WUNRN
COLOMBIA – PEACE PROCESS AT RISK: STRICTLY PROTECT
CIVILIANS/WOMEN
International Crisis Group - Full Article - http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/publication-type/media-releases/2015/latin-america/statement-colombia-peace-process-lurching-backwards.aspx?utm_campaign=website&utm_source=sendgrid.com&utm_medium=email
26 May 2015 - Colombia’s peace process faces its most
serious crisis yet, after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)
suspended a five month old unilateral ceasefire. Instead of more measures to
de-escalate the conflict ahead of a final peace agreement, there are now new
risks that the confrontation will escalate, causing fresh humanitarian damage,
crippling trust between the parties and further weakening public support for
the process……..As bilateral hostilities may be about to resume, both parties
need to show maximum restraint on the battlefield. In particular, they will
need to strictly protect the civilian population and abstain from
disproportionate attacks……..Despite the setbacks of the last few weeks, the
government and the FARC leadership appear to remain firmly committed to
reaching a deal, not least because a collapse would be very costly for either
side.
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ECCHR – European Center for Constitutional & Human Rights
http://www.ecchr.de/colombia-gdr.html
COLOMBIA –
SEXUALIZED VIOLENCE IN THE COLOMBIAN CONFLICT – A MATTER FOR THE INTERNATIONAL
CRIMINAL COURT-ICC
April 2015 - In 2014 an average of two women were raped every three days in
the course of the armed conflict in Colombia. Yet to date there have been very
few convictions for sexualized violence – and no convictions at all in cases in
which the perpetrator was a member of the armed forces. By failing to act, the
Colombian state is denying women the protection against sexualized crimes and
access to justice that it is obliged to guarantee under national and
international law. In response, the European Center for Constitutional and
Human Rights (ECCHR), together with the Colombian organizations Sisma Mujer
(Sisma) and Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo (CAJAR), has today
submitted a criminal complaint (known as a communication) against Colombia to
the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. The organizations are
calling on the Court’s prosecution authorities to open investigations against
suspects in Colombia. “If Colombia is not able or willing to end impunity for
sexualized violence against women, the ICC must intervene – as set out by the
Rome Statute on the International Criminal Court”, says ECCHR General Secretary
Wolfgang Kaleck.
In compiling the communication, ECCHR, Sisma and CAJAR examined 36
representative cases of sexualized violence that occurred between 2002 and
2011. Their conclusion: Sexual assaults carried out in the course of the armed
conflict are not isolated incidents but instead form part of the military
strategy and are crimes against humanity. The military enjoy almost total
impunity. “In Colombia there are laws and instruments aimed at ending violence against
women, but these are almost never adequately enforced by the state”, says
Claudia Mejía Duque, Director of Sisma. The organizations are calling on the
ICC prosecution authorities to comply with the standards set out by the Court
itself; in a 2014 policy paper the Court declared it would be adopting a gender
perspective and gender analysis in all levels of its work.
The three human rights organizations believe that investigations by the ICC
could strengthen the peace process in Colombia. “Independent and impartial
action by the ICC could serve to prevent further crimes”, according to CAJAR
President Luis Guillermo Pérez Casas. This, he says, is another reason why
prosecutors must now launch investigations into the main perpetrators of grave
human rights violations, including sexualized violence.
ECCHRSismaCAJAR_ICCCommunicationVSXinColombia_Executive
Summary_EN.pdf (384.7 KiB)
Colombia_ICC_SpecialNewsletter_20150427.pdf
(554.1 KiB