vol. 17 núm. 21 (2015)

The prolonged internal armed conflct that afflts Colombia has its own particular haracteristics, which make ending it a complex process. Situations such as massacres, forced displacement, homicides, sexual violence, forced disappearances, extrajudicial executions and torture, along with the multiplicity of actors, impunity in criminal trials, inefficy of the state apparatus and lack of guarantees for protection of the victims have repeatedly given rise to condemnation by the Inter-American System. Ths has led the Colombian State to implement a legal and regulatory framework with effctive tools of transitional justice in order to address these serious human rights violations. Th government has thus understood that such a transition can only be achieved by building a solid legal framework in which all parties to the conflct would benefi, without of course forgetting those most affcted by this diffilt process, namely the victims.

Ths article aims to analyze the crisis in human rights, framed within the national and regional contexts, as a source of concern for academia. Because of its role in society, academia has the duty and obligation to contribute towards scientifi knowledge based on its research work in response to social needs while helping to solve problems in the country. In this sense and in the framework of this research, an organic and theoretical structure is proposed for a human rights observatory at the Law Faculty of the Bucaramanga campus of the Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia. Ths would be an indispensable research instrument, not only to help train students in the ability for critical, reflxive and free thought, but also to contribute necessary scientifi knowledge to ascertain the social reality and provide solutions for the problems in Colombia in the fild of human rights. A qualitative conception has served as the basis for the interpretive method. Concerned about occurrences in the country and focusing on research into events in their natural context, we have based this work on a qualitative conception in carrying out the research.

The right to free development of the personality has its origins in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is enshrined in Article 16 of the National Constitution as a fundamental right that affcts other rights because of the strength of its content. It has also been raised to the category of a principle by the Constitutional Court based on this argument. Given the importance of this precedent, this article aims to randomly review certain manuals for coexistence in the municipality of Piedecuesta (Santander Department), analyzing provisions that are in violation of the Constitution. The Constitutional Court has reiterated that student regulations or manuals for coexistence must be in accordance with the framework of the National Constitution and international treaties, in order to ensure respect for human rights. If they are not in accordance, they must be modifid and adjusted according to constitutional principles. Here the tutela, or injunctive action, plays an important role as a mechanism for constitutional protection that makes it possible to safeguard the right to free development of the personality and, if necessary and required, empowers the tutela judge to order modifiation of the manual for coexistence.