H.E. Ms Patricia Cortés Ortiz:

I thank Senator Craughwell for his questions. First, I recognise particularly the importance of this session and I will always take the committee's questions very seriously and I am open to share my answers, and in the case I do not have an answer, of course to make sure the Colombian authorities know that.

Second, Colombia is a country that has transformed in recent years. Perhaps Senator Craughwell is looking at one difficult picture at present. We recognise this but the country is completely changing in how we are recovering and the socioeconomic fabric.

For example, for the past 20 years we have been working hard to fight poverty. Unfortunately, a week before the strike started there was a report to say that 2.7 million Colombians had gone back into poverty. This is mostly due to the pandemic, even though the Government has been working at double capacity on health, the ICUs and the programmes for the poorest of the poor but the reality is that we have been heavily affected.

I invite the committee to recognise that Colombia is a country that has already transformed its health. Before the pandemic, we were the country in Latin America that was growing the most. We received nearly 6 million tourists and we were really working well but now the Government understands that the young people are asking for more. There are historical demands, which are fine because we understand that people are in the streets in Colombia and maybe in other countries as well.

That is why, for example, as the national dialogue is going on, the Government of President Duque is already engaging in a specific programme for the youth to provide zero fees to enter third level education and a programme for the poorer young people to access housing, for example. He just launched a housing and work programme because we understand that we have to engage in this dialogue but we are listening to the concerns of the people. They are mostly economic concerns but there are many historic concerns. Unfortunately, in Colombia, like in many Latin American countries, there is inequality but we are not going to solve inequality in one year or in one day. This is something that is an ongoing process so that is why we are working as hard as we can in this agenda of recovering.

On vaccinations, so far we have 10 million people vaccinated in Colombia. We are a country of 50 million so we are ten times the population of Ireland but we are working hard on that. We need full respect for the protests but we must also condemn the violence and I want to reiterate that.

On the investigations, I may have said this already but I want to reiterate that in Colombia there are independent institutions already. Our attorney general's office is not part of the Government. It is an independent institution and it is the only institution that really can account for the violations in that process and of course there will be sanctions. I will give the specific information on the investigations. The investigations are into the alleged misconduct of policemen. There are 163 disciplinary investigations open, including: 77 for abuse; 11 for homicide; 31 for battery; 18 for injury; two for sexual harassment; and 24 for misconduct. The policemen have been very affected. During the protests, there were people injured. We are all Colombians. More than 1,000 civilians and more than 1,000 policemen have been injured. Two policemen were killed as well. That is why we are engaged in this dialogue with the complexities that Mr. Archila mentioned.

Perhaps the timing of this debate is good because it is a great opportunity to hear the members. I have always been open. I do not know if other ambassadors do this but I have asked for meetings with all of the members and I have met some of those who have responded to my request. I have permanent contact with Deputy Brady and the Chairman and I will always be open. As I say, Colombia seeks to provide an example of how open we are to listen to all sides, to talk and to convey the messages we receive because we know how important this dialogue is. Colombia is a country that is transforming and that will move on. It has been resilient and the members will be a part of this success story through engaging with us. Colombia has been a success story. We have faced many challenges, we are facing this one and we are confident that we will move on with the respect for human rights but also with this conscience of stopping all types of violence, not only one side.

On the implementation, Mr. Archila mentioned that it is a long-term commitment for 50 years. It is part of our Constitution and it is a long term commitment. This Government has so much to say about results, which is what one wants in the end. Many people may want more, even perhaps including the members and that is fine but we have to understand the complexities and the long-term investment and commitment as well.