The 1991 Political Constitution recognized the fundamental rights of indigenous peoples.
By means of Order 004 of 2009, the Constitutional Court required the state to protect the fundamental rights of 34 indigenous peoples at risk of disappearance because of the armed conflict, a situation it described as “an unconstitutional state of affairs”. President Santos signed Decree 1953 of 7 October 2014 creating a special system to operationalize the administration of indigenous peoples’ own systems on their territories, until Congress can issue the Organic Law on Territorial Regulation.
Articles: 5, 7, 8, 10, 63, 68, 70, 72, 96, 171, 176, 246, 286, 287, 329, 330, 340.
Article 5
The State recognizes, without any discrimination whatsoever, the primacy of the inalienable rights of the individual and protects the family as the basic institution of
society.
Article 7
The State recognizes and protects the ethnic and cultural diversity of the Colombian Nation.
Article 8
It is the obligation of the State and of individuals to protect the cultural and natural assets of the nation.
Article 10
Spanish is the official language of Colombia. The languages and dialects of ethnic groups are also official in their territories. The education provided in communities with their own linguistic traditions shall be bilingual.
Article 63
Property in public use, natural parks, communal lands of ethnic groups, security zones, the archaeological resources of the nation, and other property determined by statute are inalienable, imprescriptible, and not subject to seizure.
Article 68
Individuals may create educational institutions. An Act shall establish the conditions for their creation and management.
The educational community shall participate in managing educational institutions.
Education shall be in the care of individuals of recognized ethical and pedagogical fitness. An Act guarantees the professionalization and dignity of the teaching profession.
Parents have the right to select the type of education for their minor children. In state institutions, no individual may be obliged to receive religious instruction.
The members of ethnic groups shall have the right to education that respects and develops their cultural identity. The eradication of illiteracy and the education of individuals with physical or mental limitations or with exceptional capabilities are special obligations of the State.
Article 70
The State has the obligation to promote and foster access to the culture of all Colombians equally by means of permanent education and scientific, technical, artistic, and professional instruction at all stages of the process of creating the national identity.
Culture in its diverse manifestations is the basis of nationality. The State recognizes the equality and dignity of all those who live together in the country. The state shall promote research, science, development, and the diffusion of the nation’s cultural values.
Article 72
The nation’s cultural heritage is under the protection of the State. The archaeological
heritage and other cultural resources that shaped the national identity belong to the nation and are inalienable, not subject to seizure, and are imprescriptible. An Act shall establish the mechanisms to restore control over them when they are in the hands of individuals and shall regulate the special rights that ethnic groups may enjoy when they occupy territories of archaeological wealth.
Article 96
The following are Colombian nationals:
By birth:
a. Colombian natives, upon one of two conditions: that the father or the mother have been Colombian natives or nationals or that, being
children of aliens, either parent was domiciled in the Republic at the time of birth; and,
b. The children of a Colombian father or mother born abroad who have later established their domicile in the Colombian territory or registered in a consular office of the Republic.
By adoption:
a. Aliens who solicit and obtain a naturalization card, in accordance with the applicable statute, which shall establish the cases in which
Colombian nationality is lost through adoption;
b. People born in Latin America or the Caribbean who are domiciled in Colombia and who, with the government’s authorization and in
accordance with the relevant statute and the principle of reciprocity, request that they be registered as Colombians in the municipality where they reside; and,
c. Members of the indigenous peoples straddling border areas, in
application of the principle of reciprocity according to public
international treaties.
No Colombian by birth may be stripped of his/her nationality. Colombian nationality is not lost by virtue of acquiring another nationality. Nationals by adoption shall not be obligated to renounce their nationality of origin or adoption. Whoever has renounced his/her Colombian nationality may recover it in accordance with the applicable statute.
Article 171
The Senate of the Republic shall be composed of one hundred members elected in one nationwide constituency. There shall be an additional two senators elected in a special national constituency for indigenous communities. Colombian citizens who happen to be or reside abroad may vote in elections for the Senate of the Republic. The system of electoral quotient shall apply to the special constituency for the election of senators by indigenous communities. The representatives of the indigenous communities who aspire to become members of the Senate of the Republic must have exercised a position of traditional authority
in their respective community or have been leaders of an indigenous organization, which qualification shall be verified by a certificate from the respective organization, endorsed by the Minister of the Government.
