Press release: delivery of the truth commission’s final report in Germany
Colombia’s Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence, and Non-Repetition (CEV) will present its Final Report on July 6 and 7 in Berlin and Frankfurt am Main (Germany). CAPAZ, the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), the German Node, Kolko, and Misereor have joined forces to support the CEV in presenting the report in Berlin. For its part, CAPAZ has formed an alliance with the Germany Node, Kolko, Misereor ,and the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF) for the presentation in Frankurt am Main.
The report will present what happened during over 50 years of armed conflict in Colombia and reveal the patterns of violence that occurred during this period. Based on the accounts of more than 20,000 people who provided their testimonies, the report will provide a voice to victims, members of the security forces, former combatants, businesspeople, and other civil society actors involved in the conflict. This document contributes to the clarification of the truth, one of the basic pillars of the final agreement for the termination of the conflict and the construction of a stable and lasting peace, signed in November 2016 between the Colombian Government and the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP). It will also include recommendations for the non-repetition of a violent past that engendered mistrust and desolation.
The July 6 presentation will take place at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences (Leibiniz Hall) in Berlin at 18:00 (German time). The event will be attended by Commissioner Leyner Palacios, who will speak about the impact of the armed conflict on Colombia’s ethnic peoples. Lorena Díez, member of the Germany Node, will comment on the report from the perspective of exile. Opening remarks will be made by the Alternate Ambassador of Colombia to Germany, Yadir Salazar Mejía, the Deputy Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs (AA), Mr. Tobias Lindner, the German Deputy Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Mr. Niels Annen, and CEV official, Laura Buitrago. CAPAZ Academic Director, Prof. Dr. Stefan Peters, will moderate the event.
The presentation on July 7 will take place at the Evangelische Akademie Frankfurt at 19:00 (German time). The results of the report will be presented by Commissioner Palacios, together with Dr. Pilar Mendoza, member of Nodo Alemania, who will give an overview of the report from the perspective of exile. Opening remarks will be given by CAPAZ Academic Director, Prof. Dr. Stefan Peters and Laura Buitrago, CEV staff member. Prof. Dr. Jonas Wolff of CAPAZ partner institution, the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF), will moderate the discussion.