WOLA: Advocacy for Human Rights in the Americas
29 Oct 2013 | Video

A Challenge for Peace in Colombia: Dismantling Paramilitary Structures

This event was co-sponsored by LAWGEF and USOC

Danilo Rueda
Inter-Church Commission for Justice and Peace (Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz, CIJP)

Rafael Barrios
José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective (Corporación Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo, CCAJAR)

Kimberly Stanton
Project Counselling Service

As Colombia’s government and guerrilla forces meet at peace talks in Havana, Colombians, especially Afro-Colombian, indigenous and poor rural communities, are still harshly affected by the conflict. Guerrilla groups and paramilitary successor groups continue to exercise control over areas of the countryside. One of the challenges of creating as well as implementing a successful peace accord will be how to effectively dismantle persistent paramilitary structures. Our speakers are presenting recommendations to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission regarding how best to address this substantial obstacle to attaining a just and lasting peace in Colombia.