The FARC dissidence known as Segunda Marquetalia has released last Saturday 16 young people who were part of another enemy group in the context of recent clashes between irregular armed organizations in rural areas of the department of Nariño.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has reported in the last hours that these people were part of the 30th Front of the Western Coordinating Command, another of the dissidents of the now extinct FARC.
This operation was carried out in coordination with the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace of Colombia, the Ombudsman and the Catholic Church. According to the parties, the young men are in full physical condition.
The Ombudsman, Carlos Camargo, has highlighted that the release of these people has been carried out as part of the rapprochement between the Colombian Government and Segunda Marquetalia, as a gesture of goodwill and support to the proposal of ‘total peace’ announced by the President, Gustavo Petro.
This is an unprecedented operation, as highlighted by Camargo, since it is the first time that an irregular armed group has handed over members of another illegal armed group for humanitarian purposes, reports the newspaper ‘El Tiempo’.
Before their release, ICRC representatives assessed their health condition and the Colombian authorities explained to them the legal, economic and social benefits of benefiting from the demobilization policies.
The release of these 16 people comes at a time when several armed groups have shown interest in approaching the dialogue proposed by President Petro to put an end to the violence in the country. In this sense, Ombudsman Camargo has urged them to join the government’s ‘total peace’ plan and a multilateral ceasefire so that negotiations can continue to advance.
This case is known in parallel to the approval by the Colombian Congress of the ‘total peace’ bill with which the Government can start negotiating with the different armed groups. From now on it will be State policy, so that the successor governments to Petro’s will have to leave the doors open to dialogue and comply with the agreements that will be established.
