On 22 September 2017, the United Nations Mission in Colombia announced the successful ending of the phase of laying down of arms and decommissioning of FARC weapons, under point 3 of the Peace Accord “Ending Conflict”. In total, the FARC have laid down 8,994 weapons. These have now been collected from the Transitional Local Zones...
The Delegation consisted of two meembers of the Dáil (Irish Parliament): Fiona O’Loughlin TD, and Senator Catherine Noone, and one member of the UK Parliament: Baroness Jean Coussins. They were accompanied to Choco by a representative of the UK Embassy in Colombia, Tom Newton and the Scottish National Agency for International Development (SCIAF), Christian Aid...
ABColombia, together with the Law Society of England and Wales and the Colombian Caravana UK Lawyers Group, has endorsed an Amicus Curiae regarding the constitutionality of Legislative Act 1 of 2017 in a case currently pending in front of the Colombian Constitutional Court. The Preamble of the Peace Accord acknowledges that the agreements need...
Today, 10 July 2017, the United Nations Security Council approved a second United Nations (UN) Mission in Colombia via Resolution 2366 (2017). The Second Mission’s mandate is to verify the reincorporation of the FARC-EP into civilian life and the implementation of individual and collective security measures in regions most affected by the conflict. The new...
ABColombia welcomes the end of the process of the Laying Down of Arms by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – FARC). The next crucial challenge is to get the Mandate right for the second phase of the United Nations Security Council’s Special Political Mission to Colombia. This requires the...
ABColombia welcomes the decision by Colombia’s Supreme Court to acquit prominent Colombian indigenous leader Feliciano Valencia after he was arrested in 2015 under an alleged kidnapping charge. Background The 2008 original ruling made by Popayan’s Superior Court, sentenced Feliciano Valencia to eighteen years in prison for allegedly kidnapping a Colombian soldier in the department of...
Judicial attacks against Human Rights Defenders continue in Colombia despite the signing of a Peace Accord with the FARC Guerrillas. However, ABColombia received welcome news that on 20 June 2017, David Ravelo Crespo, a Colombian Human Rights Defender, was released conditionally after being incarcerated for nearly seven years. Whilst the case continues, this is...
