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Colombia's largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), called for an end to violence by paramilitaries, armed groups that have for decades been contributing to the country's civil war.
“It is impossible to bring a stable and lasting peace as long as paramilitary actions and dirty warfare continue,” said FARC spokesman Pablo Catatumbo from Havana, Cuba Saturday, where the guerrilla group and the Colombian government have been undergoing peace talks since 2012.
The two sides have been trying to bring an end to the over 50 years of fighting in Colombia, which has seen over 220,000 people killed and millions displaced or disappeared. Earlier this year, in order to step up the talks, the FARC guerrillas called a unilateral cease-fire while the government agreed to tone down its aggression and stop air attacks on FARC locations.
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Right wing paramilitary groups, who have been accused of mass human rights violations, have not been involved in the peace negotiations.
In his communique Saturday, Catatumbo listed a number of recent attacks by paramilitary forces, including the killing of “69 human rights defenders” by paramilitary groups so far in 2015.
According to Catatumbo, the attacks have been particularly targeting “newly created political movements.”
“Past acts show a continued strategy of dirty warfare against social organizations, against human rights, and against opposing political movements,” said the FARC spokesperson, adding that the armed groups are “taking advantage of the FARC's unilateral ceasefire with the open complicity of the armed forces.”
Catatumbo said the construction of peace is “only possible” if the Colombian state develops an “effective strategy” to dismantle paramilitary groups and applies a “comprehensive policy” of respect for human rights.
The official delegation of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos present in Cuba made no statement in response to Catatumbo’s request.
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