Luxembourg, 04/10/2005 (Agence Europe) - At their meeting in Luxembourg on 3 October, the EU foreign ministers, as indicated earlier (EUROPE 9034), gave their endorsement to EU political and financial support for the Colombian government's plan for national reconciliation and the demobilisation of paramilitary groups. In its conclusions, the Council expresses “its full support for the Colombian Government in its search for a negotiated solution to the internal armed conflict”, and considers that the Justice and Peace Law adopted on 21 June by the Colombian Congress and enacted into law by President Uribe, is “a significant development, since it provides an overall legal framework for DDR (disarmament, demobilisation and reinsertion of illegal armed groups) in Colombia”. Noting that adoption of the law comes after “a lengthy and thorough democratic parliamentary process”, the Council recognises that “a difficult balance has to be struck between peace (which includes giving sufficient incentives to illegal armed groups to disarm and demobilise) and justice (which requires truth and reparations for the victims and the punishment of those who have committed crimes)”. Sharing the fears expressed above all by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Council nonetheless stressed that the Justice and Peace Law does not take into sufficient account the international principles of truth, justice and reparation in accordance with internationally agreed standards, as well as the need for effective dismantling of the collective paramilitary structures, and a clear distinction between “political” and other crimes. Underlining the “short time allowed for the investigation of confessions and for the investigation of title assets that may have been acquired as the result of illegal activities; the restricted opportunities allowed for victims to claim reparations” and “the limited maximum sentences for the most serious of crimes; and the heavy resource pressures”, the Council considered that, if the Law was effectively and transparently implemented, it would make a positive contribution to the search for peace in Colombia. It therefore confirmed it was willing to work in close collaboration with the government, institutions and the civil society in Colombia in order to monitor implementation of the judicial process established under the new law. It also confirmed that the Union and its Member Sates were willing to assist the Colombian Government and the civil society in providing support for communities affected by the internal conflict, victims groups, local reconciliation activities, and the reinsertion and demobilisation of child soldiers.
Considering that the Union's political and financial support “will simply prolong the human rights crisis in the country”, Amnesty International expressed disappointment. “By backing Colombia's plan - even with some reservations - the EU has effectively watered down its own official policy line by not insisting on the need for a legal framework (…) which would guarantee the right to truth, justice and reparation for the victims of Colombia's bloody conflict”, Amnesty International points out in a press release. It believes that “what the EU has backed today is a plan which effectively allows for the 'recycling' of paramilitary members, some of whom are suspected of gross human rights violations”.