May 19, 2023
The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (GS/OAS) presented today to the Permanent Council Report 34 on the work of the Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia (MAPP/OEA) in the second semester of 2022. The Report reaffirms the accompaniment of the Colombian Government’s Policy of Total Peace and urges the illegal armed groups to commit to this unique opportunity for dialogue, as well as to cease attacks against the civilian population and humanitarian actors.
Report 34 corresponds to the work carried out between July 1 and December 31, 2022, a period in which 1,121 field missions were carried out, in 585 populated centers of 190 municipalities, in 24 Colombian departments. These populated centers include municipal seats, corregimientos, villages, indigenous reservations and community councils. During this period, 124,293 kilometers were covered by land and 5,642 kilometers by river.
“Today, all the illegal armed groups have the opportunity to commit themselves with determination and consistency with the historical moment that Colombia is experiencing, identifying in the policy of Total Peace a propitious opportunity to move on the correct path of dialogue and non-violence,” said Roberto Menéndez, Chief of the MAPP/OAS. In addition, he recalled that this Policy was supported by the OAS member states during the 2022 General Assembly in Lima, Peru, through the declaration “Support for Total Peace in Colombia.”
The MAPP/OAS, committed to contributing to the construction of Total Peace in Colombia, delivers in this report 24 recommendations addressed to more than 18 entities of the national order and invites them to deepen a direct dialogue with the citizenry, which will enrich the actions ahead. The document makes visible that in Colombia threats, homicides, confinements, the recruitment of children and adolescents, forced displacement, sexual violence and the installation of antipersonnel mines by illegal armed groups persist.
“It is time to stop the violence and leave the civilian population and humanitarian actors out of the armed conflict. These affectations are not acceptable under any justification,” said the Chief of the MAPP/OAS, who emphasized that the protection of life must be a priority, as well as respect for the provisions of international humanitarian law.
The GS/OAS thanks the member and observer states, especially those that make up the “basket fund” —Germany, Canada, Spain, the United States, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Sweden— whose political and financial support make possible the operation of the Mission. Likewise, to Norway and Switzerland, whose contributions strengthen the work of the MAPP/OAS with the communities in the territories, in fundamental axes such as participation and dialogue.