The Marxist ELN is temporarily silent because of the Corona crisis. Previously, UN Secretary-General Guterres had called for all fighting worldwide to stop because of the spread of the virus.
"End the plague called war and fight the disease that devastates our world," said United Nations chief António Guterres last Monday in New York. The truth commission working in Colombia in the context of the peace process made similar comments. "History will judge those who do not side with life and humanity in this difficult situation," said Jesuit Father Francisco de Roux, head of the Truth Commission, in a video message. While the pandemic brings new difficulties every day, the murder of social activists in different parts of the country simply continues, de Roux said.
"Solidarity and protection of life are required"
Many communities continued to suffer from armed confrontation, intimidation, fear and terror. Given the current dangers of the pandemic, solidarity, protection of life and health should now be above all political, economic or military considerations.
The task of the Truth Commission in the peace process is, among other things, to investigate the acts of violence committed during the decades-long civil war. In 2016, the Colombian state and the left-wing guerrilla organization FARC agreed on a peace treaty. Right-wing paramilitary gangs and left-wing guerrilla groups are still active in the country.
The Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide was pleased with the announced ceasefire of the Colombian ELN, which will initially apply from April 1st to 30th. "It is encouraging that the ELN has declared a unilateral ceasefire to combat the common threat that Covid-19 poses," she said. It is another example of the fact that parties to the conflict followed Guterres' request.
ELN releases hostages
The Marxist guerrilla organization released three hostages in Colombia on Thursday. The International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed this, according to a report by the news magazine "Semana". The hostages would now be examined for health and could then return to their families. The identity of the released hostages has not been released.
Colombia's conservative President Ivan Duque reiterated the conditions for resuming peace talks with the ELN a few weeks ago. If it wants to fulfill its responsibility for peace in Colombia, then it must release all its hostages and end its criminal activities.
The talks with the ELN started in February 2017 under the old government of Santos and were moved to the Cuban capital Havana in May 2018. Colombia's President Ivan Duque stopped the peace talks after an ELN bomb attack on a police school in Bogota, which killed a total of 22 people and injured 66 people in January last year.
According to estimates by the authorities, the ELN has 2,500 men and women; it is mainly active in eastern Colombia. According to investigations by the public prosecutor's office, the Marxist group accounts for around 7,000 murders, just as many kidnappings, 3,000 land evictions and around 1,000 forced recruits. The ELN is also held responsible for serious environmental degradation caused by over 1,300 oil pipeline attacks.
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