Antony Blinken
Secretary of State
U.S. Government
Washington, DC
March 22, 2023
We were very pleased that the Biden Administration publicly announced that the United States is an international accompanier to the Ethnic Chapter of Colombia’s 2016 peace agreement. The signing ceremony that took place with you and Vice President Francia Marquez in October 2022 was symbolically important because it raised the profile of Afro-Colombian and indigenous issues globally and ratified the vital support that the U.S. government had already been giving to ethnic groups in Colombia.
To ensure that U.S. accompaniment of the Ethnic Chapter moves forward, we believe that the United States and Colombia should develop a joint strategy similar to the U.S. Colombia Labor Action Plan (LAP) that details how the two countries will work to monitor and advance the implementation of the Ethnic Chapter. A roadmap is needed on how the United States can help Colombia advance the Ethnic Chapter in the short, medium and long term. This roadmap and strategy must be developed through a process of consultation with the High Special Instance for Ethnic Peoples (IEANPE), the Ethnic Peace Commission, the Afro-Colombian Peace Council and other key civil society actors.
We recommend that such a strategy include the following:
1) Identification of priority issues, steps to be taken, and indicators to measure progress.
2) Clear designation of those responsible for advancing the different aspects of the Ethnic Chapter within the two governments. Explanation of the roles to be played by the various U.S. agencies and Colombian ministries, the U.S. Congress, and U.S. civil society. Definition of an agenda or timetable and the issues to be addressed.
3) An explanation of how this effort will integrate, complement and enhance existing U.S. government efforts such as the Colombia Racial Action Plan (CAPREE) and the Colombia Labor Action Plan (LAP), and how these plans and the Ethnic Chapter will be articulated. Similarly, an explanation of how this effort complements and enhances USAID programming on AfroColombian and indigenous peoples.
4) This strategy should include rules of the game that are culturally sensitive and respect the ethnic communities’ methods of relating with Afro-Colombian, indigenous, Raizal and Roma leaders, territorial authorities and communities. It should include a continual feedback loop of consultation, evaluation, and feedback from ethnic peoples and authorities, including the High Special Instance for Ethnic Peoples (IEANPE), the Ethnic Peace Commission, the Afro-Colombian Peace Council and other key civil society actors.
5) A financial plan that identifies the resources available to carry out this effort and what resources are needed. This will allow for the possibility of seeking partnerships with the private sector, other interested countries and donors.
6) The details of such a strategy require a process of consultation with the High Special Instance for Ethnic Peoples (IEANPE), the Ethnic Peace Commission, the Afro-Colombian Peace Council and other key civil society actors. Additionally, we recommend that the U.S. government (Executive, State Department, USAID, Congress and other agencies) support the following lines of action for the strengthening of the Ethnic Chapter identified by the spokespersons of the High-Level Ethnic Instance for Ethnic Peoples (IEANPE), which ratified three lines of action for the strengthening of the Ethnic Chapter:
1) Advance the monitoring and follow-up process.
2) Analysis and advocacy with the international community and governmental bodies.
3) Capacity building in the areas of direct implementation. To advance these axes, the following criteria must be considered:
a. They must be advanced at the national and regional territorial levels.
b. Persons should receive training on the Ethnic Chapter.
c. Channels of communication should be developed between the IEANPE, territorial authorities and ethnic leaders and the national government and international community.
To complement these efforts, it is necessary that the U.S. help advance the recommendations made in the Final Report of the Truth Commission in its section on ethnic groups. The Commission used a protocol for prior consultation and participation of ethnic groups that followed the guidelines of the Ethnic Chapter. Among the many recommendations of the Truth Commission relevant to this Ethnic Chapter strategy, we would highlight the following:
1) Implementation of a policy for ensuring memory and truth for the construction of peace and non-repetition.
2) In order to ensure that the past is not repeated advancing the necessary policy, regulatory and institutional adjustments (especially to the Victims and Land Restitution Law) that will guarantee a comprehensive, differentiated and transformative reparation for the victims of the conflict. These must take place within a reasonable amount of time so they can have a real impact on the exclusion, poverty and the historical inequalities faced by ethnic victims.
