Victims protested the Duque government's decision not to allow participation in a hearing before the UN Security Council

A series of letters sent by social leaders to the United Nations Security Council expressed their disagreement with the decision that would have been taken by President Iván Duque, who will discuss the progress made in the implementation of the Peace Agreement before the United Nations Security Council, scheduled for 9:00 a.m. this Tuesday.

There are 92 organizations of civil society organizations that raised their voices of protest to the representatives of the multilateral organization, according to a version delivered by the journalist Felix de Bedout to the W Radio station.

Among those cited by de Bedout are Carlos Vaca, victim and president of the Immigrant Care Service Foundation representing 92 civil society organizations, Armando Wouriyu Balvuena, Secretary General of the High Level Special Instance for Ethnic Peoples (IEANPE) and Richard Moreno Rodríguez, coordinator of the National Council for Afro-Colombian Peace (CONPA).

W Radio quotes an excerpt from the letter written by Vaca which establishes the voice of protest against the exclusion of these organizations at the important meeting this Tuesday:

Continuing the claim against what could be a presidential blockade against the victims' voices, Armando Wouriyu Balvuena and Richard Moreno indicated that: “In addition, we are concerned that, more than five years after the signing of the Peace Agreement, public policy for the dismantling of armed groups illegals designed in the Agreement has never been presented or implemented by the Colombian State, when, it is these armed groups that daily violate our communities, recruit our children and actively seek to assassinate our members.”

They further added that: “We will never be emphatic enough to emphasize the importance of the support and attention of the Security Council, such as that of the international community deployed and mobilized daily in Colombia, without which we would have no voice or hope to remedy what we are aware of here.”

Despite the reason for complaint among the representatives of social organizations, the signatories appreciated that the organization maintains full support for the implementation of the Peace Agreement in Colombia.

These are the documents associated with the presidency of the Security Council of the United Nations.

President Ivan Duque will be in the United States for three days to fulfill his duties as head of state. On April 12, the Colombian president will speak at the Security Council of the United Nations (UN) to discuss the implementation of the Peace Agreement in the country.

This is the first time that Duque has spoken before the aforementioned Council, where he will present a detailed account of the progress made in the implementation of the Peace with Legality policy during his administration. The president will be accompanied by Vice President and Foreign Minister, Marta Lucía Ramírez; Colombia's Ambassador to the UN, Guillermo Fernández de Soto, and the Presidential Advisor for Stabilization and Consolidation, Emilio Archila.

“Peace with Legality is a reality, and it is good that we understand that, since it has no owners and is also part of a collective construction, that we recognize what is being built together: Colombia's triumphs belong to all citizens,” said the head of state. He also assured that the most important thing is that, “when peace is built we are sowing joy in the hearts of every citizen”.

Among the achievements that the president will highlight, he will highlight the progress made in the Victims Act and the support he has given it to 12,826 former members of the extinct FARC, by extending until 2031 the benefits that were extinguished in August 2019. “8,556 ex-combatants have a productive project or an economic enterprise. This is done through 4,063 individual and collective projects”, reported the Presidency of the Republic.

KEEP READING: