The Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP), Timoleón Jiménez, expressed his great satisfaction with the signing of an agreement regarding the creation of a Special Jurisdiction for Peace, in Havana on September 23.
He said that the step would generate an environment conducive to advancing with regards to the outstanding items on the peace talks’ agenda.
“We are pleased to announce that this special jurisdiction for peace has been designed for everyone involved in the conflict, combatants and non-combatants, and not just one of the sides,” he said.
From a primarily restorative perspective, this jurisdiction opens up the possibilities of offering the detailed and complete truth about the conflict, in order to lay the foundations for reparation and non-repetition, to guarantee the rights of victims and meet the expectations of society in terms of reconciliation, he added.
The Special Jurisdiction for Peace, which establishes a model that fully respects Colombia’s international obligations and humanitarian norms, will surely be observed and taken into account in other peace processes, he noted.
It is now for the parties to redouble their efforts aimed at building a consensus that will bring us closer to a bilateral ceasefire, to definitions regarding the surrender of weapons and the transformation of the FARC-EP into a legal political movement, generating specific conditions such as the dismantling of paramilitaries, he concluded.
(Granma)