The day Colombia’s FARC guerrilla ceases to exist as an armed group
From Christian Aid Colombia @caid_Colombia
Thomas Mortensen, Country Manager for Christian Aid in Colombia, reports back from his visit to Urabá one of the chosen areas for the camps set up by the Colombian government for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas, as they transition into civilian life.
On 20 June 2017, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC handed over all their weapons to the UN, and ceases to exist as an armed guerrilla group, complying with the revised timetable established with the Colombian Government. A historic day, no doubt, however, the ex-combatants have mixed feelings and very serious fears after parting from their weapons.
Living in fear
During recent interviews I carried out in the camps with representatives of other organisations in Colombia, FARC commanders expressed fear that once demobilised they and their families could be killed. So far, at least three members of the FARC have been killed since the historic peace agreement was signed.
The FARC are also very concerned about the recent killings of social leaders and human rights defenders. If they are being killed, they too, could potentially become a target, particularly by paramilitary groups - given their intentions to transform themselves into a political movement. Their nervousness is also triggered by memories from the mid-1980 when a number of FARC members joined a political movement, Union Patriotica, which was almost completely wiped out by the army working together with right wing paramilitary groups.
The failure by the Government to comply with the timetable - for example to establish camps for the FARC to concentrate their troops, sends a negative signal about the political will of the Government. This was also evident during our visit to the camps, these should have been ready months ago but were still far from being completed.
“They threaten us, they kill us and they silence us”
Community leaders expressed the same fear. I have known some of them for years and it was sad to see they are now more fearful than ever before. With a peace process, one would think that security would improve for community leaders, but the exact opposite is happening.
Filling the power vacuum
With the FARC out of the picture, paramilitaries have taken over control of many areas while others are under the control of ELN -another but smaller insurgent group. Fighting between the two groups break out forcing communities to flee and as a result, there is a humanitarian crisis in Urabá, the area we visited.
This is not to say that the community leaders we spoke with would like the FARC, which has caused so much pain for communities, to remain armed. On the contrary, they are strong supporters of the peace agreement and have been closely involved in the peace process. However, they denounce that some sectors of the local governmental armed forces directly collaborate with or purposely choose to ignore the paramilitaries.
Civil society organisations, regional bishops and the independent Ombudsman are also ringing alarm bells about this.
Yet, the Government continues to ignore the existence of links between paramilitaries and the armed forces, despite numerous accounts by community leaders reporting that they have seen armed paramilitary very close to the army and in some cases even talking together. Without acknowledging this problem, it is hard for the Government to take serious measures to investigate and prosecute corrupt members of the army.
The increased paramilitary presence and how this threatens both communities, ex-FARC combatants and the peace process as such was anticipated and there are a number of preventive measures including in the peace agreement, the establishment of a special and independent unit in the prosecutor’s office and a national security council chaired by the President. However, very little progress has been made and the government seems to lack the will to seriously address this issue and continues to deny the attacks are systematic.
As representatives of the international community, we have a duty to stand along with the communities and put pressure on the government to act. The role of the international community should not be underestimated.
As a commander of the FARC said:
“It is only due to the international community’s support that the peace process has been sustained so far”.
The future of the FARC remains uncertain. For the time being, an agreement has been made for them to remain in the camps.
This may be their preferred option as staying together may make them feel safer, even without their weapons.
This story has also been published by the New Internationalist at:
