By Jorge Quintero*, EL ESPECTADOR, November 25, 2024
(Translated by Eunice Gibson, CSN Volunteer Translator)
Although there are still challenges in the launch of the agreement with the FARC, matters like reincorporation, justice, and rural reform are progressing.
The Final Peace Agreement was signed November 24, 2016, by the government of Colombia and the now-defunct FARC, after more than 50 years of armed conflict. That same year, the UN Security Council approved a special political mission for Colombia.
That mission, now the United Nations Verification Mission, verifies five points in the Peace Agreement and supports other efforts to broaden the advancement of peace in this country. Now with eight years after the signing of the Agreement, it’s important to emphasize eight highlights that stand out in the implementation and make Colombia an example for the world in its search for peace.
Highlight No. 1: 8,994 weapons laid down.
After the signing of the Peace Agreement between the government and the now-defunct FARC, the mechanism for Monitoring and Verification (MMV) created the ceasefire between the government and the FARC-EP. That resulted in their laying down their weapons. The MMV, in which international parties and observers from the UN took part, is considered an example for the whole world. A total of 187 women were observers and took part in the verification of the ceasefire, the highest number of women that has ever participated in procedures of this nature.
The UN mission received 8,994 weapons from the now-defunct FARC-EP, all of them operational. According to the number of accredited ex-combatants, it was estimated that the ratio of weapons to men was 0.64, the most important relationship in the peace process in Colombia, and one of the most important in the world.
With 37 tons of weapons, a monument entitled “Fragments” was designed by sculptor Doris Salcedo and constructed and installed in Bogotá. And with 7 tons of munitions, “Kusikawsay”, designed by Chilean artist Mario Opaso, was constructed and installed at UN headquarters in New York.
“The laying down of arms closed one of the most difficult pages in the history of Colombia, and at the same time, it opened the possibility of working together on the project of the peace we all long for. It created a system of governance for peace that allowed joining with the communities and their organizational processes, with other governmental institutions and agencies at all levels, as well as with the ex-combatants that signed the Agreement, and the international community with the same goal: the complete implementation of the Final Peace Agreement,” states Diego Tovar, a signer of the Agreement.
Highlight No. 2: Economic and Social Reincorporation
That 0.64 percentage exemplifies the commitment and resilience of the former combatants who, in spite of the challenges, remain firm in the process. At the international level, this Agreement is one of the most ambitious and far-reaching in time. That’s why it’s considered a highlight that the country, and the administrations that have been implementing it, so far continue to be committed to reincorporation. The current administration has made progress by putting in place the Integrated Reincorporation Program and promoting a public policy of financing reincorporation.
13,829 people have entered the reincorporation process and 25% of them are women. Security has been one of the greatest threats; 436 signers have been murdered. Nevertheless, in 2024, there was a 44% reduction in murders, compared to 2023.
Eighty percent of the signers are participating in productive projects, more than 10,900 people, 26% of them women. The benefits of this process also reach the communities. The Plowing Education project, for example, has benefited 16,705 people, 13,145 in adjacent communities. 5,397 ex-combatants have received their high school diploma.
“They told me about the Plowing Education program, but I thought it was only for ex-combatants. I had only gone as far as eighth grade and I wanted another chance, and I did it! I graduated in November 2023. I wasn’t a signer of the peace, and I believe the Peace Agreement has brought benefits to the remote communities like where I live,” says Alba Jacinta Quiñones, who lives in Tumaco in Nariño Department.
Highlight No. 3: Political Participation
In August 2017 the FARC-EP turned into a political party, now the Commons Party. In 2018 they participated in legislative elections for the first time in history. Under the Agreement, they obtained five seats in the Chamber and five in the Senate, with political representation for two terms. The signers have participated in two Presidential elections and two other elections of municipal and departmental authorities, and some of them have been elected to public offices.
The Agreement also created an Opposition Statute (Statute 1909 of 2018), which established the fundamental right of opposition. The Agreement created 16 special constituencies for peace, with the objective of creating a better integration of the territories most affected by the conflict and for the participation of the victims. The Mayors’ Offices obtained by the popular vote, their role in the Congress, as well as the hundreds of cases of leadership in social processes are examples of their political reincorporation.
Guillermo Torres, a signer of the Peace Agreement and the former Mayor of Turbaco in Bolívar Department, states, “The Peace Agreement is a historic accomplishment, and political participation is something we have been seeking for decades. Thanks to the Peace Agreement, I was able to participate in the election in Turbaco and it came out that I was the winner, with double the votes obtained by the candidates from the traditional parties. That was historic, having conquered the Mayor’s Office and having been able to head a good administration.”
Highlight No. 4: The focus on gender
Colombia and its Peace Agreement are a global example of inclusion with its focus on gender and participation by women in its negotiation. Thanks to the advocacy of women’s civil society organizations, the Agreement added the Subcommittee on Gender on September 7, 2014, with ten members (five from the government delegation and five from the FARC delegation).
This Subcommittee made it possible to include 128 specific measures regarding gender in the six chapters of the Agreement. There are 54 indicators on gender in the Framework for Implementation Plan that allows the government to consider the advancement of women.
Those measures not only call attention to the necessities of women and the LGTBIQ+ community affected by the conflict and those of women who signed the Agreement, but they also promote their empowerment and participation in building the peace. These provisions are intended to reduce historic inequalities and strengthen the social fabric and to set precedents for other processes. They continue to be fundamental to complete implementation.