Article 176
The House of Representatives shall be elected in territorial and special constituencies.
Each department and the Capital District of Bogotá will form part of a territorial constituency. There will be two representatives for each territorial constituency and
an additional one for each 365,000 inhabitants or a fraction greater than 182,500 over the first 365,000. The territorial constituency formed by the department of San Andres, Providencia, and Santa Catalina will elect an additional (1) representative for the Raizal community of the said department, according to the law.
For the election of representatives to the House, each department and the Capital District of Bogotá shall constitute a territorial constituency.
The special constituencies will guarantee the participation of ethnic groups and Colombians that reside abroad in the House of Representatives. Through these
constituencies, there will be the election of four (4) representatives distributed as follows: two (2) for the constituency of the Afro-descendant communities, one (1) for the constituency of the indigenous communities, and one (1) for the international constituency. In this last constituency, only those votes deposited outside of the national territory by citizens that reside abroad will be counted.
Article 246
The authorities of the indigenous [Indian] peoples may exercise their jurisdictional functions within their territorial jurisdiction in accordance with their own laws and procedures as long as these are not contrary to the Constitution and the laws of the Republic. An Act shall establish the forms of coordination of this special jurisdiction with the national judicial system.
Article 286
Departments, districts,
municipalities, and indigenous reservations are territorial entities. An Act may grant the status of territorial entities to the regions and provinces that are formed under the terms of the Constitution and the relevant statute.
Article 287
Territorial entities enjoy autonomy for the management of their interests within the limits of the Constitution and the relevant statute. By virtue of this they shall have the following rights:
1. To govern themselves under their own authorities.
2. To exercise the jurisdictions appropriate to them.
3. To administer their resources and establish the taxes necessary for the exercise of their functions.
4. To participate in national revenues.
Article 329
The configuration of the indigenous [Indian] territorial entities shall be drawn subject to the provisions of the Institutional Act of Territorial Planning, and their delimitation shall be effected by the national government with the participation of the representatives of the indigenous communities following the plan of the Commission of Territorial Planning.
The safeguards that apply relate to collective property which may not be sold. An Act shall define the relations and coordination of these entities with those of which they form a part.
Paragraph
In the case of an indigenous [Indian] territory that may include the territory of two or more departments, its administration shall be implemented by indigenous councils in coordination with the governors of the respective departments. In case that such territory should decide to constitute itself as a territorial entity, this shall be done in compliance with the requirements established by the first clause of this article.
Article 330
In accordance with the Constitution and the statutes, the indigenous territories shall be governed by the councils formed and regulated according to the uses and customs of their communities and shall exercise the following functions:
1. Oversee the application of the legal regulations concerning the uses of the land and settlement of their territories.
2. Design the policies, plans and programs of economic and social
development within their territory, in accordance with the National
Development Plan.
3. Promote public investments in their territories and oversee their
appropriate implementation.
4. Collect and distribute their funds.
5. Oversee the conservation of natural resources.
6. Coordinate the programs and projects promoted by the different
communities in their territory.
7. Cooperate with the maintenance of the public order within their territory in accordance with the instructions and provisions of the national government.
8. Represent the territories before the national government and the other entities in which they are integrated; and
9. Other matters stipulated by the Constitution and statute.
Paragraph
The exploitation of the natural resources in the indigenous territories shall be done without impairing the cultural, social, and economic integrity of the indigenous communities. In the decisions adopted with respect to said exploitation, the government shall encourage the participation of the representatives of the respective communities.
Article 340
There shall be a National Planning Council made up of the representatives of the territorial entities and of the economic, social, ecological, community, and cultural sectors. The Council shall have a consultative character and shall serve as a forum for the discussion of the National Development Plan. The members of the National Council shall be designated by the President of the Republic from lists presented to him/her by the authorities and organizations of the entities and sectors referred to in the previous clause which are or have been involved in said activities. Their term shall be of eight years, and every four years the Council shall be renovated in part in the form established by statute. In the territorial entities there shall also be planning councils, in accordance with the relevant statute. The National Council and the territorial planning councils constitute the National Planning System.
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