The United Nations said Thursday that Colombian illegal armed groups “cannot succeed” in the country and called for further progress from that government to secure the safety of former combatants from the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
The UN envoy for Colombia, Carlos Ruiz, highlighted during a session of the Security Council of the international organization that 252 former FARC combatants have been assassinated by criminal groups since the signing of the peace agreement between the guerrillas and the government in 2016.
“Violence against ex-combatants, social leaders, human rights defenders and communities continues to be the most serious threat to the peace process in Colombia,” said Ruiz. “While many measures have been taken to try to solve this violence, each murder is a tragic blow to peace.”
The Security Council reviews the situation of the peace process in the Latin American country on a quarterly basis. The agreement between the guerrillas and the government of then president Juan Manuel Santos put an end to more than half a century of armed conflict.
Ambassador Richard Mills, from the US mission to the UN, told the meeting that Colombia has managed to reduce violence over the years but that these killings “must stop.”
“The United States calls on the Colombian government to continue strengthening its presence in these rural areas and to hold those responsible for the violence accountable to justice,” Mills said.
Ruiz called for the development of a focused security strategy in new areas of reintegration into society for ex-combatants.
The Colombian Foreign Minister, Claudia Blum, explained that dissident armed groups are the main perpetrators in the attacks of former FARC combatants.
“In 2020 the national government consistently deployed measures to strengthen the protection of former FARC members,” Blum said at the virtual meeting. “The public force has reinforced the actions against the criminal structures in the territories.”
Blum named achievements as a reduction in homicides over the previous year and highlighted actions against criminal structures, with operations against the Gulf Clan. “Victims are at the center of all our efforts,” he added.
Throughout the pandemic, experts have said that in some countries, including Colombia, the confinement caused by restrictions due to the pandemic could be an important factor in reducing violence rates.
The Security Council last year extended the mandate of the UN mission to verify the peace agreement until September 25, 2021.
Several member countries of the Security Council spoke positively on Thursday of the recent request by Colombian President Iván Duque for the UN peace verification mission to monitor the application of sanctions by the Colombian transitional justice.
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