CUBA: Colombia's FARC denies it is pressuring the U.N.

Record ID: 349969

  • Title: CUBA: Colombia's FARC denies it is pressuring the U.N.
  • Date: 5th September 2014
  • Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (SEPTEMBER 05, 2014) (REUTERS) FARC PEACE NEGOTIATORS ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALIST VARIOUS OF NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FARC PEACE NEGOTIATOR, JESUS SANTRICH, SAYING: "It is a lie that the FARC Peace Delegation has put pressure on the United Nations, the Centre for Thought and the Episcopal Conference, organizers of the hearings, in order t
  • Embargoed: 20th September 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cuba
  • Country: Cuba
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA6X8BD8KXCHYQIPBIH60Q2QPCC
  • Story Text: The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on Friday (September 05) denied it was pressuring international organizations, including the United Nations, to not allow a congresswoman and former kidnap victim of the rebel group to participate as a victim in the peace talks between the group and the Colombian government.
    The controversy is centred around congresswoman Clara Rojas who was taken into FARC custody in 2002 along with presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt when the pair travelled to a demilitarized zone.
    A statement signed by a FARC leader in the Colombian mountains earlier this week claimed Rojas, who was held for six year by the rebels, didn't have the right to participate as a victim in the peace talks.
    But the Colombian government lashed out at the FARC maintaining that Rojas, who was freed in 2008 and later became involved with one of her captors and gave birth to a boy in 2004, had every right to participate in the peace talks as a FARC victim.
    But before entering the latest round of peace talks, FARC peace negotiator Jesus Santrich denied charges the group was actively pressuring groups involved in the peace process from keeping Rojas from participating.

    "It is a lie that the FARC Peace Delegation has put pressure on the United Nations, the Centre for Thought and the Episcopal Conference, organizers of the hearings, in order to impede the presence of Clara Rojas. They themselves can attest what we are saying. Moreover, she (Rojas) has not even been selected (to take part) in the second meeting," Santrich said.
    The second group of victims of the war are expected to arrive next Wednesday (September 10) to take part in the peace talks, organizers said.
    Santrich said the situation had been blown out of proportion.

    "It's an exaggeration and malicious to take from this specific situation that the FARC, as an organization, is not meeting the agreement we made to recognize the victims and taking the necessary responsibilities," Santrich said.
    Victim compensation is one of two points, along with a framework for ending the 50 year conflict, remaining to be agreed upon by the two factions.
    The two sides have so far reached agreements on three of the five points on the agenda - land reform, the rebels' participation in politics, and withdrawal from the drugs trade during the Havana-based negotiations which have been underway for almost two years.
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