UN envoy says ex-FARC fighters in Colombia being killed

The United Nation envoy for Colombia called on Wednesday for improved protection for former combatants who continue to be killed “in alarming numbers,” and he complained of rising violence and massacres by other groups that have cropped up since the 2016 peace accord. Carlos Ruiz Massieu told the UN Security Council that efforts must also be stepped up to fight impunity for these crimes, “including by bringing intellectual authors to justice”. “Priority should be given to staffing and resources for the National Protection Unit to clear the backlog of pending requests for protection for former combatants,” he said. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ latest report to the council, circulated last week, said the UN political mission in Colombia verified 19 killings of former combatants from the country’s main rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), in the three-month period ending September 25. The latest victims included one of the highest-ranking former FARC commanders, Jorge Ivan Ramos, who became a FARC political party leader and was killed on August 28. The UN chief said Ramos was actively engaged in implementing the 2016 peace deal with the government, including working on a crop substitution programme and the handover process for FARC assets. The FARC party addressed an open letter to the National Liberation Army, known by its Spanish acronym ELN, which is one of Colombia’s last remaining rebel groups, expressing shock “over information that ELN was behind the crime,” Guterres said. style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0; left: 0;">