Military operations against so-called “criminal gangs” in Colombia: between the risk of excessive force and legal uncertainty

In countries like Colombia, where multiple legal and illegal armed actors coexist in the territory, they impede the monopoly of weapons by the State. The Military Forces have ceased to be ultima ratio and are legitimized by the discourse of international security to act against threats that do not always threaten national sovereignty and security, and therefore are located outside the scope of the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and, in turn they do not have protection in the domestic legal system for the use of lethal force, for example. This article focuses on analyzing the tension generated in the internal order by the incorporation of the threats created by this international security discourse, particularly in the case of the actions of Military Forces against armed groups linked to organized crime where the use of lethal force can lead to violations of human rights and lack of legal security for members of the police force.