Six months after the announcement of a two-year, $8 million assistance package, Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Todd Robinson, on behalf of the U.S. government, announced the delivery of $2 million more to the Colombian National Police.
This represents “financial support that will help build the way for the people of this beautiful country to live in dignity, peace, security, and prosperity,” the official told the press on August 22.
According to a Colombian Police press release, the objective of the contribution is to “strengthen technical assistance and establish a Police Standards Center, aimed at incorporating international human rights standards and ensuring that police training translates into a more humane and closer service to citizens.”
The U.S. official highlighted the “close relationship between Colombia and the United States” and emphasized that “the Colombian Police have been an intrinsic protagonist of this alliance and a great partner in achieving common objectives in the area of security and justice.”
The Assistant Secretary, the U.S. Embassy in Colombia, the United Nations, and the Director General of the National Police also unveiled a technical assistance program on human rights.
According to Robinson, this is the beginning of a new alliance “that seeks to elevate human rights as an institutional, cross-cutting principle within the National Police, to strengthen the police’s knowledge of the best human rights standards, to ensure that judicial proceedings are carried out with the highest respect for the citizenry, and to generate greater community trust in the police force.”
The announcement was made during the visit of a U.S. delegation to the South American country, in which they discussed issues such as counternarcotics policy, environment, rural development, security, peace, and human rights with the Colombian government. The visit lasted until August 25.