This agreement will allow for a public forum of talks between the government of Colombia and the ELN to commence, which represents an important new step forward in the efforts to achieve peace in Colombia.

(Cubaminrex.cu)

Representatives of the Revolutionary Armed Army of Colombia (FARC-EP) and the Colombian government forces signed an agreement this Tuesday on the issue of victims of armed conflict, within the framework of the peace talks.

The pact is the fourth major agreement between the parties during the peace negotiations in Havana since 2012. Other big deals covered land issues and rural development, political participation of the insurgency and drug trafficking.

A delegation composed of 10 representatives affected by the armed conflict left for Havana on Monday to sign the agreement on Tuesday, which touches on truth, reparation and guarantees to not repeat violence, as well as a system of transitional justice.

Before signing the final deal on the peace dialogue, the talks will entered their final stage aimed to cement the end the conflict. Both parties will also discuss mechanisms to ratify, implement and ascertain a possible final consensus.

The representative delegation of the FARC-EP presented a 10-point proposal on Monday to ensure an end to the war and make a significant contribution to building a stable and lasting peace.

The text, published on the website of the insurgency group, detailed initiatives on two agenda items currently discussed with the government of President Juan Manuel Santos, including a bilateral ceasefire and the disarmament of the rebels and the end of armed operations against them.

Last September, the two parties signed a preliminary 13-point agreement to achieve an end to the conflict that has gripped the country for over 50 years.

One of the most important points for the FARC-EP has been recognition as a political movement in Colombia, as well as an end to paramilitarism, which has led to thousands of internal displacements, especially in the countryside.

The parties aim to sign the final peace agreement before March 23, 2016.

(Telesur)

Jiménez posted on the #DesescalamientoYa page, where he has been reporting on the progress of peace talks with the Colombian government aiming to bring the conflict to a peaceful end.

FARC-EP spokespersons recently requested the Colombian government to establish a mutual truce in order to move toward a definitive bilateral ceasefire.

The rebel group declared an autonomous ceasefire on July 20, the sixth of its kind, with the aim of reducing civilian casualties and advancing toward ending the conflict.
The initiative was followed by a presidential order to cease air strikes on insurgent camps, but hostilities continue with ground operations.
In other posts Jiménez denounced actions which threaten the unilateral agreement reached three months ago, including the persistence of military operations in areas where regiments under his command are based.
President Juan Manuel Santos noted the possibility of declaring a permanent ceasefire beginning January 1 or even earlier as a Christmas present to the nation, meanwhile the FARC-EP has requested that the Colombian government declare an immediate ceasefire.

As a result of the peace talks taking place in Cuba since 2012, the two parties have reached agreement on issues such as comprehensive agrarian reform, political participation with a focus on democratic processes, and the fight against drug trafficking.
They have also agreed to the creation of a Special Jurisdiction for Peace, a mechanism which prioritizes the rights of the victims and is to focus on truth seeking, reparations and guarantees of non-repetition; as well as an accord on disappeared persons, and a programtoclearrural areas of landmines, already begun in Antioquia.

(Granma)

According to ¡Basta ya! (Enough Already!) Colombia: Memories of War and Dignity, of the National Center for Historical Memory. (CNMH), the over 50 year war, one of the longest in the region, has resulted in the displacement of six million people, 220,000 dead, and almost 30,000 kidnapped.

The Center has begun compiling statistics from the period between 1958 and 2012, starting in 1958, the year in which clashes between liberals and conservatives – also known as “La Violencia” (The Violence) – began.

Meanwhile, 25,000 people were estimated to have been disappeared since the outset of the conflict; however, the current figure is believed to be 45,000, reported Paula Gaviria, director of the Unit for Care and Integral Reparation of Victims, on October 19.

Experts have also noted that the tragedy of the disappeared continues to impact and persist throughout the nation, particularly in Antioquia, Cesar, Meta and Ca quetá.

This is why the recent agreement reached between the Colombian government and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP), in the context of the ongoing peace process, is giving hope to families of the victims demanding their right to learn the whereabouts of their loved ones.

The accord proposes the creation of a special body to deal with such cases, and collaboration with the International Red Cross (IRC), the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences in addition to other specialist Colombian organizations.

The document signed in Havana, where the talks have been taking place since November 2012, also notes that the government of Juan Manuel Santos will speed up the process of identifying those who have died during police operations and buried as John Does (unidentified).

