Attachments
I. Introduction
1. The present report is submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 2655 (2022), by which the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia, and Council resolution 2366 (2017), in which the Council requested the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of the mandate of the Mission every 90 days. The present report covers the period from 27 March to 26 June 2023.
II. Major developments
2. The period was marked by continued efforts to advance peace by Colombian authorities and civil society, as reflected in actions to implement the Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace, the approval of key policies and legislation and the continuation of dialogue initiatives to address ongoing conflict-related violence. A key development with important peace-related implications was the approval by Congress of the Government’s National Development Plan, which sets out public policy priorities for the next four years. The Plan includes obligations related to the implementation of the Final Agreement in almost 50 of its 373 articles, including key elements of the comprehensive rural reform, the reintegration of former combatants, the substitution of illicit crops and transitional justice. Notably, the Plan includes a specific chapter on peace implementation and an investment plan for peace for approximately $11.2 billion, 36 per cent more than in the previous national development plan.
3. As part of the Government’s total peace policy, dialogue efforts with various armed groups continued under the leadership of the High Commissioner for Peace.
4. In a welcome development, the third round of peace talks with the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), held in Cuba, culminated on 9 June with agreements on a six-month national bilateral ceasefire and a mechanism to define the methodology for the participation of Colombian society in the peace process (see paras. 108 and 109).
5. Dialogues continued at varying stages with a range of illegal armed groups and criminal structures with a presence in conflict-affected regions. The High Commissioner for Peace recently announced the beginning of talks with such organizations in Medellín, Antioquia Department, and reported that six additional dialogues would soon be formally installed.
6. In April, the Government and the dissident group of the former Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo (FARC-EP) that identifies itself as the Estado Mayor Central Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo (EMC FARC-EP) announced the establishment of a monitoring and verification mechanism for a ceasefire that entered into effect in January, as well as plans to initiate peace dialogues. In May, the Government suspended the ceasefire in four departments following the killing by EMC FARC-EP of three children (two of whom were Indigenous children), although it reaffirmed its intention to proceed with peace talks. International actors and grass-roots civil society organizations in the affected regions urged the parties to prioritize dialogue and strengthen ceasefire arrangements. The parties have maintained effective dialogue towards the continuation of the ceasefire. In June, the Office of the Attorney-General lifted the arrest warrants for 19 EMC FARC-EP representatives to become part of the monitoring and verification mechanism.
7. Following the request by the Government of Colombia on 14 February to expand the mandate of the Mission to support its efforts regarding dialogue with armed groups in the framework of its total peace policy, in particular in the verification of ceasefires, the Secretary-General submitted detailed recommendations to the Security Council on 13 June on how the Mission could carry out that additional task and the implications for its configuration.
8. In April, the Ministry of Defence adopted a new public policy on security and defence, with a focus on human security, strengthening territorial control and dismantling criminal structures. The policy also provides for the enhancement of mechanisms of the Final Agreement relating to security guarantees, such as the Elite Corps of the National Police and the Police Unit for Peacebuilding.
9. With regard to peace-related legislation, thanks to the consensus reached among several parties, two central bills to materialize commitments of the Final Agreement on comprehensive rural reform were approved by Congress and submitted for enactment by the President, Gustavo Petro: one bill to create the agrarian jurisdiction, which is essential for the resolution of agrarian and rural controversies, and another bill to incorporate into the Constitution the recognition of peasants’ rights, in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas. A government-proposed draft bill for the submission to justice of “high-impact” criminal organizations under the total peace policy did not advance in this congressional period, but the Government announced that it would reintroduce the bill in the coming period, starting on 20 July.
10. In line with principles enshrined in the Final Agreement, bills were approved establishing measures to address violence against women in politics and stipulating that 50 per cent of positions in public entities should be occupied by women, up from 30 per cent. This is especially important in view of the departmental and municipal elections to be held on 29 October 2023.
11. In April, the President made changes in 7 of the 18 Cabinet ministries and in the Administrative Department of the Presidency. This included the appointment of new ministers with significant peace-related responsibilities, including the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of Finance and Public Credit and the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. Despite the announcement by the President in March, a decree to formally create a dedicated entity within the Presidency in charge of implementing the Final Agreement has yet to be issued.
12. Authorities and political parties began preparations ahead of a new electoral cycle, including inter-institutional coordination and the selection of candidates. Civil society organizations cautioned against growing political violence, including against former combatants seeking to participate in the elections, and electoral management bodies and regional authorities called for increased security.