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Senator Iván Cepeda holds a sign that says "Total Peace" during the installation of the new national congress. Photo: Carlos Ortega (EFF)
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Senate Approves Petro Government’s ‘Total Peace’ Law in Colombia

By Orinoco Tribune
Senator Iván Cepeda holds a sign that says "Total Peace" during the installation of the new national congress. Photo: Carlos Ortega (EFF)

The regulations seek to establish the project as a state policy so that future governments cannot change the agreements that are signed.

On Monday, October 24, the Colombian Senate approved the state policy set forth by Gustavo Petro’s government, known as Law 181 or Law of “total peace,” with 61 votes in favor and 13 against. The aforementioned law modifies the so-called Public Order Law that has been in force since 1997, better known as Law 418.

During the parliamentary debate, Senator Aída Quilcue of the Alternative Indigenous and Social Movement commented that the law must sensitize the security forces and the institutions so that the so-called “total peace” is achieved through ‘joint peace.’

Afterwards, Senator Gustavo Bolívar of the Historic Pact coalition asserted that in order to achieve “total peace,” it is necessary to prevent young people from being “further stepped on… without having analyzed the causes made them go out to protest,” especially when, “more 55% of the people in the country live in informality.”

Senator Juan Felipe Lemos of the Union for the People Party defended the security forces, saying he was against the violence exercised against them during the demonstrations. “We want to guarantee total peace, but without impunity,” he said.

In the same tone, the Democratic Center senator Paloma Valencia added that the law should not allow people to use violence “to destroy and attack the security forces” in the protest. “This is not about persecuting those who protest, we all agree that the right that the protest must be protected,” she said.

The article proposing the elimination of compulsory military service was a particularly controversial point in the discussion, leading to the intervention of Minister of Defense Iván Velásquez Gómez, who indicated that this process would be carried out gradually and progressively. He also added that the creation of a Social Service for Peace would be an alternative mechanism.

At that point, the Uribista caucus of the Democratic Center requested that the initiative be denied and put to a vote. This resulted in the plenary session of the Senate denying, with 39 votes in favor and 37 against, the alternative that gave young people the possibility of choosing between providing social service or joining the Armed Forces.

“The article that sought to create social service for peace as an alternative to compulsory military service has just been sunk in the Senate plenary session… It is unfortunate that we continue to prefer war. It hurts the country,” said Historic Pact senator Esmeralda Hernandez. However, it is necessary to await the result of a vote in the House of Representatives to know if this article is eliminated or not.

Five key points for total peace
The debate within the Upper House of the Colombian Senate began last week when Senator Ariel Ávila reported that agreements had already been reached in the primary commissions of the parliament.

Ávila listed five points that the members of the Senate came to an agreement on and detailed that the first of them defined two types of peace processes in the regulations.

The first type of process contemplates negotiations with armed groups outside the law, with whom political dialogues are held and peace agreements are agreed upon. The second seeks a rapprochement with criminal organizations so that they submit to justice and are dismantled.

According to what was stated, the article also proposes:

  • The creation of “Regions of Peace”.
  • The founding of a “Cabinet for Peace”.
  • The maintenance of the number of location zones for members of armed groups that agree to peace.
  • The establishment of a “Social Service for Peace”.

“Total peace also means social peace: the non-criminalization of social protest and the figure of peace managers,” said Ávila, who furthered that another key point is a “pardon for those who were prosecuted amid social protest.”

The claims of Uribe
When the discussion began in the plenary of the Upper House, Senator Valencia requested that discussions of the bill be postponed, asserting that it contained several “extremely serious” articles. One of these articles would supposedly give the president the power to establish the “Law of Submission” by decree, which, in his opinion, should be the responsibility of Congress.

In response to Valencia, Senator Fabián Díaz of the Green Alliance rejected the request, as he considers that the regulations cannot be postponed, stating that “One more day without peace is one more day with war.” Later, Senator Valencia’s request was rejected by the parliamentary majority.

At the beginning of October, the First Committees of the Colombian Senate and House of Representatives approved the first debate on the bill, which would allow for the start of negotiations with the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla.

Colombia’s Government and ELN Sign Agreement in Caracas to Resume Peace Talks

The regulations seek to establish “total peace” as a state policy in order to prevent future governments from changing the agreements that are signed. The modification of Law 418 is key to that objective, as it gives Petro a four-year extension and the power to call for dialogues, negotiations and sign agreements with organized criminal groups.

 

(RT)

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/FV/SF

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