For its part, the FARC-EP has pledged to hand over details about the location of victims’ remains.

The agreement on locating the whereabouts of victims could suggest that the process is coming to an end; which is why news of the accord was met with such broad reactions from diverse sectors of Colombian society.

Head of the IRC in Colombia, Christoph Harnisch, stated that the institution is ready “to help implement these decisions;” adding that the Committee will provide key assistance in exhuming remains in areas to which the state does not have access, advice to institutions responsible for undertaking the issue, and other missions.

Voices calling for peace in Colombia are also making themselves heard, such as that of Senator Iván Cepeda, who described the accord as “transcendental.” In an interview with Latin American multinational broadcaster Telesur, the Alternative Democratic Pole Senator, went further saying, “It constitutes a new component in the system of truth, justice and reparations.”

According to Cepeda, the agreement will provide thousands of Colombians with an efficient mechanism to search for their loved ones in cemeteries, common graves, and could also give them the opportunity to obtain information, locate, exhume and identify their missing relations.

The accord is giving people back their rights in what is considered to be one of the country’s most terrible atrocities, along with forced disappearances.

For now, the wounds of this conflict are beginning to be healed, while the principal participants in the peace talks themselves have publicly promised to initiate a process of healing to bring peace to the nation.

(Granma)

In a statement released this Thursday on the Ecuadoran Foreign Ministry’s website and cited by AVN, CELAC Foreign Ministers noted “these agreements are also the basis for the consolidation of peace on the continent in accordance with the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, adopted in Havana, Cuba on January 28 and 29, 2014.”

The agreement envisages the creation of a special jurisdiction to build a process of stable and lasting peace that guarantees the rights of victims and contributes to reparation. This jurisdiction will include chambers of justice and a court, which will work together with the Truth Commission, in order to investigate, prosecute and convict those involved in crimes committed during the armed conflict.

(Granma)

“We have agreed that within six months, at the latest, this negotiation of a final accord can be completed. A few difficult points remain, but we are already ending a 60-year war; the only one, and the longest, on our continent,” Santos said.

“I would like to recognize and highlight the step taken today by the revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP)”, he continued.

“Today we are moving in the same direction, and it is the most noble one, which is that of peace.”

“Equally important as guaranteeing the rights of victims is ensuring that there will be no more victims, that the armed conflict be definitively ended,” Santos stated.

He recognized that the Colombian government bears the responsibility of assuring the FARC-EP’s security, as the new agreement is implemented.

He also noted that the rebels had agreed to lay down their arms within 60 days of the final accord.

The Colombian state will grant broad amnesty for political crimes, but crimes legally defined as crimes against humanity, genocide and serious war crimes will not be eligible for clemency, according to the text of the section just signed by the FARC-EP and the country’s government.

Referring to the victims and justice section of the accord, Santos described it as the “greatest accomplishment” thus far in the talks, saying that the Jurisdiction for Peace, for the most serious crimes, will not allow impunity.

Santos said all Colombians will have the opportunity to ratify the final agreement.

He thanked Raúl Castro and Cuba for their “hospitality and commitment to peace in Colombia;” the government of Norway which also serves as a guarantor; in addition to Venezuela and Chile, who are accompanying the process.

The Colombian President concluded saying, “I will take the words of Pope Francis, encourage the path, pray for sustaining efforts to reach definitive reconciliation and not allow another fiasco along this road to peace. We will not fail; the hour of peace has arrived.”

(Granma)

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)

Granma offers a chronology of the most important events of this peace process, which has seen the most progress since the agreements made under President Belisario Bentancur in the 1980s.

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2012

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September 4.- Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) announce the signing of a General Agreement for the Termination of the Conflict and the Construction of a Stable and Lasting Peace, in Havana. The text establishes six points of discussion in order to achieve peace after more than half a century of conflict: a comprehensive agricultural development policy, political participation, an end to the conflict, ending the illegal drugs trade, victims’ rights, and the implementation, verification and ratification of the agreements. Cuba and Norway take on the role of guarantor nations to the peace process. Venezuela and Chile are named as accompanying nations.

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September 4.- Statement from the Ministry of Foreign Relations of Cuba outlines that the Revolution has a historic commitment to the peace process in Colombia and to the efforts underway to end the political, social and military conflict in this sister nation.

