, the MAPP OAS, and the U.N. Verification Mission, with the support of UN Women, the UNDP Program, and the Electoral Observation Mission (MOE).
The report presents the results of monitoring the nine points of the Commitment, aimed at protecting life, adopting a nonviolence policy, defending democracy and institutions, promoting constructive language, positioning truthful information, making youth leadership visible, and supporting peaceful protest, among the 13 officially registered presidential candidacies.
Challenges persist regarding public debate
The period covered by the report spans from Dec. 16, 2025, to April 8, 2026. Of these candidacies, seven have signed the Commitment and six have not. The monitoring methodology integrated quantitative and qualitative analysis of publications on the social network X and news from national and regional media outlets.
In total, 28,184 data points were captured, corresponding to 15,892 publications and 12,292 news items. After the filtering and verification process, a database of 318 events was consolidated for the final analysis.
According to the monitoring results, the overall level of compliance or alignment with the points of the Commitment was 58.3%, corresponding to a medium level. In the first monitoring period, carried out between July and December 2025, the overall percentage had been 70.9%.
It is important to point out that, due to differences in the period, number of candidacies, and subscriptions, the reports are not strictly comparable. However, they account for the way in which the general electoral environment has evolved regarding compliance or alignment with the Commitment.
The monitoring identified high levels of compliance or alignment on issues such as defense of democracy, institutional respect, and democratic dialogue. Five of the nine evaluated points registered favorable results: Defense of the primacy of life (79.9%), respect for institutions and the legal framework (81.5%), defense of democracy (98.7%), acceptance of dialogue as a democratic commitment (97.6%), and recognition of youth (100%).
The points related to the adoption of a nonviolence policy (33.3%), constructive language and the elimination of stigmatization (14.1%), the dissemination of truthful information (3.8%), and respect for peaceful demonstrations and protests (43.8%) showed low or critical levels of compliance or alignment.
Main recommendations
The report also points out differences between the candidacies that signed the Commitment and those that did not. While the signatory candidacies registered an overall compliance level of 86.4%, the non-signatory candidacies reached an alignment level of 40.2%.
Based on the findings of the monitoring, the Ombudsman’s Office highlights the importance of the candidacies that have signed, guaranteeing effective compliance with the Commitment through actions consistent with its principles. In the case of those who have not yet done so, they are invited to sign it as an expression of willingness to act to strengthen democratic debate.
In addition, the candidates are invited to promote the use of respectful language, avoiding stigmatization and personal disqualification; guarantee the verification of disseminated information and refrain from making unsupported accusations; adopt concrete measures to prevent and address political violence, especially against women and historically excluded populations; and actively reject harassment, including that which occurs in digital environments, and foster a culture of responsible communication.
Finally, for state institutions, it is recommended to strengthen institutional impartiality and confidence in electoral authorities, and promote digital literacy strategies for citizens that strengthen the identification of disinformation.