A Road Map to Peace in Colombia

This Road Map for Peace in Colombia is presented in the hopes that its content might prove of some usefulness in helping the Colombian people formulate their own plan for attaining a just peace in their country. The ideas contained in this plan are the product of many years of research work in Colombia and engagement with Colombians from all walks of life. This proposed plan is not intended to serve the specific interests of any particular party or group inside or outside of Colombia. Neither is its intent to impose a peace on the Colombian people that will only result in a continuation of the social and economic injustices that lie at the root of the conflict. The plan is an attempt to design a framework in which the Colombian people can determine their country’s future without being forced to adhere to the interests of narrowly-focused domestic and foreign forces. This road map is intended to be a rough guide that will hopefully stimulate ideas and discussion on how to implement a plan for peace that ensures social justice for all Colombians.

Executive Summary

This Road Map for Peace in Colombia attempts to formulate a plan that is just and fair for all participants in the process. It involves representatives from the current Colombian government, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the National Liberation Army (ELN), the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), civil society groups, business groups, unions, indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, and ultimately, the entire Colombian population.

Because of the mistrust between some of the armed actors, the plan calls for the United Nations to play a central role in overseeing the demobilization of the armed actors, mediating negotiations and organizing elections. The initial phase of the plan calls for the FARC, ELN and AUC to agree to implement a cease-fire, end all kidnapping activities and release all captives in return for the Colombian government agreeing to implement a cease-fire, suspend aerial fumigations of illicit crops, expel foreign military personnel from the country and refuse to accept foreign military aid for the duration of the peace process. The plan calls on all parties to agree to the creation of zones of concentration throughout the country where members of the FARC, ELN and AUC will reside for the duration of the peace process. Each group will have its own zones located in regions where it currently has a substantial presence. UN personnel will administer these zones with security provided by a UN peacekeeping force.

The plan calls on the international community to help Colombia achieve peace. It calls on all UN member states to desist from providing military aid to Colombia and to withdraw all military personnel from Colombia with the exception of customary embassy detachments. The plan also calls on UN member states and international lending institutions to agree to cancel all Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) and other demands placed on economic policymaking in return for social, economic and development aid. This request is in response to concerns voiced by a substantial portion of the Colombian population that the government’s social and economic policymaking should be based on the people’s wishes and needs, not those of the international financial institutions.

The plan also requests that the international financial institutions agree to provide debt relief to the degree that Colombia’s foreign debt amounts to no more than 25 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This plan maintains Colombia’s obligation to debtors, but only to a degree that will not deprive a newly-elected post-peace process government of the resources required to effectively address the poverty, inequalities and underdevelopment that lie at the root of the current conflict. Removal of SAPs and a lowering of the debt in order to address social and economic inequalities would also provide incentive to the FARC and ELN to participate in the peace process, as it would address one of the primary issues for which they claim to have taken up arms in the first place.

The plan does not intend to impose an economic system on Colombia, but rather its goal is to establish national sovereignty over domestic policymaking and a democratic process that represents all Colombians. The Colombian people will elect the candidate whose policy proposals they feel will best serve the national interests, whether they consist of some form of SAP or an entirely different economic approach. Whatever the future government’s policies will be, it is important that they are democratically and nationally derived policies determined by Colombians.

In new elections, Colombians will choose their local and national governments following a six-month publicly-financed campaign open to all parties. The new government elected by the Colombian people will determine the country’s future social, economic and foreign policies. The UN will provide security for all candidates during their campaigns, which will be mostly publicly funded, with private funding limited and monitored. The plan calls for all foreign funding of campaigns to be illegal. These campaign regulations are intended to create a degree of equality amongst parties with regard to campaign resources and to make candidates beholden only to the Colombian people. International observers will monitor the entire campaign and the Election Day proceedings.

