Joint Communiqué #52, Havana

Export agreement:

Export agreement coding (PDF)

Country/entity: Colombia
Region: Americas
Agreement name: Joint Communiqué #52, Havana
Date: 7 Mar 2015
Agreement status: Multiparty signed/agreed
Interim arrangement: Yes
Agreement/conflict level: Intrastate/intrastate conflict
Colombian Conflict (1964 - )
The Colombian conflict is really a set of conflicts and the peace agreements reflect both different processes relating to different conflict groups and dyads, and processes taking place at different times in a complex peace process history. The Colombian civil war has its roots in the late 1940s and the violent infighting between liberal and the conservative factions. Emerging from the liberal tradition with a thorough grounding in nationalist communist ideology, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—People's Army (FARC) began its armed insurrection against the Colombian government in 1964. Other left-wing guerrillas emerged as well, most notably the socialist/populist M-19, which would later be integrated into the formal political system in the peace process of 1990s; the National Liberation Army (ELN), which has strong roots in liberation theology, and the Maoist Ejército Popular de Liberación (EPL) (also part of the 1990 process, less successfully). Several stages of peace processes were undertaken by the various sides, which were further complicated by the emergence of right-wing paramilitary ‘self-defence’ forces. The peace agreement between the Colombian government under President Uribe and the main alliance of the paramilitary groups, the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC), concluded in 2005 and is still heavily disputed as several remnants are still active, but now subsumed under the heading ‘Bacrim’ (Bandas criminales). In addition, FARC and ELN maintain a military presence, but both demonstrate a strong interest in completing successful peace negotiations with the government, with the most recent agreements being between FARC and the Government.
Stage: Framework/substantive - partial
Conflict nature: Government
Peace process: Colombia V - Santos
Parties: The Government; the FARC – EP
Third parties: -
Description: This agreement outlines steps for the clean up and decontamination of land from the presence of explosive remnants of war.

Agreement document: CO_150307_Joint Communiqué #52, Havana.pdf (opens in new tab) | Download PDF

Main category: Page 1, Para. 5
The NTS will be carried out in a traditional manner with a questionnaire to be previously submitted to the National Government and the FARC – EP (which will include socio-economic impact data). The questionnaire shall be developed specifically for Colombia. The team will evaluate all available information, shall consult key information sources and will also speak with men and women who live in the affected areas. The results of the NTS will be the basis for the development of a clean-up and decontamination plan.

Women, girls and gender

Participation: No specific mention.
Equality: No specific mention.
Particular groups of women: No specific mention.
International law: No specific mention.
New institutions: No specific mention.
Violence against women: No specific mention.
Transitional justice: No specific mention.
Institutional reform: No specific mention.
Development: Development→Other
Page 1, Para. 5
The NTS will be carried out in a traditional manner with a questionnaire to be previously submitted to the National Government and the FARC – EP (which will include socio-economic impact data). The questionnaire shall be developed specifically for Colombia. The team will evaluate all available information, shall consult key information sources and will also speak with men and women who live in the affected areas. The results of the NTS will be the basis for the development of a clean-up and decontamination plan.
Implementation: No specific mention.
Other: No specific mention.

JOINT COMMUNIQUÉ # 52

HAVANA, MARCH /, 2015

AGREEMENT ON LAND CLEAN-UP AND DECONTAMINATION FROM THE PRESENCE OF ANTI-PERSONNEL MINES (APMs), IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICES (IEDs) AND UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE (UXOs) OR EXPLOSIVE REMNANTS OF WAR (ERWs) IN GENERAL.

Within the framework of de-escalation, seeking to move forward in building trust and in order to contribute to create security conditions for the inhabitants of risk zones due to the presence of land mines, improvised explosive devices, unexploded ordnance and explosive remnants of war, an in order to provide non-repetition guarantees to the communities, the Government and the FARC – EP have agreed to ask the Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) organization to lead and coordinate the implementation of a land clean-up and decontamination project from APMs, IEDs, UXOs and ERWs.

