Bishops, priests, members of religious communities and missionaries are now the victims of murders, kidnaps and threats; and churches are being attacked by the irregular groups as the armed conflict becomes more and more debased. They are now part of the other target groups -government, community leaders, union leaders, journalists, human rights defenders, indigenous groups and the Afrocolombian communities. The violations of their life and liberty, as individuals are also violations of other rights such as freedom of speech and opinion, not only of the priests and pastors but of society as a whole. The forces of violence see priests and missionaries as leaders of society, and their actions are intended to intimidate the communities where they do their pastoral work. Places of worship are also the object of disrespect and even attack. This is prohibited in the practice of war, and is evidently a breach of International Humanitarian Law.

The ministers and missionaries of the various churches acts as protectors of the community and defenders of its rights. They are therefore vulnerable in places affected by the conflict. In particular, the role taken up by the Catholic Church in the context of the reconciliation process started by the 1997 Episcopal Conference has made this situation more acute. The Catholic Church and its religious orders are a catalyst for the conflict as facilitators of peace: this too earns them a negative judgment from the agents of violence. Also, within their natural pastoral mission, they play their part with humanitarian actions to protect and care for the victims and provide relief from the effects of the conflict and displacement. Many priests have become human rights defenders. And the attacks on bishops has a deep significance in a country where the majority of the people are Catholic, and Church traditions are strong.

The attacks on ministers and places of worship show how constant the disregard for the principles and provisions of International Humanitarian Law have been. Two such provisions are the distinction between those taking part in the hostilities and the non-combatant population, and the protection of their property and that of religious cults. This protection is contained in Protocol II to the Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949, which protects the victims of non-international armed conflict, and Colombia is a signatory to it.

Article 9 states ".....religious personnel shall be respected and protected and shall be granted all available help for the performance of their duties. They shall not be compelled to carry out tasks which are not compatible with their humanitarian mission.". Article 16 protects places of worship from armed conflict: "....it is prohibited to commit any acts of hostility directed against .... places of worship which constitute the cultural or spiritual heritage of peoples, and to use them in support of the military effort."

The Government has been insisting on compliance with International Humanitarian Law by all those engaged in the armed conflict, and has called for respect for civilians, ministers and places of worship.

The government and the State have the obligation to protect the rights of citizens, and particularly the most vulnerable groups in society, and it has therefore attended to requests for the protection of members of religious communities in its Protection Plan for leaders in society and non-governmental organizations, in proportion to the level of risk in which they find themselves. Since 2001 the Program has provided protection for the Caritas Pastoral Social organization in the eastern plains of Meta, with communications equipment, support for their movements in the area, armoring of their premises and personal protection for a priest, as well as support in humanitarian actions. For Pastoral Social in the mid-western city of Neiva, communications equipment has been provided for the organization, and individually for one of its members; and in north-eastern Bucaramanga, the same organization has been assigned communications equipment for four of its members.

The Police have also worked to secure the safety of religious personnel to support the work of their communities and engage the solidarity of the public: they have formed Parish Security Brigades drawn from the local population. The task of the Brigades is to provide the authorities with information which will allow them to protect the lives of parish priests. The Brigades currently operate in 20 of the 33 provinces of Colombia.