The campaign will begin following the demobilization of the FARC, ELN and AUC, and the complete restructuring of the Colombian Armed Forces and National Police. In order to address the demands for justice of victims and the loved ones of victims of gross violations of international human rights laws, the plan calls for a panel of UN legal experts to determine which armed actors may have committed crimes against humanity. Members of the Colombian military, FARC, ELN and AUC indicted by the panel for human rights violations will be tried in the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the grounds that Colombia’s legal system has repeatedly failed to provide justice in cases of human rights violations. The plan hopes that such a process will help Colombia avoid the long-term divisiveness that has resulted from amnesty deals in past peace processes in countries throughout the region. All armed actors cleared of being involved in human rights violations by the UN legal panel will be transferred out of the zones of concentration and will re-enter civil society.

The UN Secretary-General will appoint an envoy to oversee the dissolution of the Colombian Army, Navy, Air Force and National Police. The UN envoy will supervise the establishment of a new National Police force to provide domestic security and a small Navy and Air Force to protect the nation’s borders. Officers in the new security forces will be drawn from high-ranking former members of the Colombian military, National Police, FARC, ELN and AUC who were cleared of human rights violations by the UN legal panel. The rank-and-file of the new security forces will consist of any willing Colombian citizen, including former combatants cleared of human rights violations. The plan’s intention is to establish a security force with members from across the political spectrum so that it does not identify strongly with one particular political party or ideology.

Once the election has been held and deemed free and fair by the international observers, and after Colombia’s military and police forces have been restructured, the UN will withdraw its personnel. The hope is that at such a point in time, Colombia will have a sovereign government that has been elected by the Colombian people to represent the interests of the Colombian people, and will be able to implement policies intended to achieve that goal in a nation at peace.

A Road Map for Peace in Colombia

All the undersigned representatives of the armed participants in Colombia’s civil conflict agree to abide by the following steps in order to bring about an end to the conflict and move towards establishing a political, social and economic system that ensures a voice for all Colombians in determining their nation’s future.

1. Cease-Fire Agreement

a) The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) agree to the immediate suspension of all offensive military operations. They also agree to the immediate cessation of all kidnapping, or retention, activities.

b) The FARC, ELN and AUC agree to immediately release all captives, whether military, police or civilian.

c) The Colombian government agrees to the immediate suspension of all offensive military operations.

d) The Colombian government agrees to the immediate suspension of all aerial fumigation of illicit crops.

e) The Colombian government agrees to immediately expel from the country all foreign military personnel and foreign government contractors affiliated with military and policing operations with the exception of customary guard detachments responsible for protecting foreign embassies.

f) The Colombian government agrees to refuse to accept foreign military aid, including training, weapons and equipment, for the duration of the peace process.

g) The Colombian government agrees not to extradite any member of the FARC, ELN or AUC to any foreign nation on charges of human rights violations or drug trafficking.

h) The Colombian government agrees to immediately release all imprisoned members of the FARC, ELN and AUC who have not been convicted of human rights violations. Those released will re-enter civil society.

i) All parties agree that members of the FARC, ELN and AUC will move into zones of concentration (the number and precise locations of which are to be determined) established throughout the country in regions currently occupied by each group. A sufficient number of zones will be established to eliminate the concerns of any particular group that situating large numbers of its fighters in a centralized location would make them vulnerable.

j) All parties agree to allow a United Nations Peacekeeping force maintain security within each of the zones of concentration for the duration of the peace process.

2. The United Nations and the International Community

a) All UN member states agree to the immediate suspension of all military aid (including police and military assistance as part of the war on drugs) to the government of Colombia and to the FARC, ELN and AUC.

b) All UN member states agree to the immediate withdrawal of all of their military personnel (including military contractors) from Colombia with the exception of customary embassy detachments.

c) All UN member states agree to the immediate suspension of all extradition requests issued for members of the Colombian military, FARC, ELN and AUC.

d) The UN Security Council agrees to deploy a peacekeeping force to maintain security in the zones of concentration.

e) The Secretary-General of the United Nations agrees to appoint administrators to govern the zones of concentration for the duration of the peace process.

