2023-11-03 13:58:00
The ceasefire with the ELN began on August 3 for 180 days.
Photo: The Spectator
The confirmation this Thursday that the ELN guerrilla is responsible for the kidnapping of the father of soccer player Luis Díaz is a blow to the peace process that has been underway with that guerrilla for 11 months.
It was the same Government peace delegation in those dialogues that confirmed that the armed group is behind the kidnapping of Luis Manuel Díaz, which occurred in Barrancas, La Guajira, on Saturday, October 28. “”We have had official knowledge that the kidnapping of which Luis Manuel Díaz and Cilenis Marulanda, father and mother of the player, were victims, was perpetrated by a unit belonging to the ELN. Although Mrs. Marulanda was released a few hours later, the player’s father has been kidnapped for five days,” the document says.
In context: Government confirms that ELN is the author of the kidnapping of Luis Díaz’s father
The fact, furthermore, is a violation of the ceasefire that the Government agreed with that guerrilla and that began on August 3 for 180 days.
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This ceasefire is delimited by Decree 1117 signed on July 5 of this year and several protocols that were signed in June, and which contained the rules on its operation.
What did the ceasefire decree say?
The decree signed by President Petro and with which the ceasefire was sealed says in its chapter 2 on the operations of the public force that, as of August 3, it is prohibited to carry out, in addition to offensive actions, acts contrary to what established in the Protocol of Specific Actions such as “involving acts prohibited in Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions, such as homicide, hostage-taking, rape, forced displacement or recruitment of minors, etc.”, among others. .
What do the protocols say?
The documents signed in June are Agreement No. 10, which contains the general framework of the ceasefire; the Specific Actions protocol, which describes the actions prohibited for the Public Force and the ELN; and the Mandate protocol of the Monitoring and Verification Mechanism, which created the quadripartite body (ELN, Government, UN Verification Mission and Catholic Church) that will be in charge of ensuring compliance with the cessation.
In addition to those three documents, there are also eight other protocols that regulate the implementation of the ceasefire.
Agreement No. 10 or Framework Agreement stipulates the rules by which both the Public Force and the ELN structures will be governed. In its first point it says that none of the parties may carry out actions prohibited in International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
Read also: ELN kidnapped Luis Díaz’s father: what might it mean for the dialogue table?
A few months ago, Juan Carlos Ospina explained to this newspaper that IHL, as a legal framework, limits the effects of armed conflicts and that it applies to this ceasefire agreement, it did not give the ELN carte blanche to carry out kidnappings, extortions or other crimes that affect the civilian population.
“It is clear that these and other effects on the civilian population constitute violations of IHL. In the protocol of specific actions, which will be the one on which the Monitoring and Verification Mechanism will observe, it is clearly stated that the purpose of the ceasefire is “to generate conditions so that the civilian population can exercise its rights and freedoms,” which which necessarily leads to avoiding any impact on them,” he points out.
In addition, the parties also undertake not to hinder the work of the Monitoring and Verification Mechanism, nor to omit information that must be transmitted through communication channels to avoid incidents and guarantee the efficiency of this mechanism. And, as Ospina explained, “they cannot omit information from the MMV when there is deprivation of liberty of people that concerns one of the parties.”
What happens if there is a violation of the ceasefire?
If any case of non-compliance with the ceasefire occurs, including kidnappings or other actions once morest the population, procedural elements were foreseen and recorded in the protocols.
The Verification and Monitoring Mechanism is made up of delegates from the ELN and the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace, the Episcopal Conference and the UN Mission in Colombia, and is the only one in charge of resolving this type of situation.
Also: What is and what is not allowed in the ceasefire between the Public Force and ELN?
The operating protocol of the MMV of the ceasefire, which was announced on July 15, establishes that the dialogue table is the only instance that “agrees and decides on the possible adjustments, extension or suspension” of the ceasefire. . It was established between the parties that “no incident by itself will cause unilateral breach of the ceasefire agreement.” The dialogue table will be the maximum spokesperson for the compliance process and protocols of this process.
When a possible violation of the cessation occurs, the situation must be reported, as soon as possible, to the Monitoring and Verification Mechanism so that it can evaluate it, follow up and recommend quick actions, for example, immediate release.
This MMV will impartially analyze the facts that are presumed to be non-compliance with the rules, commitments and prohibitions agreed upon between the Government and the ELN. Likewise, it will prepare an evaluation of the ceasefire, its possible incidents, procedures, recommendations, reports and everything what is necessary for the fulfillment of its mandate.
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