In order to ensure the continuity of the process, the possibility of including other organizations already accredited or accreditable in Colombia will be left open.

 Site selection:

The National Government and the FARC – EP will select an initial number of sites to be subject to a first clean-up and decontamination phase within the framework of de-escalation.

The decontamination efforts will prioritize those sites where the population is at greater risk of being affected by the presence of APMs, IEDs and UXOs or ERWs, based on information available to the National Government and the FARC – EP, and taking into consideration the information provided by specialized organizations and the communities.

 Information gathering using Non-Technical Survey (NTS) Teams.

An NPA team will conduct the NTS within the selected areas, with the participation in each NTS team of members representing the FARC – EP and National Government technicians, as required.

The NTS shall accurately identify the areas actually contaminated with APMs, IEDs and UXOs or ERWs, resorting as well to the support provided by local communities in the vicinity of contaminated areas.

The NTS will be carried out in a traditional manner with a questionnaire to be previously submitted to the National Government and the FARC – EP (which will include socio-economic impact data).

The questionnaire shall be developed specifically for Colombia.

The team will evaluate all available information, shall consult key information sources and will also speak with men and women who live in the affected areas.

The results of the NTS will be the basis for the development of a clean-up and decontamination plan.

 Clean-up and decontamination using multi-task teams.

The NPA shall form multi-task teams aimed at clearing confirmed dangerous areas from the threat of APMs, IEDs and UXOs or ERWs, mark the areas that will not be cleared during the pilot project, and ensure that local communities understand the risks associated to APMs, IEDs and UXOs or ERWs (by means of risk education).

In an initial phase, each multi-task team will be comprised by an NPA coordination and verification leader and the Government’s technicians.

The Government will designate the Demining Engineers Battalion (BIDES, for its acronym in Spanish) for the mine removal.

The entire clean-up and decontamination process will be accompanied by two members each from the Government, the FARC – EP and the communities.

The Government will speed up the NPA’s certification process in order to move forward on other phases of this project, agreed by the National Government and the FARC – EP, and will also engage the support of civilian demining teams.

The clean-up and decontamination of the confirmed dangerous areas will be carried out pursuant to international and national standards.

 Dialogue with the communities.

During the implementation of the clean-up and decontamination process, an ongoing and close dialogue will be maintained between the NPA and the communities, in order to create trust on the quality of the clean-up and decontamination or removal operations, and information exchange on APMs, IEDs and UXOs or ERWs with the multi-task teams will be promoted by the communities.

 Verification.

In order to ensure that the clean-up and decontamination or removal operations comply with the necessary standards and to ensure that the territory is free of any suspected presence of APMs, IEDs and UXOs or ERWs, the NPA will conduct a systematic verification in accordance with best international practices and standards.

The verification and the entire process involving the clean-up and decontamination operations will be accompanied by two National Government delegates, two representatives designated for said purpose by the FARC – EP, and two representatives from the communities.

 Formal delivery to the national and local authorities and the communities.

The NPA verification team, along with the delegates of the National Government and the FARC – EP, will formally deliver the decontaminated lands to the local community representatives and authorities.

 The guarantors will accompany this project’s activities.

 The National Government and the FARC – EP will establish a technical group to determine the sites and the roadmap for the implementation of this measure, including the forms and specificities of their participation in the project.

 The National Government undertakes to guarantee the necessary technical and material resources and the transport logistics required by the NPA –which will be of a humanitarian nature- for the commissioning of the initiative, and to adopt the necessary measures for the recovery of the affected goods and services.

Medical support personnel will be civilian.

The Government will keep the Dialogue Table informed about all resources provided.

 The National Government and the FARC – EP undertake to maintain the areas clean and decontaminated, thus providing non-repetition guarantees to the communities.

 The Dialogue Table will establish a mechanism to report the progress and compliance with the implementation of this de-escalation measure, which is a mutual commitment.

 The NPA will certify that the site is free from any suspected presence of APMs, IEDs and UXOs or ERWs.