MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the fifth anniversary of the Peace Agreement in Colombia

B9‑0227/2021

European Parliament resolution on the fifth anniversary of the Peace Agreement in Colombia

(2021/2643(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its previous resolutions, in particular its resolution of 20 January 2016 in support of the peace process in Colombia[1],

– having regard to the Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Columbia and Peru, of the other part[2],

– having regard to the statement by the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR), Federica Mogherini, of 1 October 2015 appointing Eamon Gilmore as EU Special Envoy for the Peace Process in Colombia,

– having regard to the ‘Final Agreement to End the Armed Conflict and Build a Stable and Lasting Peace’ between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) and the National Government of Colombia, signed on 24 November 2016,

– having regard to the UN Secretary-General’s reports on the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia and, in particular, the report of 26 March 2021,

– having regard to the annual report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights of 10 February 2021 on the situation of human rights in Colombia, 

– having regard to the joint statement by the VP/HR, Josep Borrell, and Commissioner Janez Lenarčič of 9 February 2021 on Colombia’s decision to grant Temporary Protection Status to Venezuelan migrants, and to the statement of the Spokesperson for the VP/HR of 26 February 2021 on violence against human rights defenders in Colombia,

– having regard to Rule 132(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas in November 2021, Colombia will mark the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace between the Government of Colombia and FARC-EP, which put an end to a conflict of more than 50 years and represents a significant step in the construction of a stable and lasting peace in the country;

B. whereas the Constitutional Court of Colombia has estimated that it will take at least 15 years to comply with the Final Agreement, the 10-year planning of the Single Roadmap, and the current four-year Multi-Year Peace Investment Plan with resources of nearly USD 11.5 billion;

C. whereas Colombia is the only country in Latin America that has maintained its democratic integrity despite lengthy periods of exceptional violence;

D. whereas the EU and Colombia maintain a framework of close political, economic and trade cooperation established in the Memorandum of Understanding of November 2009 and the Trade Agreement between Colombia and Peru and the EU and its Member States, the ultimate aim of which is not only to promote economic relations between the parties, but also to consolidate peace, democracy and respect for human rights, sustainable development and the well-being of their citizens; whereas Colombia is a key strategic partner for regional stability;

E. whereas the significant decision made by the President of Colombia, Iván Duque Márquez, to show solidarity by regularising approximately 1 800 000 Venezuelan migrants resident in the country, through temporary migratory permits that will enable them to register and strengthen their access to state services, such as health and education, and their socio-economic integration, thereby reducing their vulnerability; whereas Colombia and Venezuela share more than 2 000 kilometres of porous borders; whereas the border between Colombia and Venezuela consists mainly of dense forest area and difficult terrain, making it prone to illicit activities and organised crime, and is where the most prominent dissenters from the peace process with FARC-EP operate in connivance with and under the protection of the military and security forces of Maduro’s regime;

F. whereas the close cooperation between Colombia and the EU is also illustrated by the availability, transparency and frequency of dialogues with the EU and the European Parliament, as illustrated by the Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Colombia establishing a framework for the participation of the Republic of Colombia in European Union crisis management operations;

G. whereas this close relationship also extends to areas of international cooperation on multilateral issues of common interest, such as the struggle for peace and the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking;

H. whereas the President of Colombia, Iván Duque, and the President of the Comunes party (formerly the Fuerza Alternativa Revolucionaria del Común (FARC) party), Rodrigo Londoño, met on 10 March 2021 to discuss the status of the implementation of the Final Agreement; whereas both parties reiterated their commitment to the Final Agreement, and agreed to work jointly to design a road map for the remainder of the time frame envisioned for its comprehensive implementation, as well as to redouble their efforts to strengthen the reintegration of, and security guarantees for, former combatants;

I. whereas in the Final Agreement, the parties agreed to set up a Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), including the implementation of a Comprehensive System for Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-Repetition, as well as agreements on reparations for victims, as acknowledged by the report of the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, of 10 February 2021; whereas the report of the High Commissioner also praises the Colombian state for adopting a human rights-based approach to the COVID-19 pandemic and the arrival and reception of Venezuelan migrants;

