In 2025, Colombia is at a pivotal moment in its efforts to regulate corporate conduct through a human rights lens. Civil society organizations have emerged at the forefront, challenging the longstanding gap between businesses' protective legal frameworks and the inadequate human rights safeguards for affected communities. This mobilization aims to address what activists describe as “a century of impunity” concerning corporate human rights violations, spearheading a transformative approach seeking justice, accountability, and respect for human rights in Colombia’s business environment.​

For years, governance models inspired by John Ruggie’s “smart mix” of voluntary and binding measures have fallen short of delivering meaningful protections. Colombia reflects this failure, as corporations often operate with minimal legal obligations to prevent or be held accountable for human rights abuses, perpetuating power imbalances favoring business interests over victims’ rights.​

Legislative Momentum: Bills 410 and 153 Lead Reform Efforts

Two landmark legislative proposals symbolize civil society's aspirations and concrete efforts to reshape corporate accountability laws in Colombia.

Bill 410 of 2024: Criminal Liability for Corporations

This bill marks a turning point by introducing a regime of criminal liability for legal persons, effectively holding companies criminally responsible for human rights violations resulting from their activities. This initiative targets the structural impunity allowing corporations to evade meaningful penalties for abuses.​

Bill 153 of 2025: Comprehensive Human Rights Obligations for Companies

Representing a more extensive framework, Bill 153 outlines 37 concrete human rights obligations applicable across a company’s full scope of operations, including extended value chains. These duties require companies not only to prevent human rights violations but also to abstain from causing, facilitating, or profiting from such abuses.

Critically, the bill amplifies the State’s role, obliging government agencies to enforce protection and respect mechanisms, from legislative prevention to safeguarding activists and communities under threat. It proposes the establishment of a dedicated Intersectoral Commission on Business and Human Rights to monitor and drive implementation.​

Legal accountability takes a robust form, with civil and administrative sanctions comprising graduated fines, suspension of permits or licenses, and potentially revocation of legal status for offending companies. Importantly, liability can extend beyond corporations to include directors, board members, auditors, shareholders, and beneficial owners if they are involved or benefit from violations or if the corporate veil is pierced.​

To dismantle barriers to justice, Bill 153 introduces judicial guidelines fostering more nuanced, human rights-centred adjudication of corporate-related cases without creating new courts, addressing the complexity and novelty of these legal issues.​

The Broader Legal and Human Rights Context in Colombia

Colombia currently lacks comprehensive mandatory human rights due diligence (HRDD) legislation. Instead, the country relies on a mosaic of voluntary measures, constitutional protections, international treaty obligations, and jurisprudence by the Colombian Constitutional Court and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. These courts increasingly pressure the Colombian state to regulate corporate human rights responsibilities, especially in sectors prone to violations like mining, energy, and infrastructure, where community displacement, environmental harm, and social conflict frequently occur.​

While companies are encouraged to undertake due diligence and transparency initiatives, these remain voluntary. Executives face reputational and potential legal risks, particularly if negligence leads to harm against vulnerable communities or ecosystems. Judicial trends and growing international influence suggest Colombia is on a trajectory toward legally binding HRDD requirements, aligning with corporate accountability movements elsewhere in Latin America and globally.​

Challenges: Corporate Impunity and Human Rights Defenders in the Spotlight

Despite legislative strides, significant challenges persist. The nexus between corporate actors and human rights violations remains fraught, with forced displacement, threats, and violence against social leaders and defenders still prevalent, notably in regions affected by large corporate projects. Civil society activists insist the Colombian government establish obligatory cooperation channels between national and local authorities, adequately financed and independently monitored by international observers to ensure tangible protections and uphold the peace process.​

The importance of genuine, decision-making participatory roles for ethnic and community groups has also been emphasized. Symbolic inclusion is insufficient—affected populations demand power over policy shaping and project enforcement.​

National and International Perspectives on Progress

Human Rights Watch’s 2025 country report acknowledges Colombia’s mixed picture, stressing ongoing governance and legal innovations designed to shield defenders and vulnerable groups, yet also highlighting persistent systemic violence tied to corporate interests. Colombia upholds democratic standards but faces serious human rights risks, necessitating strengthened regulatory frameworks and enforcement to secure justice and peace.​

Moreover, Colombia’s development of corporate governance frameworks aligns with OECD recommendations and international standards, signaling a commitment toward harmonizing economic growth with human rights considerations. However, the effectiveness of these frameworks hinges not merely on policies but on real access to remedies, transparency, and monitoring.​

Civil Society’s Leading Role Shaping Colombia’s Corporate Human Rights Future

Colombia’s ongoing transition towards embedding human rights at the core of corporate conduct is actively propelled by civil society’s advocacy and legislative engagement. The confluence of Bills 410 and 153 epitomizes a bold vision to impose binding human rights duties on companies, impose meaningful liabilities, and overhaul judiciary approaches to corporate-related harms.

This movement directly confronts entrenched practices of impunity, posing both significant legal and social challenges but equally offering a transformative path toward justice and equitable economic development. If effectively implemented and enforced, these reforms could set a Latin American benchmark in corporate human rights regulation and empower victims, activists, and communities long marginalized by extractive and commercial interests.