Changes to Colombian peace negotiations demanded

Sergio Alejandro Gómez

TEN months after the initiation of peace talks in the Cuban capital, the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-Army of the People (FARC-EP) have demanded a number of changes in order to continue advancing in the search for peace.

Humberto de la Calle, former vice president and leader of the government delegation, has asked for the talks to be accelerated and reach results.

The Havana General Agreement, which sets the framework for the talks, notes that work on the agenda points should be undertaken "expeditiously and in the least time possible, in order to meet society’s expectations concerning a prompt agreement," noted De la Calle, in a statement given at Havana’s International Convention Center at the end of another round of negotiations.

"We have advanced and we have significant achievements, but not enough. We have to show Colombians more results," he stated.

However, De la Calle affirmed that the government maintains its faith in the success of the process and reiterated that "peace is here and now."

For its part, the FARC-EP delegation reiterated its position that the solution of the conflict cannot be tied to dates or respond to party interests.

"Peace must be a state policy," stated Iván Márquez, head of the FARC-EP delegation.

The guerrilla comandante also mentioned the General Agreement in his speech. He clarified that this does not recognize any winner and thus, "party-party relations among equals must prevail within the negotiations."

The FARC-EP once again criticized unilateral measures adopted by the government outside of the peace talks, which have diverted attention from discussions on political participation, the agenda issue currently being addressed, after reaching an agreement in principle on the controversial agrarian issue.

The joint communiqué issued by the parties at the close of this last round does not include considerable advances in relation to the previous one, but reiterates they continue making advances in building agreements around the issue of political participation.

The latest rounds of talks between the government and the guerrilla movement have been marked by two processes underway in Colombia, but which have repercussions on the peace talks in Havana: the approval of the Legal Framework for Peace and a draft bill presented by President Juan Manuel Santos with a view to endorsing a possible peace agreement on the very day of presidential elections in 2014.

Both issues have a direct relation with points on the agenda which have not as yet been addressed, such as the rights of victims of the conflict and an endorsement of its end.

Comandante Márquez explained that the bill presented to Congress does not correspond to any agreement with the FARC-EP and thus does not commit the guerrilla organization.

When the talks reach the discussion on the sixth agenda item on this issue, he noted, the guerrilla movement will insist on the convening of a Constituent Assembly as an endorsement mechanism.

Márquez also referred to the legal framework for implementing justice in a post-conflict situation. The Legal Framework for Peace has already been declared valid by the Colombian Constitutional Court, but the guerrilla organization does not support it.

One of the controversial points related to the framework is its interpretation of so-called transitional justice. According to the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICJT) it is a combination of legal and political measures which various countries have adopted in the context of reparations for mass human rights violations.

On its official website, the ICJT notes that transitional justice is not a particular form of justice, but a way of approaching it in periods of transition from a situation of conflict or repression on the part of the state.

However, virtually all official references to the Legal Framework for Peace are directed at the guerrilla movement and not to other actors in a conflict which has lasted for more than 50 years.

On this issue, the FARC-EP noted that the framework "has the inadmissible error of attempting to place the guerrilla movement in the condition of victimizer, knowing that the victims are of the conflict."