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Secretary General Insulza Participated in Meeting with MAPP/OAS Partners

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, today participated, along with representatives of the member states and permanent observers to the hemispheric institution, in a meeting to discuss the current situation and relevance of the OAS Mission to Support the Peace Process (MAPP/OAS) in Colombia.

Secretary General Insulza recalled that, at its inception, the MAPP emerged in an environment of uncertainty and skepticism as to its impact, but over the years and its work, this peacekeeping entity was strengthened and today is recognized as a mission of great magnitude, which has played a vital role in Colombia. “From its inception in 2004, the MAPP has accompanied the peace process in a consistent manner and from an integral perspective geared to victims and perpetrators, institutional actors and those on the field, with critical emphasis on the local level,” he added.

The head of the OAS emphasized that the MAPP has played a central role, not only during the first stage of demobilization verification, but also in the accompaniment process during the reintegration processes of transitional justice, reparation to victims and in increasing citizen participation. “We have tried to plant a seed that not only promotes a temporary absence of war, but also a firm and lasting peace,” he asserted.

In this context, Insulza invited countries that have expressed their political support to peace strengthening in Colombia to consider making a financial contribution to the MAPP/OAS. He argued that while several donor countries expressed their interest in maintaining their financial support to the Mission in 2014, “to date, only Spain has made a financial contribution for 2014. The Mission will not be able to continue its work in Colombia if other financial contributions are not received by the end of 2013.”

The leader of the OAS said that in the coming days, the Eighteenth Semiannual Report of the Secretary General to the Permanent Council on MAPP, to be discussed at the next meeting of the Council, will be issued in the coming days. “This report describes the main accompaniment, monitoring and verification tasks carried out by the MAPP in 2013, which focused on supporting the efforts of the Colombian Government for the implementation of transitional justice, in particular the Law on Victims and Land Restitution, as a transcendental tool to establish a firm and lasting peace,” he added.

For his part, the Permanent Representative of Colombia, Ambassador Andrés González, said that the deepest aspiration of the Colombian people is to achieve peace, and he compared the internal conflict in his country to a “tumor that needs to be removed both to prevent spreading and to learn how to stop it from happening again.”

The Colombian diplomat said that the long internal conflict in his country is the result of a "number of different contradictions that make the problem complex," among which he mentioned drug trafficking, armed uprisings, agrarian conflicts, inequity in the modernization of rural areas, and social exclusion. He added that he valued the contribution of the MAPP to the peace process in his country: "It has been extremely valuable, with results that make it possible to appreciate it as one of the most important experiences in our organizations and countries," he concluded.

For his part, Robert Menéndez, who was recently appointed by Secretary General Insulza as the head of the MAPP/OAS, stated that this is a great challenge. "My main idea is to give back to this Mission and to Colombia something that I was able to learn during the previous processes in which I participated," he said alluding to his two decades of experience in facilitating dialogue and in conflict transformation in countries such as Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Colombia itself.

Menéndez indicated that in his experience, “once peace, justice, truth, victims’ rights, and state institutionality are stronger, there will be fewer chances to repeat violence and to destabilize peace again." His administration, he added, will be "marked by the same responsibility, solidarity and commitment as those of all Colombians who have decided to work for peace, reconciliation, truth and justice."

The OAS Director of the Department of Sustainable Democracy and Special Missions, Christopher Hernández, said that the main objective of the MAPP/OAS is to support the Government of Colombia in achieving its peace policy’s goals. Hernández added that the work of the MAPP aims to "accompany the peace process as a whole, in strict observance of the principles of respect for states’ sovereignty and independence, non-intervention and territorial integrity."

Furthermore, Hernández said that since its inception, the work of the MAPP has been divided into three stages: the first, from 2004 to 2005, focused on the dismantling of the demobilized group’s military structure; the security situation in the area (Armed Forces’ recovery of areas abandoned by the structures of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia), and the reintegration process of the demobilized population. The second stage, from 2005 to 2009, focused on establishing the framework for Transitional Justice (Law 975), the creation of rehabilitation programs provided by law, and the demobilization of the Guevara Revolutionary Army (ERG) in August 2008. The third stage, from 2010 to 2013, focused mainly on victims of the conflict and, in particular, on efforts for victims to obtain access to truth, justice, and reparation.

Finally, Hernández explained that for 2014, the MAPP intends to work on the restitution of lands and territories; reparation; truth and reconciliation; justice and peace, as well as disarmament, demobilization and reintegration.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-349/13