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Report to the Permanent Council: MAPP/OAS Continues to Contribute to Comprehensive Peace in Colombia

The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) presented today to the Permanent Council the thirty-third report on the work of the Organization's Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia (MAPP/OAS), corresponding to the first semester of 2022.

This report is the product of 1,217 monitoring and accompaniment missions in 678 population centers in 26 departments of the country, and it recognizes the achievements, challenges and threats in the territories most affected by the armed conflict, crime and inequity in the country for the construction of peace. Among other issues, the report highlights the socialization of the Final Report by the Truth Commission, which presents significant contributions in the recognition of the armed conflict and represents an advance towards non-repetition through pertinent recommendations.

In turn, the Mission expressed its concern about the violence used by different illegal armed groups, which continues to affect mainly social leaders, ethnic-territorial authorities, human and environmental rights defenders, public servants, women, girls, boys and adolescents, signatories of peace and the migrant population.

The MAPP/OAS verified serious effects on the civilian population that impact the exercise of their rights in critical areas such as Arauca, Putumayo, Cauca, Nariño, Chocó and Norte de Santander; and regions such as San Juan and Baudó (Chocó); Sur de Bolivar; Sanquianga and Telembí (Nariño); El Tambo-Argelia corridor (Cauca); Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta; and the municipality of Buenaventura (Valle del Cauca).

The report recognizes that the participation observed in the last elections reflects internal sociopolitical changes that generate an impact in the region, where the commitment to peacebuilding continues to be central to achieving social transformations.

Finally, the OAS Mission welcomed the commitment to "Total Peace" that the National Government has been advancing, whose first actions aim to resume talks with the ELN (National Liberation Army) guerrillas and rapprochement with other illegal armed structures. In this sense, it calls on the institutions to absorb the lessons learned from previous rapprochements and/or agreements with illegal armed groups, in order to advance decisively in the consolidation of peace, rescuing the centrality of the victims in all times.

“The path to a comprehensive peace requires the sum of wills. The Mission puts its accumulated knowledge and experience from 18 years of uninterrupted work at the service of Colombian society and the Government,” said the Chief of the Mission, Roberto Menéndez.

The MAPP/OAS will continue to contribute to a comprehensive peace in Colombia by working together with the communities and institutions, facilitating dialogue, building bridges and favoring the urgent presence of State institutions in the territories most affected by the armed conflict and violence, under the principles of impartiality, autonomy, independence, solidarity and respect.

Reference: E-053/22