f) All states and international financial institutions agree to fully respect the sovereignty of Colombia and the right of its government to legislate on behalf of the interests of the Colombian people.

g) All UN member states and international financial institutions agree that all social, economic and development aid that they provide will not be linked to Colombia’s economic performance or with demands for the Colombian government to implement social and economic reforms according to a Structural Adjustment Program (SAP).

h) All parties to the negotiations, all UN member states and international financial institutions agree to renegotiate Colombia’s foreign debt so that it amounts to no more than 25 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

3. National Elections

a) The Secretary-General of the United Nations agrees to appoint an envoy to mediate discussions between representatives from the current Colombian government, FARC, ELN, AUC, civil society groups, business leaders, trade unions, and indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities to determine the details of the implementation of a peace plan.

b) The Colombian government agrees to call new national and local elections within six months of all parties reaching an agreement on this peace plan.

c) All political parties wishing to participate in the elections that register a specific number of people as party members (number to be determined) will receive public funding for their campaigns. All parties to negotiations agree that private funding for campaigns will be strictly limited and monitored, and that foreign funding of political campaigns will be illegal.

d) The Secretary-General of the United Nations agrees to provide security personnel for all candidates and members of civil society organizations, trade unions and anyone else engaged in political campaign activities that have received threats.

e) The entire six-month election campaign and the ballot proceedings on Election Day will be internationally monitored in order to ensure a clean and fair process (international observers to be determined).

f) All UN member states agree to recognize the newly-elected Colombian government under the condition that the elections were deemed to be free and fair by the international observers.

4. Demobilization of the Armed Actors

a) Upon agreement of a peace plan by all parties involved in negotiations, and before the six-month election campaign is initiated, the Secretary-General of the United Nations agrees to appoint an envoy and the necessary supporting personnel to oversee the disarmament and demobilization of members of the FARC, ELN and AUC in their zones of concentration.

b) The Secretary-General of the United Nations agrees to appoint a panel of legal experts to determine which members of the Colombian Armed Forces, AUC, FARC and ELN may have violated international human rights laws. The panel will issue indictments accordingly.

c) The UN legal panel will review the cases of members of the FARC, ELN and AUC imprisoned by the Colombian government for human rights violations and decide if their convictions and sentences are justifiable. Based on the panel’s findings, the prisoners will either be released or indicted for violating international human rights laws.

d) The FARC, ELN and AUC agree that all of their members not indicted for human rights violations by the UN legal panel will demobilize and be transferred out of the zones to re-enter civil society.

e) The Colombian Armed Forces, FARC, ELN and AUC agree that all of their members indicted for violating international human rights laws by the UN legal panel will stand trial in the International Criminal Court (ICC).

f) The Secretary-General of the United Nations agrees to appoint an envoy and the necessary supporting personnel to oversee the restructuring of the Colombian Armed Forces.

g) The UN envoy will oversee the dissolution of the existing Colombian Army, Navy, Air Force and National Police forces.

h) The UN envoy will supervise the establishment of a new National Police force to maintain domestic order.

i) The UN envoy will oversee the establishment of a small Navy and Air Force solely for defensive purposes to protect the nation’s borders from outside aggression.

j) The UN envoy will appoint officers to the newly-formed National Police, Navy and Air Force from amongst high-ranking members of the former Colombian Armed Forces, FARC, ELN and AUC not indicted for committing human rights violations by the UN legal panel.

k) The rank-and-file of the newly-formed National Police, Navy and Air Force will consist of any willing Colombian citizen (including former combatants) who has not been indicted for committing human rights violations by the UN legal panel.

l) The United Nations will withdraw its personnel from Colombia upon the newly-elected government’s assumption of power and the completion of the restructuring of the country’s armed forces.

All the undersigned armed participants in the conflict agree in principle to abide by the basic guidelines mapped out in this peace plan.

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Colombian President Alvaro Uribe

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Commander Salvatore Mancuso (AUC)

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Commander Manuel Marulanda (FARC)

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Commander Nicolás Rodríguez (ELN)