The United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights joined a chorus of international figures Monday by praising the peace process currently underway between FARC rebels and the Colombian government.
UN High Commissioner Navi Pillay used her opening statement before the 21st session of the Human Rights Council to express her support for the fledgling dialog. She said, “I also praise the talks that have begun between the Government and the FARC aimed at bringing peace in Colombia.”
Pillay also made reference to the involvement of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the recent conflict in the Cauca department by asserting, “OHCHR has been supporting negotiations between the Government and the communities and will continue to do so.”
Emissaries of the guerrilla group FARC, which formed in 1964, will begin peace talks with the government in the Norwegian capital of Oslo on October 8 and continue later in Havana. These are the first major peace talks between the two groups since negotiations last failed in 2002, which led, in part, to the rise and conservative hardline policies of Alvaro Uribe who — backed by the U.S. — pushed the rebels away from the country’s economic hubs.
