*This article is part of the series When Corruption Affects Us: Reflections on Victims’ Participation in the Fight Against Corruption in Latin America.
Corruption is a systemic and multidimensional phenomenon whose effects go beyond damage to public assets and directly affect specific victims—individuals, communities, and society as a whole. This scourge generates differentiated harms and often worsens the vulnerability of various population groups, limiting their opportunities for development and the enjoyment of their rights.
The need to acknowledge the link between corruption and human rights has emerged in various international human rights mechanisms. For instance, during its 58th session, the Human Rights Council approved Resolution A/HRC/58/L.16, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights held a public hearing on the subject on March 3, 2025. These initiatives call for anti-corruption efforts to adopt a human rights–based approach centered on victims and on generating conditions that enable full reparation for the harms caused by this phenomenon.
In Colombia, although there have been some regulatory developments regarding reparation for victims of corruption—such as Law 2195 of 2022—in practice, numerous challenges hinder effective progress in this area. These challenges include the lack of recognition of the link between corruption and human rights violations, the absence of victim participation in proceedings related to acts of corruption, and the normalization of this scourge. All these factors prevent victims from recognizing themselves as such.
Nevertheless, among the advances worth highlighting in the country are several civil society–led initiatives aimed at raising awareness of this problem, described below.
The Role of Civil Society Organizations in the Fight Against Corruption and in Seeking Reparation for Harm Caused by Corruption
Article 13 of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) establishes that States must adopt measures to promote the participation of civil society and nongovernmental organizations in preventing and combating corruption. In this regard, CSOs play a key role in promoting actions aimed at guaranteeing full reparation for victims of corruption.
To strengthen and broaden CSO participation on this issue, Transparencia por Colombia, the national chapter of Transparency International, created a Roadmap to Seek Reparation for the Harm Caused by Corruption for CSOs. This roadmap is designed as a practical guide to analyze cases of human rights violations caused by corruption and, based on that analysis, identify legal and non-legal actions to seek full reparation. The guide is organized into three phases that can be applied in any order, either independently or collaboratively among different CSOs.
The first phase aims for organizations to develop a conceptual understanding of the link between corruption and human rights violations and to select a case of alleged corruption that affects human rights.
The second phase proposes a characterization of the selected case, seeking to gather information to identify victims, the rights affected, and the harms caused.
The third phase outlines two types of actions.
On one hand, judicial and/or administrative actions to bring potential acts of corruption to the attention of the competent authorities, so that the State acknowledges the harm caused and guarantees full reparation enabling the restoration of violated rights.
On the other hand, non-judicial actions that directly involve CSOs and victims of corruption. Through community mobilization, education, and citizen oversight, these actions can help promote victim recognition, rebuild affected social ties, and generate conditions that prevent the recurrence of corruption.
From the practical application of the Roadmap by three local CSOs in the department of Antioquia, the following general results stand out:
– Making visible the link between corruption and human rights violations is essential.
– The lack of recognition of corruption victims beyond the State leads victims themselves not to self-identify as such.
– Beyond judicial actions, pedagogical and citizen oversight efforts, as well as institutional strengthening measures, are key to achieving conditions conducive to non-repetition.
However, each corruption case addressed by the Antioquia CSOs has specific characteristics, and the outcomes of applying the Roadmap differ across them. These are described below.
Case 1: Oversight Committee of Comuna 6 in Medellín
This case centers on alleged acts of corruption that affected the right to citizen participation in the Local Development Plan of Comuna 6 in Medellín. This situation weakened social ties and resulted in neglect of key priority areas for the community’s development, including disaster prevention.
In applying the Roadmap, the Oversight Committee of Comuna 6 carried out educational and communication initiatives with residents to raise awareness about potential acts of corruption. This process strengthened community understanding of the harms caused by corruption and helped advance the reconstruction of social ties. Additionally, the Oversight Committee strengthened its internal organizational capacities, enabling it to participate in legal proceedings and file complaints before the competent authorities.²
Case 2: Todos por Medellín
In 2021, Todos por Medellín filed complaints before the Office of the Attorney General regarding alleged corruption related to the “Buen Comienzo” program in Medellín. This program provides health and nutrition services and support to pregnant and breastfeeding mothers and to children ages zero to two—especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The organization identified that the diversion of public resources prevented many mothers and their children from receiving food and technical assistance, severely affecting their rights.
Applying the Roadmap, Todos por Medellín continues to push forward the ongoing criminal proceedings. This has been accompanied by an educational strategy with affected mothers, aimed at helping them recognize themselves as corruption victims, understand the harms caused, and strengthen their abilities to exercise citizen oversight to ensure non-repetition.
Case 3: Conciudadanía
This case involves irregularities in the contracting and execution of projects financed by the General System of Royalties in Eastern Antioquia between 2019 and 2023. Specifically, the concerns relate to an agricultural project aimed at small farmers affected by the pandemic in ten municipalities in the region. The irregularities harmed the rights of rural families who, in addition to facing the consequences of the pandemic, were affected by poor management and alleged corruption in the project’s implementation.
In applying the Roadmap, Conciudadanía implemented educational initiatives and efforts to strengthen citizen oversight with other organizations and community leaders in affected municipalities. Through regional meetings, participants received tools to improve their understanding of public contracting and citizen monitoring of public administration. This was complemented by audiovisual content aimed at raising awareness of the link between corruption and human rights violations.
Detailed results for the three cases can be found in the document Buscando la reparación del daño causado por corrupción.
A Call to Action from CSOs to Seek Reparation for Harm Caused by Corruption
Corruption has become normalized in Colombia and in several countries of the Americas, generating mistrust, undermining the legitimacy of public institutions, and fragmenting the social fabric in affected communities.
Understanding the link between corruption and human rights violations, as well as recognizing corruption victims beyond the State and ensuring their full reparation, are essential starting points for adopting effective actions against this scourge. This approach must center those who have been directly affected.
The experience of CSOs in Antioquia demonstrates the crucial role they play in combating corruption. They not only promote prevention but also actively contribute to investigation, punishment, and demands for reparation for the harm caused.
Therefore, States must recognize, value, and refrain from instrumentalizing this role for particular interests, ensuring the tools, security, and spaces necessary for effective citizen participation. In addition, political and legal measures must be adopted to guarantee victim access to justice and full reparation.
Only through guarantees of justice and reparation—alongside active civil society participation—can anti-corruption discourse be transformed into a real and sustained practice that restores trust in institutions and restores dignity to victims.
¹ For more information on these challenges, see: ¿En qué va Colombia en la reparación del daño causado por corrupción? – Transparencia por Colombia.
² This is a constitutional action recognized in Article 88 of the Political Constitution of Colombia, aimed at protecting collective interests and rights.