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CÉSAR GAVIRIA REPORTS ON OAS-COLOMBIA AGREEMENT

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), César Gaviria, told a meeting of the OAS Permanent Council today that Colombia deserves international support as it seeks to demobilize the country’s illegally organized armed groups.

Gaviria talked about the Agreement on Monitoring the Peace Process in Colombia, signed January 23 between the Colombian government and the OAS General Secretariat, and said he was convinced that the OAS has the experience needed to verify this process. For example, he said, the OAS used civilian personnel to monitor the demobilization of some 22,000 “contra” fighters in Nicaragua.

The Secretary General said the OAS Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia will have a technical role and will not intervene in matters that are the responsibility of Colombia’s democratic institutions. The mission will be headed by Sergio Caramagna, who oversaw the demobilization process in Nicaragua and in recent years has headed the OAS national office in that Central American country.

In his oral report to the Permanent Council, Gaviria stressed that Colombia is at a “critical stage” and needs immediate help from the international community to continue the process that began with the demobilization of more than 1,000 paramilitary fighters last November. He recalled that the OAS member countries had affirmed their support for the Colombian government on several occasions, including at the June 2003 General Assembly and at the Special Conference on Security, held last October. In February of last year, the OAS Permanent Council condemned an attack by Colombian guerrillas and reiterated its “unequivocal support for the efforts of the Government of Colombia to find a firm and lasting peace in that country.”

Under the terms of the OAS-Colombia agreement, the OAS may verify compliance with the peace process, including a ceasefire and cessation of hostilities, as well as the demobilization, disarmament and reintegration of illegally organized armed groups.

As the agreement notes, the Colombian government sought OAS support within the framework of its peace policy, which opens the door for negotiating with “all those illegal armed groups that may wish to return to democratic life in the country, on condition that they first declare a ‘cessation of hostilities,’ for the sole purpose of achieving a reduction of violence and safeguarding respect for human rights throughout the national territory.”

Colombia’s Permanent Representative to the OAS, Ambassador Horacio Serpa, asked the Permanent Council to understand the extent of the violence that his country has suffered for several decades. He said that “only the international community can have the ability and authority to help Colombia achieve peace.”

Serpa added that the OAS presence, far from being a “smokescreen” to cover crimes, will allow for a permanent and impartial observation of the peace process. He added that the Colombian government is willing to take into account the opinions of the member countries on the agreement and to accept the resolution that may be approved by the Permanent Council at a session convened to consider this matter on Friday, February 6.

Reference: E-015/04