J. whereas the peace talks have led to a significant reduction in the number of deaths and in violence in Colombia; whereas the peace talks have provided growth and opportunities for the areas most affected by the conflict, as illustrated by the Territorially Focused Development Plans (PDETs) drawn up by the communities that inhabit them;

K. whereas the PDETs, drawn up by the communities in the 170 municipalities most affected by abandonment, poverty and violence have a fundamental and historic role;

1. Reiterates its support to the Peace Agreement in Colombia and welcomes Colombia’s dynamism and commitment to the implementation of the Final Agreement, as well as the progress made in areas such as rural development programs (PDETs), upholding victims’ rights, resolving the problem of illicit drugs, the restitution of land and the reincorporation of former combatants;

2. Welcomes the recent dialogue that took place between the parties; maintains its readiness to continue providing all possible political and financial assistance to support the comprehensive implementation of the Peace Agreement to accompany the post-conflict phase; welcomes the active participation of local communities and civil society organisations, which is essential to take due account of the priorities expressed by the victims in terms of truth, justice, reparations and guarantees of non-repetition;

3. Welcomes the extension of the Victims Law until 2031 and the increase in its budget, benefiting over nine million people who are registered in the Single Registry of Victims; welcomes further the effective political participation of the FARC, now the Comunes Party, and the progress made in the reincorporation of nearly 14 000 former combatants, their access to pensions, health and education, and the extension of economic support beyond that contemplated in the Agreement; also welcomes the 2 300 individual and collective productive projects totalling more than USD 16 million;

4. Highlights that 2 974 former combatants and their families live in the 24 former Territorial Areas for Training and Reintegration (TATRs); welcomes the land purchase by the government of seven of the 24 former TATRs, in order to ensure the permanence of these temporary facilities that had originally been planned until 2019, and to guarantee access to land and housing for ex-combatants, and requests support for this action;

5. Recognises the efforts of the government to combat crime and clamp down on the illicit income of organised armed groups and other criminal organisations which are mainly responsible for the acts of aggression against former combatants; highlights the security deployment in the former TATRs and the protection measures that cover more than 13 000 ex-combatants; notes that in 2020, there was a decrease (-12 %) in homicides against them and that thus far in 2021, there has been a significant decrease of 50 % compared to those recorded in the same period of 2020; welcomes the reinforcement of the National Protection Unit, the strengthening of the Special Investigation Unit and the progress made in clearing up 78 % of the murders of former combatants;

6. Takes note of the progress made in the Integral Rural Reform, the incorporation of 1 193 257 hectares into the National Land Fund and the fact that 499 481 hectares have been formalised, adjudicated and included in the Multipurpose Cadastre, including the fact that 30 indigenous reserves have begun to carry it out; highlights the progress made in the clearance of anti-personnel mines in 129 municipalities and the extension of the deadline for their elimination until 2025;

7. Welcomes the corrections made by the government to the National Programme for the Substitution of Illicit Crops (PNIS), which have enabled the 99 097 families registered (36.5 % headed by women and 6.7 % belonging to ethnic communities) to comply, with financing to the amount of USD 244 million;

8. Welcomes all actions taken by the JEP in order to create a future with peacebuilding and combating impunity at its heart, and calls on the JEP to continue its significant efforts, despite the numerous challenges;

9. Praises the remarkable and unprecedented step taken by Colombia to give protected status to approximately 1 800 000 Venezuelan migrants resident in the country, which will contribute to guaranteeing the enjoyment and protection of their human rights and reducing human suffering, while providing opportunities for better assistance, including on vaccination against COVID-19, protection and social integration; calls on the Commission and the Council to substantially increase the political and financial support to Colombia to strengthen the response and to increase pressure towards the restoration of democracy in Venezuela; hopes that the EU’s initiative of assisting regional efforts to cope with the migration crisis will pave the way for stronger support in line with Colombia’s outstanding solidarity and calls on other members of the international community to come together to support Colombia in this process;

10. Recognises the efforts to combat the crimes perpetrated by organised armed groups and other organisations which are mainly responsible for the acts of aggression against former combatants; takes note of the progress made in relation to the Strategic Plan for Security and Protection, and in the policy for the dismantling of illegal armed groups;

11. Encourages the efforts made by Colombian institutions to make progress in ensuring that human rights are fully and permanently upheld, in line with its duty to guarantee the safety of its citizens; highlights the significant decrease in the homicide rate which dropped from 25 to 23.7 per 100 000 inhabitants between 2019 and 2020, as acknowledged by the report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; recognises the government’s commitment to the protection of social leaders, human rights defenders and former combatants, and remote communities;

12. Condemns, however, the killings and violence driven by organised crime groups against human rights defenders, former FARC combatants and social and indigenous leaders; deplores the fact that the violence is principally focused in areas where organised crime is most prominent; calls for the continuation of swift and thorough investigations, and for those responsible to be held accountable;

13. Express its concern that despite their obligation to provide information on the drug trafficking routes and sources of financing that sustain the criminal groups that attack defenders, leaders and ex-combatants, to date, the former guerrillas have not provided that information;

14. Deplores the fact that by the deadline set for the delivery of the assets of the former FARC-EP to provide reparations to the victims, which expired on 31 December 2020, only 4 % of what was agreed had been delivered;

15. Recognises, as the International Community has done, that these acts are being perpetrated by criminal groups and illegal armed groups linked to drug trafficking and illegal mining; underlines that many of these groups act in connivance with, and under the protection of, the Venezuelan regime;

16. Encourages the government to adopt all necessary measures in the current economic context to promote structural changes that would help to improve the overall situation and maximise the peace accords’ potential for a positive transformation of the Colombian human rights situation; calls on these civil society organisations to cooperate in restoring reconciled coexistence in Colombia;

17. Welcomes the fact that the Policy of Peace with Legality is a pillar of the Post-COVID Recovery Plan to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on the rural population and victims, and that it will reinforce the peace-building process; calls on the Commission to support its main undertakings, including the Integrating Projects to boost the competitiveness of the PDET territories; the Multipurpose Cadastre which addresses their particularly complex lack of cadastral updating and improves land management and municipal finances; and the Contract Farming programme that links small producers to reliable commercialisation processes;

18. Reiterates once again that violence is not a legitimate method of political struggle, and calls on those who have been of that conviction to embrace democracy with all its implications and requirements, involving, as a first step, the permanent abandonment of weapons and the defence of their ideas and aspirations through abiding by democratic rules and the rule of law; in this sense, calls on the National Liberation Army (ELN) to end the kidnapping, crimes and terrorist attacks against the population in Colombia and to commit firmly and decisively, without further delay, to peace in Colombia;

19. Highlights the contribution of the European Union, especially through the European Fund for Peace in Colombia, which focuses its resources on Integral Rural Reform and Reincorporation, with emphasis on Development Programmes with a Territorial Approach and the formalisation of land ownership; requests that the Commission and the Member States continue their support within the framework of the new cooperation instruments during the new budget period;

20. Highlights the participation of the private sector in the support of victims, reincorporation, the substitution of illicit crops and the 170 PDET municipalities; requests that the Commission deepen the synergy between the trade agreement and the new cooperation instruments aimed at guaranteeing access to the European market, exchange and investment in order to ensure the sustainability of the productive projects, the income of the beneficiary population and to reduce their vulnerability to crime and illicit economies;

21. Believes that the successful implementation of the 2016 Peace Agreement, as a contribution to global peace and stability, will continue to be a key priority of reinforced bilateral relations through the Memorandum of Understanding approved by the Council last January; along the same lines, encourages further cooperation between the EU and Colombia so as to enhance the livelihood of Colombian and EU citizens alike through enhancing synergies between the EU-Colombia Trade Partnership and the Peace Agreement;

22. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the rotating Council presidency, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly and the Government and the Congress of Colombia.