By Gustavo A Maranges on February 2, 2022
Colombia’s Constitutional Court ruled the State of unconstitutional actions on the enforcement of the Peace Agreement between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia- People’s Army (FARC-EP). It means that there is a severe violation of the accord by one of the parties. The rule came after many peace and Human Rights activists together with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) filed several claims calling the court’s attention on the issue and demanding the government’s accountability.
According to the high court, the Colombian government, led by President Ivan Duque, has failed to fulfill its commitments with the former leftist guerrilla organization, turned now into a political party. The statement reads that former guerrilla members’ fundamental rights have been systematically violated or neglected by the government, ending in the deaths of hundreds since the agreement was signed in 2016. As a result of it, the Court will create a commission to enforce its will.
Immediately after the ruling was issued, the top presidential adviser for the post-conflict, Emilio Archila, criticized the court’s decision but said her was committed to the ruling without announcing any concrete measure to do so. This is a clear political maneuver to continue with the same attitude towards the Peace Agreements as the government has done so far. It also is a violation of Colombia’s Constitution, since the accord is part of this body of laws.
Many people may think that this is a pessimistic opinion and biased by political matters, but it is far from it. It rather is an opinion based on the many precedents that Duque’s administration has settled when addressing the Peace Agreements, some of them even before the enforcement of the accord.
During that time Duque was a senator (2014-2018), former president Juan Manuel Santos was negotiating the accord with the FARC-EP and trying to include it into the Constitution as a way to make it last despite the political orientation of future governments. It was a long and rough process due to the complexity of the historical relationship between the parties and the fierce opposition that the accord found in the National Congress, especially from the extreme right-wing party Democratic Center that Duque represents. The current president has always been a good disciple of his master and former President of Colombia Alvaro Uribe Velez, who is the head of the Democratic Center Party and one of the main enemies of the peace process in the country from the beginning.
After he came into power, Duque has tried to undermine the enforcement of an accord he could impede. Thus, he has promoted several votes in both of the Congregational houses to change some parts of the accord, namely: repayment of the victims by the FARC-EP, extradition rules, and more severe sentences. This attitude shows that the real intention is not to make things work, but the opposite. The government is aware that the Peace Agreement is in danger, but that is exactly what they want. Then, it is naïve to think that what Archila said has any chance of being true.
However, the saddest part of this issue is that what the Constitutional Court just ruled is entirely true. The government has left unprotected over 13,000 people who were part of the FARC-EP and signed the accord. It affects not only former combatants but their families, including kids and elders, which makes the number even higher.
From 2016 to 2021, over 250 former FARC-EP members were murdered, and no one has stood trial for that. How is this possible? Over 5 years since the signing and not a single of these crimes has been punished or brought to trial. This shows a complete lack of will to do justice, just because they are former guerrilla members. However, the president is still calling for longer sentences for indicted guerrilla members and wants to extradite them to the US; it is all political revenge.
The Peace Agreement established the government’s responsibility to guarantee the safety of the demobilized FARC members. Therefore, it was responsible for creating and securing camps for them to live, and to erase, or at least ease, the political and social discrimination that they suffer. Despite some flaws and setbacks, the first part is covered somehow, but the second is even worse than before 2016.
Former guerrilla members that decide to abandon the camps have to live undercover for safety reasons. Meanwhile, those who remain can barely go out as a result of their instinct of self-preservation. During Duque’s tenure, hate speech from the government towards guerrilla members has increased dramatically. At the same time, every measure has been taken to ease the full reincorporation of these people into society. It represents a serious disadvantage for them while leaving them vulnerable, not only for safety reasons but for economic ones.
The government dared to say that 50% of the investigations have uncovered “suspected violators”, but the problem here is that “suspected justice” does not exist. It is just not enough for over 200 families who have lost a beloved one. Of course, it is better to issue that ridiculous statistic or to say that it is all the fault of paramilitary groups than to accept that it is a government’s policy to leave former FARC-EP members by out there by themselves.
Duque’s stance on this issue and its murderous and outrageous consequences have determined that some of those that dropped their weapons are now ready to re-start their fight for a really free and equitable country. Moreover, it also poses a bad precedent aiming to further peace processes, which is probably the worst of the legacies of this government in the long run.
Looking at all this, Cuba and Norway, guarantor States of the peace talks between the Colombian government and the FARC-EP, released a joint communique expressing their grave concern for the ongoing situation for the former guerrilla members and asking the Duque’s administration to abide by the Peace Agreements and fix everything according to the constitutional text.
One of the main problems of Colombia has always been the violence created by drug production and trafficking, alongside the actions of paramilitary groups. The Peace Agreement was a huge step to bring down the violence levels in the country, improve stability and build a more politically diverse country. However, President Ivan Duque and his sponsors seem to be committed to breaking the country apart by doing nothing except protecting their class interests.
Violence has increased not only against former guerrilla members but in general. Between 2020 and 2021, over 320 social leaders were killed. Likewise, the lack of government support during the pandemic left many people under poverty levels, something that is critical for a society that already has so much pressure on it. There were also massive Human Rights violations during the 2021 general strike.
Duque has neglected all his duties as President but not to the class he represents his. Now, with his attitude towards the Peace Agreement, he will only add to the fatal attacks in the country and to a peace process that took over 220,000 lives and 52 years to be truly implemented.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – English