Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their comprehensive presentations. I also welcome the Colombian ambassador. I am struck by the comment that it is a bleak assessment but, as Ms Kohon said, it is important to try to take a balanced approach. It would be a mistake to characterise it as a dying peace agreement. I am struck by the European Parliament report on Colombia of May 2019, which we were given by Ms Cáit Hayes from the Oireachtas communications unit. The report refers to a fragile stability in Colombia and, while it addresses the challenges in the peace process, it tries to pave a way forward. That is what we should try to do. We heard in recent months from the EU special envoy, Eamon Gilmore, who spoke at this committee about the challenges and his continuing work. I thank Mr. Callinan for paying tribute to Mr. Gilmore and his continued role with the EU. It is also positive to see the Irish embassy opening in Bogota with Ambassador Alison Milton. I welcome the assistance and support Ireland and Irish officials have given to the peace process. I also pay tribute to the important work of Justice for Colombia. The European Parliament report makes clear that NGOs and civil society will have a significant role in ensuring the implementation of the peace accord.

I am struck by the appalling news of the deaths of so many human rights defenders and the statement that Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world in which to be a trade unionist. That is pretty bleak. All of us following the situation have been alarmed at President Duque and his Government's apparent lack of commitment to the peace accord. The question for us as committee members is how to help with the implementation of the peace accord, how to use any influence we have to place pressure on the Colombian Government and how we can work through the EU. The EU's trust fund for peace has been instrumental in the negotiations on the peace accord and in trying to see it implemented. The briefing we received from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade points out that Duque's government is a coalition and that there are different views in the different parties. Perhaps it is not quite as monolithic as might sometimes appear in reports. Typically, this committee has expressed its views by way of a letter to the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, asking him to use any influence he has at EU level and in bilateral contacts to push for implementation of the peace process. We might do that again today.

Like Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan, I was struck by the fact that one significant difficulty has been the pillar on illicit drugs and drug cultivation. The Christian Aid report suggests that the war on drugs has been the wrong approach. It is a view I have taken for a long time. The European Parliament report notes that while more needs to be done to eradicate the cultivation of illegal crops, the strategies that have been continue to be adopted have been ineffective. A joint report by a number of think tanks and prominent NGOs has demonstrated their ineffectiveness. That report calls for a different policy that would include a focus on rights and public health and that would move away from the prohibitionist strategy of the war on drugs. Is there any way we can use our influence to put forward an alternative approach to the problem of illegal drugs that would help to resolve that issue?

One of the issues identified in the European Parliament report and in our own Government's assessment is the recently deteriorating situation in Venezuela, which is having a destabilising effect within Colombia as estimates of tens of thousands of refugees are coming into the country every day across the border. Friends who visited Colombia in recent months tell me this is a visible issue and clearly problematic. The European Parliament report suggests that tackling the implications of the Venezuelan crisis is one of the key interventions that need to be made in ensuring the effective implementation of the peace accord.

The witnesses might comment on the ongoing security issue from the ELN, the guerilla group which has not been party to the peace accord and which I think was responsible for a bomb attack in Bogota in January of this year. Peace talks are continuing in Havana but have been suspended at various periods. Is there any prognosis there? We spoke with Eamon Gilmore about that issue, too, and he pointed out some key challenges.

I reiterate the commitment of all members on a cross-party basis to ensuring that the fragile stability currently pertaining in Colombia is supported and that we try to help in any way we can to ensure the implementation of the peace accord and continued peace and protection of human rights, with an end to the dreadful assassinations and deaths of so many human rights defenders in Colombia and support for victims. One of the positive things that shone out to me from the reports I have been reading is that victims and families have participated. The witnesses talked about how important the JEP and the transitional justice process have been. That is working and, although clearly it is being undermined, there are some positive signs. One has been the participation by very brave victims and their families. There is support from the Colombian people even though it is a polarised population, as is exemplified by the vote in the referendum on the peace deal and in President Santos having lost the 2018 election. This is a massive issue. While it appears to be a bleak assessment currently, is there a way forward? If so, can the committee assist in that?