UN urges less aggressive rhetoric as Colombia peace talks progress
UN urges less aggressive rhetoric as Colombia peace talks progress
Posted by Adriaan Alsema on Jul 17, 2015
The United Nations called on Colombia’s politicians and FARC rebels to establish a more peaceful public discourse without understating or being apologetic about crimes committed during the 51-year-long armed conflict.
“You cannot reach peace, a sustainable peace, if war persists in the rhetoric of the politicians, of opinion leaders,” the UN’s resident coordinator in Colombia, Fabrizio Hochschild, told press on Thursday.
The UN representative stressed that “changing the way of talking does not mean denying that a lot of crimes have been committed,” but does mean to “stop seeing the world as divided between good and evil, to stop dehumanizing and stigmatizing other Colombians.”
. . .
So far, the government and rebels were able to relatively easily come to partial agreements on drug trafficking, political participation and rural development, but have hit a rough patch now the negotiators are talking about victims which includes the application of some form of transitional justice over the tens of thousands of war crimes committed by both parties.
http://colombiareports.com/un-urges-less-aggressive-rhetoric-as-colombia-peace-talks-progress/
