Inner City Press: Investigative Reporting from the United Nations

On Colombia, FARC Deal Praised by UN Expert on Child Soldiers, Of DRC

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 15 -- Many in the UN are primed for an agreement, or many side agreements, between the Government of Colombia and the FARC. Now on May 15, the UN's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Leila Zerrougui has traveled to Havana to witness and praise the agreement to separate and reintegrate child soldiers associated with FARC.

(On the child soldiers issue this comes two days before the Security Council committee considers Iraq and Central African Republic and after the Congolese army FARDC being the bigger recruiter in that country was covered up, as reported by Inner City Press even amid eviction (NYT here) and the attempt to give its office to a never present state media - more on that to come.)

Of Zerrougui the UN on May 15 said:

“I feel privileged to be here today with the Colombians and welcome this important commitment, which puts the issue of children at the heart of the peace process and promises to change their lives. This is an urgently needed step for children who have never known a country at peace,” said Leila Zerrougui.

The Special Representative congratulated the parties who led this process, as well as the guarantors and others, in particular UNICEF and the Resident Coordinator’s Office in Colombia who have supported these negotiations from its onset. “The signing of this agreement is a historic moment for all the Colombians. It is an opportunity we cannot miss, to give children a present and future they deserve,” declared Leila Zerrougui.

As part of the commitment, children under the age of fifteen will be released first, following by the separation of all children under 18. Today’s commitment includes core principles to ensure that separated children will be treated primarily as victims, and that their best interests will be considered as a matter of priority in the reintegration into their communities.

“Today we celebrate, but tomorrow the work begins to help children rebuild their lives and transition into a peaceful civilian life. The United Nations and partners stand ready to support this process,” concluded Zerrougui.

You can find a copy of the Special Representative’s statement delivered in Havana, Cuba here."

On Colombia back on March 11, even with the deadline for an agreement between the government and the FARC being pushed back, Germany's Special Envoy on Colombia Tom Koenigs spoke with the Press.

He had, he said, met with UN Under Secretaries General Feltman, Mulet, Ladsous and Khare, about the upcoming UN mission to be headed by Frenchman Jean Arnault. He noted the history of cultural exchange between Germany and Colombia," saying that "Germans read a lot of Garcia Marquez."

Inner City Press asked Koenigs about the cost of the peace process - and how much Germany would contribute - and about impunity, including in relation to the process, such as it is, in Sri Lanka.

Koenigs among other things said:

To Inner City Press' financial question: "Germany has close relations to Colombia and is ready to support the peace process politically and through technical cooperation in a number of areas. Loan of 300 million Euros by German KfW Development Bank. In addition: 50 million in technical and development cooperation, plus approximately 1 million EUR per year for bilateral demining programs. Also: science and technology transfer through cooperation of universities in the two countries."

To Inner City Press' impunity question: "Those responsible for war crimes have to be brought to justice. Colombia is establishing a transitional justice system and is also a party to the Rome Statute. Impunity is not an option. However, prisons are not the only possible method of corrections. There may be alternatives which could be explored."

Inner City Press had and has some questions about those not part of the FARC negotiations in Cuba - more on that in another story.

Germany is running again for UN Security Council for 2019-20. By the election in 2018, the 2015 Person of the Year award to Chancellor Angela Merkel from TIME Magazine may have faded in memory. Still, its economy is larger than the two other European countries with Permanent seats on the Council; it is about to send 650 peacekeepers to MINUSMA in Mali, on top its current UN peacekeeping contribution of 150 military, 35 police and 60 civilians.

On January 21 Germany's Permanent Representative to the UN Harald Braun held a background briefing on his Mission's 22nd floor. Inner City Press asked three questions and afterward got permission to publish the following responses from Ambassador Braun, on Germany's positions:

On Libya, on which Inner City Press asked whether the recent slew of good-news press statements by the UN Secretary General, the Security Council and many states really mean that the corner has been turned, Ambassador Braun called the situation an“uphill struggle” but said that UN envoy Martin Kobler (who separately told Inner City Press he has a return ticket to the German foreign ministry, video here) has “offered the right instruments.”

On Yemen, on which Inner City Press has previously quoted sources in Sana'a on Germany's Bettina Muscheidt as a possible replacement UN envoy, Braun called the situation “complicated,” adding that “we regret the exclusion of the human rights envoy.”

On Burundi, Germany's Ambassador Braun said, “It is important to dialogue, especially with countries that have human rights issues. We believe that in the current situation it is right for the Security Council to put pressure on the government in Burundi.”

Harald Braun in UNSC, eye on 2019-20, UN Photo/Loey Felipe

And on North Korea and its nuclear test, Braun said, “I believe that China was just as surprised as other Council members... It is my expectation that China will agree to a targeted set of sanctions.”

On this last, no draft has yet been circulated even to all Permanent Five members of the Security Council, they say. Germany, along with a number of other countries, would like to have such a seat. The above are its positions at the UN, on which we'll have more. Watch this site.

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Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.