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October 17.- Peace process beings in Oslo, Norway. First plenipotentiary negotiators announced.
Government of Colombia: Former Vice President, Humberto de la Calle; High Commissioner for Peace, Sergio Jaramillo; President of the National Business Association (ANDI), Luis Carlos Villegas; and retired Generals Jorge Enrique Mora Rángel (Armed Forces) and Óscar Naranjo (Police).
FARC-EP: Comandante Iván Márquez, Ricardo Téllez, Andrés París and Marco León Calarcá. The organization requests that Simón Trinidad, imprisoned in the United States, be included in the negotiating team.

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November 6.- Technical meeting in Havana to define details in order to begin the process of peace talks.

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November 13.- The second largest guerrilla organization in Colombia, the National Liberation Army (ELN), announces its willingness to initiate “exploratory peace talks” three days after the talks between the FARC and the Colombian government begin in Havana.

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November 19.- Peace talks between government of Juan Manuel Santos and FACR-EP officially inaugurated in Havana’s Convention Center. Iván Márquez, member of the FARC-EP secretariat announces a unilateral cease fire from November 20 through January 20, by the rebels.

(Diario Granma)

“The talks are on track. These agreements on justice are a significant step forward, we are closer to achieving the peace that the people of Colombia long for and deserve,” Raúl stated.

Peace in Colombia is not only possible, it is essential and requires great effort and will, the Army General added.

He noted the progress that has been made, “a lot further than ever before.”

“There are still enormous difficulties to surmount but we are certain that they will be overcome,” he said.

“Profound respect for the positions of the two sides, absolute impartiality, discretion and firm, consistent and solidary support will continue to characterize Cuba’s modest contribution to the peace process, it is our duty,” he added.

“We will not rest until the cherished goal of peace for the beloved Colombia is achieved. The commitment we made in the Second Summit of CELAC Heads of States when we declared Latin America as a Zone of Peace will become a reality,” he concluded.

The agreement establishes the mechanisms to be used for the application of justice on reaching peace, a major step which would address one of the most important issues of the negotiations.

Of the issues on the agenda in Havana, preliminary agreements have already been reached in regards to rural development, illicit drugs and political participation. Once the issue of the victims is resolved, the implementation, verification and formal endorsement of the agreement will remain, in order to put an end to the conflict itself.

Since November 2012, when the peace talks were installed in Cuba, the island has ratified its historic commitment to peace in Colombia and the efforts to end the political, social and military conflict in the sister nation.

(Diario Granma)

The agreement, signed in the presence of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, and the maximum leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP), Timoleón Jiménez, is the fourth reached on an agenda of six issues which have been under discussion in the Cuban capital since November 19, 2012.

Already agreed upon are the issues of land, illicit drugs and political participation. With this agreement regarding victims signed, what remains are implementation, verification and ratification of the agreement, and lastly the end of the conflict itself.

According to the joint communiqué read by the guarantors of the peace process, Cuba and Norway, both sides was committed to a formula for justice which validates the rights of victims and contributes to a stable and lasting peace.

“We have agreed that a Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence and No Repetition will be created, and we have reached important accords regarding reparations for the victims,” the communiqué continues.

As for the difficult issue of justice, after 50 years of confrontation and thousands of victims, the two parties agreed on the creation of a Special Jurisdiction for Peace, which will have Halls of Justice and a Peace Court.

“The Halls and Court will be composed mainly of Colombian judges, and will have minority participation from foreigners who meet the highest qualifications. The essential function of the Halls and Peace Court is to end impunity, establish the truth, contribute to the compensation of victims, prosecute and impose sanctions on those responsible for the serious crimes committed during the armed conflict, particularly the most serious and representative, thus guaranteeing that they will not be repeated.”

In this sense, it is expected that international humanitarian law will be respected and that the Colombian government will grant the broadest amnesty possible for political and related offenses.

However, “In all cases, not eligible for amnesty or pardon are acts codified in national legislation which describe crimes again humanity, genocide and serious war crimes, among other serious crimes.”

The Special Jurisdiction for Peace will have authority over all those who directly or indirectly participated in the domestic armed conflict, including the FARC-EP and agents of the state.

Also established is that two types of procedures will exist, one for those who recognize the truth and take responsibility, and another for those who do not, or do not do so in a timely fashion.

“Sanctions imposed by the Court will have as their essential goal guaranteeing the rights of victims and consolidating peace, and they will have a major role in restoration and reparations for harm done.”

The document finally establishes that the transformation of the FARC-EP into a legal political movement is a shared objective, which will be fully supported by the government in the terms agreed upon.