3) Advance an emergency plan to guarantee as a priority the fulfillment of the orders on integral reparation of the victims of the armed conflict contained in sentences of international human rights bodies.
4) Advance a Statute of rights and guarantees for social organizations and movements– particularly grassroots organizations of historically marginalized groups–that allows for the recognition, strengthening and guaranteeing of their influence in public affairs. Particular attention should be paid to women, LGBTIQ+ people, ethnic peoples, and rural farmers.
5) Guarantee spaces for dialogue and coordination with territorial and ethnic authorities, communities, their organizations, academia, and human rights and specialized organizations, regarding the design, implementation and monitoring of drug policy in rural Afro-Colombian and Indigenous territories.
6) Design and promote a public policy for how the ordinary justice system and the ethnic peoples’ own justice system interact. This should be constructed jointly with representative ethnic authorities. As part of the policy, the creation of the Law for the articulation of the Special Indigenous Jurisdiction and the ordinary jurisdiction should be promoted within the framework of the Permanent Roundtable of Indigenous Peoples.
7) Agree upon and prioritize with the ethnic peoples the regulatory and institutional adjustments to guarantee the rights enshrined in the 1991 Political Constitution. To advance in this, it is required, for each people:
● Indigenous peoples: development of Articles 2, 7, 10, 40, 246, 246, 286, 287, 329 and 330 of
the 1991 Constitution, the block of constitutionality and the ethnic chapter of the Final Peace Agreement, in such a way as to guarantee rights related to Indigenous Territorial Entities, political participation and the Special Indigenous Jurisdiction, among others.
● Black, Afro-Colombian people: in compliance with Articles 2, 7 and Transitory Article 55 of the 1991 Constitution, the block of constitutionality and the ethnic chapter of the Final Peace Agreement, guarantee the regulations of Law 70 of 1993 be fully developed, compliance in terms of territorial entities, autonomy and protection of the collective territories of black communities, and the differentiated development of cities and municipalities with the largest Afro-Colombian and black presence in the country.
● Raizal people: in compliance with Articles 2, 7 and Transitory Article 55 of the 1991 Constitution, Law 70 of 1993, the block of constitutionality and the ethnic chapter of the Final Peace Agreement, advance in the approval of the Statute of Autonomy of the Raizal People to guarantee institutionality, competencies, seats and inter-institutional coordination processes, which recognize the Raizal ancestral territory and the protection of their lands.
● Palenquero people: in compliance with Articles 2, 7 and Transitory Article 55 of the 1991 Constitution, Law 70 of 1993, the block of constitutionality and the ethnic chapter of the Final Peace Agreement, develop the regulations for the creation of the Palenquero territorial entity. This must guarantee the institutional framework, competencies and inter institutional coordination processes.
● Rrom people: in compliance with Articles 2 and 7 of the 1991 Constitution and the block of constitutionality, the catalog of rights of the Rrom people in terms of protection must be developed. This must guarantee the institutional framework, competencies, and interinstitutional coordination processes. As a partner of the Ethnic Chapter, the U.S. government should use its diplomatic offices to advance these lines of action not only with the Colombian government, but also with other countries and United Nations agencies.
We look forward to further dialogue on this issue with you.
Yours sincerely,
Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)
UNIAFRO
SoulsaPaz
MADRE
Latin America Working Group (LAWG)
International Institute for Race and Equality
Global Black
FOR Peace Presence
Colombia Human Rights Committee
Colombia Acuerdo de Paz NGO
Ciclo Estudios Africanos y la Diaspora (CEADA)
Arraigo Collective
Afrolatin@ Forum
Afro-Colombian Global Initiative
Robert Benz
Michael Birenbaum Quintero, Chair & Associate Professor of Musicology and Ethnomusicology, Boston University
Eunice M. Escobar, MPA, Association for the Creative Human Ecology
Humberto Garces
Joseph F. Jordan, Southern Africa Support Project (SASP)
Mbare Ngom, Dean and Professor, The James H. Gilliam, Jr. College of Liberal Arts Morgan State University
Victor Rodriguez
Download the full letter here.
