{"id":3764,"date":"2015-08-29T02:51:28","date_gmt":"2015-08-29T06:51:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=3764"},"modified":"2019-10-12T12:43:33","modified_gmt":"2019-10-12T16:43:33","slug":"colombia-highlights-of-the-39th-cycle-of-peace-talks-in-havana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=3764","title":{"rendered":"Colombia: Highlights of the 39th Cycle of Peace Talks in\u00a0Havana"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION<\/p>\n

A blog from Virginia Bouvier, US Institute of Peace<\/a> (abridged)<\/p>\n

As the Colombian government and the FARC prepare to return to the peace table in Havana tomorrow, August 20th, for the 40th cycle of talks, I offer here a brief recap and analysis of the flurry of activities since my last post <\/a> on the peace process in mid-July.<\/p>\n

\"bouvier\"<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n

The Interlude between Sessions<\/p>\n

When the 38th cycle closed on July 12, following the most violent period seen since the beginning of peace talks in 2012, the Colombian government and the FARC peace delegations issued a joint statement committing themselves to a new dual strategy that would hasten a final peace accord in Havana on the one hand, \u00a0and de-escalate the conflict in Colombia on the other. \u00a0(See joint statement here<\/a>.) <\/p>\n

The first part of the strategy includes \u201ctechnical, continuous and simultaneous work on the key points of the Agenda while the accords are being crafted at the table.\u201d \u00a0In particular, the parties agreed to move forward on establishing the terms for a bilateral ceasefire and the setting aside of arms. \u00a0To this effect, they invited the UN Secretary General and the UNASUR president (currently Uruguay) to delegate representatives to serve on the Technical Subcommission on Ending the Conflict in Havana in order to help them\u00a0design relevant systems for monitoring and verification.<\/p>\n

Complementing this intensification of technical work, In relation to the second part of the strategy, the\u00a0FARC extended the unilateral ceasefire it had announced on July 8 from one month to four months, and the government said it would undertake de-escalation and confidence-building measures, as yet to be defined, in tandem with the FARC\u2019s ability to maintain the unilateral suspension of \u201call offensive actions.\u201d \u00a0(See Santos\u2019s statement here<\/a>.) . . . <\/p>\n

Mood Shifts for 39th Cycle of Talks\u00a0<\/p>\n

During the 39th round of talks that began on July 23 and ended on August 2, there seemed to be a renewal of confidence in the peace process, spawned by the parties\u2019 \u00a0expressed willingness to accelerate the pace in Havana and to de-escalate the violence in Colombia. \u00a0The unilateral ceasefire and the suspension of the bombings, FARC lead negotiator Iv\u00e1n M\u00e1rquez noted, \u201cunleashed this new ambience of confidence that has allowed the talks to speed up and to advance new consensuses.\u201d (See M\u00e1rquez\u2019s statement here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

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Question(s) related to this article:<\/div>\n
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What is happening in Colombia, Is peace possible?<\/a><\/p>\n

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There were a number of additional advances during the 39th round:<\/p>\n

\t▪\tThe parties produced a report on the joint de-mining project underway in Antioquia with the Colombian Army and the FARC (View the report\u00a0here<\/a>.);<\/p>\n

\t▪\tPeace delegation members in Havana were reinforced with new team members and advisors;<\/p>\n

\t▪\tDiscussions moved forward on preliminary agreements for an integrated approach to truth, justice, reparations and non-repetition; and<\/p>\n

\t▪\tWork of the technical subcommission for ending the conflict continued to refine strategies for a final bilateral ceasefire and cessation of hostilities. . . <\/p>\n

Victims and Transitional Justice<\/p>\n

During the 39th cycle, the parties continued to work on the issue of victims, including the related issues of truth, justice, reparations, and guarantees of non-repetition. \u00a0According to lead negotiator Iv\u00e1n M\u00e1rquez, the parties are designing an \u201cunprecedented and innovative\u201d integrated system to put these different aspects of victims\u2019 rights at the center of the process. \u00a0(See more here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Civil Society Demands Inclusion\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Havana negotiators have debated the details of the agenda in relative isolation, civil society has continued to make known its desire to be more regularly engaged in the process, including at the peace tables themselves. \u00a0On August 12, Todd Howland, Colombia representative of the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, called on the parties to invite authorities of the indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities to the peace table in order to guarantee the vision and collective rights of these communities. (See more here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Inputs in the form of letters, conferences, publications, recommendations continue to be generated and express the particular interests and concerns of different sectors and regions of Colombia. \u00a0Victims\u2019 groups, obviously, are particularly interested in ensuring that their rights are not slighted at the table. \u00a0On July 30, family members of victims of disappearance and kidnapping that form part of the NGO Fundaci\u00f3n Pa\u00eds Libre sent a letter to the government and FARC negotiators with some new inputs and a caution that if their needs are not met, they will not hesitate to seek remedies in international arenas. \u00a0(Read their letter\u00a0here<\/a>.) The victims called for a transitional justice process that guarantees victims\u2019 rights and called on the parties to strengthen the institutional structures that provide human rights protections. . . . <\/p>\n

\u00a0Church Goes to Havana, Explores Potential Role at the Peace Table<\/p>\n

In early August, Msr. Luis Augusto Castro, the head of the Colombian Bishops\u2019 Conference, announced that members of the church leadership would travel to Havana to assess the support that the Pope and the Vatican might provide to the peace process. \u00a0The upcoming visit of Pope Francisco to Cuba on September 19-22 on his way to the United States offers a potential opportunity for direct engagement with the parties at the peace table. \u00a0Pope Francis will be the third pope to visit Cuba and his trip is a primarily seen as a way to \u00a0recognize the improved U.S. \u2013 Cuba relationship\u2013and the role that the Vatican and the pope played in the 18 months of secret negotiations that contributed to that improvement. \u00a0(See the phenomenal story by Peter Kornbluh and William LeoGrande\u00a0here<\/a>.) \u00a0Nonetheless, many Colombians are hoping that the Pope\u2019s visit to Cuba will also offer an opportunity for the Pope to give support to the peace process. \u00a0In this regard, members of the Colombian church, lead by the head of the Colombian Bishops\u2019 Conference \u00a0Msr. Augusto Castro, traveled to Havana in mid-August to meet with the parties and discuss\u00a0whether it would be advantageous for the Pope to meet with the parties or to send a delegate to participate in the peace talks. (Read more here<\/a>.) . . . <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION A blog from Virginia Bouvier, US Institute of Peace (abridged) As the Colombian government and the FARC prepare to return to the peace table in Havana tomorrow, August 20th, for the 40th cycle of talks, I offer here a brief recap and analysis of the flurry of activities since my last … Continue reading Colombia: Highlights of the 39th Cycle of Peace Talks in\u00a0Havana<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,76],"tags":[20],"class_list":["post-3764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-information","category-global","tag-latin-america"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3764\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}