Colombia: Quarterly Meeting
Tomorrow morning (22 January), the Security Council will hold a briefing on Colombia. The expected briefers are Special Representative and Head of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia Carlos Ruiz Massieu and a civil society representative who will focus on issues affecting ethnic communities. Colombia will participate in the meeting under rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure. Minister of Foreign Affairs Luis Gilberto Murillo Urrutia will represent his country for the last time in this role, having submitted his resignation yesterday (20 January). Diego Tovar—an ex-combatant from the former rebel group Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo (FARC-EP) and signatory to the Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace concluded in 2016 between the government of Colombia and the former FARC-EP—is expected to participate in the meeting under rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure. Closed consultations are scheduled to follow the open briefing.
Ruiz Massieu will brief on the Secretary-General’s latest 90-day report on the verification mission, which covers the period from 27 September to 26 December 2024. He and many other speakers are expected to express grave concern about developments after the cut-off date of the Secretary-General’s report concerning the escalations of hostilities witnessed in several departments in Colombia, which have been described as one of the deadliest waves of violence since the signing of the 2016 peace agreement.
The north-eastern region of Catatumbo, which borders Venezuela, has experienced a particularly severe deterioration in the security situation. Since 16 January, violence intensified in the region between the guerrilla group Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) and a faction of the dissident group of the former FARC-EP that identifies itself as the Estado Mayor Central Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (EMC), called the 33rd Front. The armed groups have traditionally fought over control of coca crops and drug trafficking corridors in the area. A truce between the groups that had held in the past several years broke down last week.
According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as at 20 January, the violence in Catatumbo had resulted in the deaths of at least 60 civilians and the displacement of over 18,000 people. On 18 January, the Office of Colombia’s Ombudsperson reported that seven ex-FARC combatants, who laid down their arms in 2016, and one social leader were among those killed. Ruiz Massieu strongly condemned the killings in a 16 January post on X (formerly Twitter).
On 17 January, Colombian President Gustavo Petro Urrego announced the suspension of the dialogue process that the government has been holding with the ELN as part of his “total peace” policy. The process with the group had already stalled in May 2024 following the government’s decision to hold a regional dialogue with one of the ELN’s regional fronts. Yesterday, Petro declared a “state of internal commotion” and a “state of economic emergency” in light of the violence in Catatumbo. This reportedly allows the executive branch to pass certain kinds of legislation without congressional approval for three months.
Violence has also intensified in the Guaviare department in south-central Colombia. On 18 and 19 January, clashes between rival factions of the EMC in the Calamar municipality reportedly left some 20 people dead. According to the Office of the Ombudsperson, one of the factions belongs to the so-called Estado Mayor de los Bloques y Frentes (EMBF), a group of factions that has remained in a dialogue process with the government after splitting from the EMC’s general staff. Other new armed offensives were also reported in departments such as Arauca and Caquetá.
Many speakers at tomorrow’s meeting are likely to condemn the recent spike in violence in some departments as well as the persistent violence in other departments. During the period covered by the Secretary-General’s report, ten former combatants were killed and threats continued from armed groups against ex-FARC members and their families residing in several territorial areas for training and reintegration (TATRs). The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) also received reports of 37 alleged killings of social leaders during this period.
Several members may stress that these developments demonstrate the urgency of implementing the security guarantees provisions of the 2016 agreement. In this regard, they may emphasise the importance of swiftly implementing the public policy to dismantle illegal armed groups and criminal organisations, which the National Commission on Security Guarantees (NCSG)—a body established by the 2016 agreement—presented in September 2023. The Secretary-General’s report notes that the government launched pilots to implement the policy in two regions, Magdalena Medio-southern Bolívar and northern Cauca, with a strategy combining the investigation and prosecution of crimes linked to illicit economies together with the provision of prevention and protection for affected communities. Some members may encourage the government to continue advancing the public policy in other regions and stress the need to promote coherence between the policy and the “total peace” dialogues.
Tovar indicated in a 17 January interview that he will stress at tomorrow’s meeting the importance of adopting protocols for negotiations with armed groups operating in the country that would oblige them to comply with international humanitarian law and to protect individuals who are bearing the brunt of violence, including former combatants, ethnic communities, women, and children. Council members and Ruiz Massieu may also emphasise that armed groups involved in the “total peace” processes should cease committing violent acts to demonstrate their commitment to dialogue.
The meeting is also expected to assess the overall state of the implementation of the 2016 accord. The Secretary-General’s report says that the implementation of the agreement “advanced more in rural reform than in the ethnic chapter and gender provisions”. It urges the comprehensive implementation of the accord, urging all involved to “effectively structure, prioritize and streamline the multiple processes under way” and to ensure adequate funding. Council members may echo these messages, emphasising the importance of continued focus on implementing the 2016 agreement, especially as less than two years remain to Petro’s administration and as Colombia prepares for presidential elections in 2026. Members are also apparently interested in receiving an update from Murillo regarding progress in the implementation of the government’s “rapid response plan” that is aimed at accelerating implementation of the accord.
The civil society representative and several Council members—including the “A3 plus” grouping (Algeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and Guyana)—are expected to highlight the need to promote implementation of the peace accord’s ethnic chapter. The Secretary-General’s report notes that November 2024 marked one year since the government signed a pact aimed at accelerating implementation of this chapter, adding that “there was no significant progress” on the 23 commitments contained in the pact. Some speakers may urge the government to regularly convene and consult with the Special High-Level Instance for Ethnic Groups (IEANPE), a body created by the peace agreement to monitor the implementation of the ethnic chapter.
Another expected area of discussion is the work of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (SJP), the judicial component of the Comprehensive System for Truth, Justice, Reparation, and Non-Repetition established by the 2016 agreement. Some speakers may urge the SJP to advance towards handing down restorative sentences and call on the government to ensure that financial and security conditions are in place for the implementation of these sentences. Tovar might raise several concerns about the SJP’s work, including legal uncertainty faced by those appearing before the court.
Tomorrow’s meeting presents the first opportunity for the Council’s five new elected members—Denmark, Greece, Pakistan, Panama, and Somalia—to voice their positions on Colombia. Panama borders Colombia and has an interest in the cross-border effects of the activities of armed groups in the country. As such, the government’s “total peace” dialogue efforts are of particular interest to this member. Denmark and Greece, which have cross-cutting thematic interests in women, peace and security (WPS) and children and armed conflict (CAAC), may raise the recent launch of Colombia’s first National Action Plan on WPS and the 9-12 December 2024 visit of the Security Council’s Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict to Colombia. (For more information, see the brief on Colombia in our January 2025 Monthly Forecast.)