The founder of the National Women’s Network, Beatriz Quintero, said, “As organizations of women and feminists, we believe it’s a landmark that there are specific gender-focused measures in the Agreement. We are committed, and we are convinced of the importance of complying with what was agreed and incorporating the focus on gender in every future agreement. Besides that, we think it’s essential to point out the events that affected women in the context of the conflict.”
Highlight No. 5: The ethnic chapter.
The ethnic chapter refers to the ethnic implications in every one of the points in the Agreement. It establishes safeguards for their rights, assuring they will be guaranteed, and it strengthens their autonomy. It recognizes the disproportionate impact that the ethnic peoples suffered during the conflict.
The very existence of the chapter is a landmark for the world, and it’s a product of the efforts made by the ethnic peoples themselves. Even though it’s been one of the most delayed, we see some positive progress like the inclusion of ethnic perspectives in the Development Program with a Territorial Focus (PDET in Spanish); also, in awarding and formal titling of land and the recognition of ethnic authorities as environmental authorities. We also point out that 98% of the victims accredited by the JEP belong to ethnic peoples, which is a clear indication of the level of harm that they suffered during the armed conflict. 21% of the people in the process of reincorporation belong to ethnic peoples.
“The implementation of the ethnic chapter is a very important step toward reconciliation and peaceful co-existence in Colombia. Its implementation is crucial to guaranteeing the rights of the ethnic peoples, the victims of the armed conflict, and also the victims of institutional abandonment,” says Elizabeth Moreno, a human rights defender from El Pacifico, who has been awarded the National Human Rights Prize.
Highlight No. 6: The Integrated System for Peace
Colombia’s Integrated System for Peace is a historic model of transitional justice without precedent anywhere in the world. The Agreement’s fifth point creates the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), the Truth Commission, and the Unit for the Search for People Thought to be Disappeared (UBPD in Spanish).
The JEP is working on 11 macro-cases, in which it investigates, judges, and sanctions those most responsible for the most serious crimes in the conflict. 14,346 people are under its jurisdiction. 12,354 individual victims have been represented in the legal proceedings. Those most responsible are awaiting their first sanctions.
The Truth Commission published a final report, with findings about the cause of the conflict. It revealed, for example, that 450,664 people lost their lives because of the armed conflict between 1985 and 2018. The report includes recommendations for no repetition.
The UPBD registered 111,640 people believed to be disappeared in the conflict. The families or other kin of 29,554 of those have filed a request for a search. As of October 30, the UPBD registers 1,996 bodies recovered, 354 bodies returned to family with dignity, and 69 persons found to be alive.
Amparo Cano Correa, a victim of the conflict, states, “I am the mother of Jhon Harvy Cañas Cano, a young man who was seized and taken away at the North Terminal in Medellín and I found him, thanks to the Search Unit. The JEP was the only agency that listened to us. It has been a difficult process, but to know the truth, from the mouths of the people appearing before the Court, that was a feeling of liberation.”
Highlight No. 7: Integrated Rural Reform
It was no accident that Integrated Rural Reform was Point 1 of the Peace Agreement. Without doubt, its inclusion in the Peace Agreement is a historic landmark, showing that they regarded land as one of the structural causes of the conflict. Colombia is one of the countries with the greatest measures of rural inequality, so dealing with that problem with a focus on redistribution and inclusion is fundamental. Although this point in the Peace Agreement still requires a much greater impetus to accomplish the goals that are set forth, there are statistics that demonstrate that there is political will for its implementation.
From 2017 to July 2024, 2,957,235 hectares of land have been formally titled (38% of those during the Petro administration). That represents 42% of the goal of seven million hectares to be titled formally.
From 2017 to August 2024, 129,656 hectares of land have been awarded (approximately 86% of those during this administration). That represents 4% of the goal of three million hectares established in the Peace Agreement. 54% of the parcels that have been awarded as of now, (76,284 hectares) have benefited campesinos.
“Thanks to Integrated Rural Reform, we have land and a project with 18 women plus a bio-safe poultry farm at the Costa Azul ranch. We have never before had this opportunity,” says Irene Luz Arcia Pacheco who was a campesina victim of the armed conflict in Córdoba.
Highlight No. 8: Arrival of the eighth year of implementation
Colombia’s Peace Agreement is one of the most successful in which the United Nations has participated, and possibly the last big Peace Agreement that has been achieved in the whole world. Its reach is historic because it sought not only the laying down of arms and reincorporation, but also it created an ambitious roadmap to overcoming the structural causes of the conflict.
It’s an Agreement that contains the voices of women, of LGTBIQ+ people, of indigenous and Afro-Colombian people, and of victims of the conflict who were at the center of the Agreement. It has a novel system of transitional justice, fundamental to the understanding of the truth, seeking justice, reparation and no repetition, and thus advances the reconciliation.
The UN Verification Mission in Colombia verifies and keeps records of the implementation of the Integrated Rural Reform, of the social, economic, and political reincorporation of former combatants, of the guarantees of their security, of the Ethnic Chapter, of the special sanctions imposed by the JEP, and it follows up on the gender provisions in the Agreement. Thanks to this role, it has witnessed the commitment and willingness of the parties, who, in spite of the challenges, are continuing their efforts to build peace.
“This anniversary is an opportunity to renew the collective commitment to the implementation of the Agreement and to constructing peace in Colombia. I want to recognize the administration and the thousands of signers that are continuing their commitment to reincorporation. And special recognition goes to the victims, social leaders, platforms of women, ethnic groups, and the whole society of Colombia that is persisting in the consolidation of peace,” states Carlos Ruiz Massieu, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative in Colombia and Chief of the Verification Mission.