UN warns for neo-paramilitary violence in Colombia after peace with FARC

UN warns for neo-paramilitary violence in Colombia after peace with FARC
Posted by Adriaan Alsema on Mar 22, 2016

The United Nations, in charge of monitoring a future peace deal between Colombia’s government and FARC rebels, warned Monday about a possible surge in violence by paramilitary successor groups if the FARC demobilizes.

According to the UN, “armed post-demobilization groups and aligned actors constantly undermine human rights and public security, the administration of justice and the construction of peace, including the restitution of land” to farmers who fled their properties during the conflict.

The UN presented its annual report on Colombia in which it said that “the groups who control abandoned lands through violence and threats constitute a permanent challenge to peace.”

Colombia’s largest paramilitary organization, the far-right AUC, demobilized formally between 2003 and 2006. However, some mid-level members of this group, allegedly on the order of founder Vicente Castaño, remained in arms and founded groups like the Urabeños, the Libertadores de Vichada and Bloque Meta. Since their formation, these groups have become Colombia’s primary human rights violator.

More:
http://colombiareports.com/un-warns-neo-paramilitary-violence-peace-farc/