The Senate of Colombia approved this Monday the bill presented by the Government that seeks to lay the foundations for the total peace policy that opens the way for negotiation and judicial submission for armed groups, and that is close to being definitively approved.
The Senate confirmed the approval of the bill 181/2022 by means of which it modifies, adds and extends Law 418 of 1997the State peace policy is defined, and other provisions are dictated, with 62 votes in favor and 13 against. The 418 is not a new law but has existed since 1997 and every four years it is renewed by the government in power.
“The project of total peace has been approved in the Senate without any kind of limitations,” reported the senator after the vote. Ivan Cepeda, one of the speakers. “This means that the government may carry out all kinds of political negotiation processes and submission to Justice that include, without any exclusion, the armed groups”, added the senator. Cepeda considered the approval of the total peace as a fundamental step to put an end to all forms of violence.
The project is considered fundamental and a priority for the Government because it empowers the Executive to advance the peace talks with armed organizations of political origin, such as the guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN)but also to make rapprochements with criminal structures such as the Gulf Clanfor example, so that submit to justiceaccording to the Colombian newspaper Time. In fact, the ELN has already shown its willingness to resume the dialogue, stalled since January 2019 after the attack by this guerrilla on a police school.
Articles in discussion
The project approved in the Senate is not the one that came from the Government since the chamber did not give the green light to social service for peace, an article understood as an alternative to compulsory military service. This article was left out of the final approval of the bill due to the absence of some members of the government caucus. However, if this Tuesday it is approved in the House of Representatives, it will have to go back to conciliation in the Senate. The vote on that article resulted in 39 votes in favor of elimination and 37 against.
Defense Minister, Ivan Velasquezexplained that it was not a question of dismantling military service, but of create an alternative for young people. With the social service, the Government sought that those who decided to benefit could accompany the victims and help in the literacy of the communities, among other tasks.
However, the argument of the Uribista senator María Fernanda Cabal, who said that social service was a form of political recruitment to attract new voters and that it was going to hit the Public Force, which needs this recruitment, it was stronger.
Also Articles 16 and 17, which proposed a pardon for young people detained in the framework of last year’s social protests, were left out of the approved bill. although in the same way, congressmen from the government bench will present a new bill on Tuesday that seeks that purpose.