UNSC briefing/consultations on UNVMC/Colombia

INDIA STATEMENT

By

Ambassador K. Nagaraj Naidu

Deputy Permanent Representative

21 April, 2021

Mr. President,

I would like to begin by thanking SRSG Carlos Ruiz Massieu for his comprehensive briefing on the peace process and activities of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia towards the implementation of its mandate.

2. The overall progress in the last three months towards the implementation of the Final Agreement has been positive. The signatory parties have remained faithful to the Agreement. The President of Colombia, Iván Duque, and the President of the Comunes party, Rodrigo Londoño met last month and agreed to work jointly on the road map implementation by strengthening reintegration and security guarantees for former combatants. The Government has also held the first of the seven territorial sessions of the National Reintegration Council as agreed with FARC.

3. The FARC, now the Comunes Party, has continued to repose faith in the democratic process and has started preparing for the 2022 elections. The transitional justice process has advanced with the first indictment by SJP. The announcements made by SJP reflect its autonomy and independence. These are all encouraging developments, which we welcome.

4. The year 2021, which is the 5^th year of implementation of the Peace Agreement, is crucial. The focused implementation of the five priorities proposed by the Secretary-General to reinforce the implementation of the Agreement in 2021 will be important. In this context, I have the following observations to make:

i) The concentration of violence in some regions is mainly due to the limited State presence, which is getting exploited by illegal armed groups and criminal organizations fighting over illicit economies. The recently approved national policy to dismantle illegal armed groups is a positive step to augment the presence of State institutions, including deployment of security forces.  Integrated and enhanced presence of State authorities throughout the country is fundamental to lasting and durable peace.

ii) The expeditious implementation of rural reforms, reintegrating ex-combatants, including non-TATR across the country; providing land and effective implementation of illicit crop substitution programme is essential to reduce violence. It is important to ensure that the great majority of former combatants are involved in income-generating activities. In this regard, land allocation, housing and creating enabling infrastructure will be important.

iii) The strengthening of protection and security for former combatants is an important element of the peace process. Regular dialogue between former combatants and public security forces, including in the context of the Tripartite Mechanism for Security and Protection, could help provide timely and more effective responses to the problem. There have been steps in this direction, including filling up vacancies at the National Protection Unit and strengthening of institutional capacity with respect to gender, which could be expedited. The authorities also need to strengthen security outside former TATR areas and implement specific protection strategy for former women combatants.

iv) The Government has begun implementing its COVID-19 vaccination drive, which is a positive step in the fight against the pandemic. It must be ensured that the population targeted by peace-related programming, including former combatants, have access to vaccines and medicines.

v)  Strengthening judicial capacity, particularly in the regions most affected by violence, is also significant.  The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) of the Attorney-General’s Office should be provided with resources to strengthen the campaign against impunity.

vi) UNVMC is a good example of the UN’s capacity to bring about positive change in both security and development aspects of post-conflict settings. It has helped and strengthened the efforts of national authorities to bring together communities and institutions to advance peace, development, and the rule of law, especially in areas historically affected by the conflict. In this context, we support the request for expansion of the Mission’s mandate to support the verification of compliance with restorative sentences to be issued by the Special Jurisdiction for Peace.

5. Lastly, Mr. President, I would emphasis upon the special relationship that India shares with Colombia. In 2019, India and Colombia celebrated 60 years of establishment of diplomatic relations. Over the years, the relationship has only strengthened and diversified in various areas of mutual interest - political, cultural and commercial. This is evidenced by growing trade and investments from India and the increasing presence of Indian companies in Colombia.In 2018, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully launched FACSAT 1 satellite, the first ever Colombian Air Force Nano-satellite. India offers more than 100 training slots to Colombian officials under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme annually. Also, every year, thousands of Colombians visit India for tourism, nature therapy and learning yoga. As Colombia marches ahead in its journey towards peace, progress, and prosperity, we are confident that it will successfully overcome all outstanding challenges to the peace process and will emerge stronger as a major economy in Latin America, and in this journey, India, as Colombia’s long-standing partner, will continue to support it.

I thank you, Mr. President.

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