Applauding Colombia’s firm commitment to the 2016 historic peace accords, Security Council members on February 22 took measure of the demands of building peace and ensuring transitional justice in that country as observed during their recent visit. The council visiting mission was in Colombia from February 7 to 11 at the invitation of its government.
The representative of Guyana, council president for February, who led the visit along with the representatives of United Kingdom and Switzerland, noted that it was an opportunity to assess the challenges and opportunities facing the implementation of the Final Agreement to End the Armed Conflict and Build a Stable and Lasting Peace, between Colombia’s government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army. Their delegation met with the President of the country, its Vice-President, key peace signatories, civil society representatives, and the United Nations country team, among others, she said.
Highlighting the strong political will of the Colombian leadership, she said that President Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego expressed concerns about the large number of former combatants, as well as pending amnesty requests. Noncompliance with the agreement, coupled with the absence of the state, may result in those territories returning to conflict. Earlier this month, the Colombian government and the nation’s largest remaining rebel group, the National Liberation Army, extended by six months a bilateral ceasefire that began last year.
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