After
Colombia -
FARC Signing,
UNSC Issues
Statement of
Support
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, June
23 -- Three
top UN
officials
headed to Cuba
for the
June 23
signing
between the
Government of
Colombia and
the FARC. UN
Security
Council
president
Francois
Delattre of
France was
asked on June
22 and,
looking
surprised,
said he'd have
more on that
later. Video
here.
On June 23,
the Security
Council issued
a Press Statement,
here:
"The Members
of the
Security
Council
welcomed the
historic
agreements
reached today
in Havana
between the
Government of
Colombia and
the FARC-EP.
The Members of
the Security
Council
commended the
determination
of the parties
in reaching
these
agreements and
recognised
that they
represent an
important
further step
towards a
Final Peace
Agreement to
end the armed
conflict in
the Republic
of Colombia
after more
than fifty
years.
The Members of
the Security
Council
recognised the
vital role
played by the
Republic of
Cuba and the
Kingdom of
Norway as
guarantors,
and by the
Republic of
Chile and the
Bolivarian
Republic of
Venezuela as
accompanying
countries of
the Peace
Process in
Colombia.
The Members of
the Security
Council
reiterated
their full
commitment to
the Peace
Process in the
Republic of
Colombia. They
underlined
their support
to the parties
in reaching a
Final Peace
Agreement and
their
determination
to support
Colombia’s
implementation
of that Peace
Agreement in
accordance
with
resolution
2261 (2016)."
Moments later
the Colombian
government announced
that Delattre,
UNGA President
Mogens
Lykketoft and
Ban Ki-moon,
whom they
spelled Ban
Ki-Moon, were
headed to
Cuba. An hour
later,
Lykketoft's
office
confirmed
he'll be in
Cuba June
22-26. Then
Ban followed
suit - but
he's headed to
France by June
24, to get an
honorary
degree.
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.)
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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