More than 100 UK and Irish MPs sign declaration to back Colombian Peace Agreement
24 Nov. AN INTERNATIONAL STATEMENT WAS PUBLISHED TODAY SUPPORTED BY 147 PARLIAMENTARIANS REPRESENTING POLITICAL PARTIES OF ALL MAJOR CURRENTS IN THE PARLIAMENTS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM, THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND AND NORTHERN IRELAND, within the framework of the 5th anniversary of the Peace Agreement in Colombia.
The statement highlights the international community's commitment to the agreement by referring to the 2016 and 2017 UN Security Council resolutions declaring a commitment to the Colombian peace process.
The MPs claim that they will continue to "work in [their] respective parliaments ... to ensure that the support of the international community remains focused on the implementation of the 2016 agreement and on building a comprehensive, stable and lasting peace."
In the declaration, the deputies also take stock of the state of implementation so far. In addition to highlighting the progress of the transitional justice system, the parliamentarians underline the FARC-EP's compliance with its obligations in the face of laying down arms and its participation with the components of the Integral System of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-Repetition.
At the same time, frustration is expressed in the face of what they consider a "slow" implementation with harsh words focused on the administration of Iván Duque, commenting that "the lack of implementation by the Colombian government of certain of its obligations in the agreement has weakened the peace process."
They also express high concern about "the lack of security in rural areas and the urgent human rights crisis" that since the signing of the agreement has taken the lives of almost 300 ex-combatants in the reincorporation process and more than 1,000 social leaders, according to some organizations.
The UK parties represented by the signatories are the Conservative Party, the currently governing party, the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats, the Scottish National Party and the Democratic Unionist Party. From the Irish parliament, MPs from Sinn Fein, the Social Democrats, the Irish Labour Party and Fine Gael signed, at the moment in coalition government.
Sir Tony Lloyd MP, British MP for the Labour Party and former minister in Tony Blair's government said: "There is still immense international support for the peace process in Colombia and we are very dismayed by the inability of President Duque's government to make sufficient progress with implementation. It is very important that the next government has the political will to comply with the provisions of the agreement."
The statement was coordinated by the British parliamentary group Parliamentary Friends of Colombia and the British-Irish organization Justice for Colombia.
Text of the Declaration
