I thank the sub-committee for the invitation to join it today, which provides me with a welcome opportunity to discuss the human rights situation in Colombia and the EU-Colombia free trade agreement. I have also met with ICTU, with whom I had a substantive and constructive meeting some time ago. I am always available to discuss issues of this kind with the sub-committee and civil society groups.
As the sub-committee will be aware, Colombia has witnessed the longest period of terrorism of any country in Latin America — over 50 years in all. The Colombian people endure relentless suffering, reflected in the more than 2 million persons who have been internally displaced over the past number of years, a number second only to that of Sudan. The degree of lawlessness that arises from the absence of peace presents a major challenge to any government. Drugs are the main cause of the violence in Colombia and the FARC and ELN enjoy huge financial resources from cocaine which make it difficult for a Government, even one as determined as that of President Uribe, to destroy their networks.
It is important to consider Colombia in the context of the region as a whole. Central and South American countries make up seven of the ten countries worldwide with the highest intentional homicide rate. Honduras, Venezuela, El Salvador, Jamaica, Guatemala andTrinidad and Tobago all have higher homicide rates than Colombia. Ten years ago, Colombia, like most of these countries, had a murder rate of 50 per 100,000 persons. This has fallen to 37 in the intervening decade.
Colombia is clearly a fragile state. The indictment of a large number of senators for association with the FARC, ELN and AUC illustrates the extent of the problems facing the Government. However, compared with the situation ten years ago, Colombia today has become a safer place to live. Colombians' belief in the prospects for a peaceful future and the impressive recent social and economic development reflected in the strong inward investment flows reinforce the impression that Colombia is slowly emerging from a grim past. Of course, there will be ups and downs in an environment where the FARC is still at large.
There is no single solution for promoting peace in Colombia. The various social and economic elements underlying the conflict have to be tackled simultaneously. Our approach, and that of the European Union, is to assist and influence the Colombian Government in a manner that results in economic and social development while progressively improving human rights standards. Moreover, Ireland's approach to Colombia is informed by our own experience in dealing with a post-insurgency environment. The free trade agreement between the EU and Colombia will contribute significantly to social and economic development, which is essential if Colombia is to emerge from its violent past. On the other hand, there is no question on our part of strengthening economic ties at the expense of human rights.
Let me outline the steps which Ireland has taken over the past year in addressing human rights issues directly with the Government of Colombia and together with the European Union. First, in December 2008 at the universal periodic review of Colombia at the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, Ireland made a set of strong recommendations, inter alia, on the protection of human rights defenders in Colombia. The Foreign Minister, Mr. Bermudez, subsequently wrote to me outlining, in detail, the steps that Colombia had undertaken, particularly in response to Ireland’s recommendations at the UN Human Rights Council. In my response to Mr. Bermudez’ letter, I acknowledged the progress made but equally stressed the need for further serious efforts by the Colombian Government in order to meet its human rights commitments. These points were made also to the Colombian ambassador during his visit to Ireland earlier this year, when I understand the sub-committee also had the opportunity to meet with him.
Second, the ambassador, Mr. Eamon Hickey, met with President Uribe, Foreign Minister Mr. Bermudez and senior officials in Bogotá in November 2009 and raised a range of human rights issues, in particular the question of the number of trade unionists killed in recent years. The Colombian side acknowledged the difficulties they were facing in this regard and with regard to the protection of human rights more generally, but underlined its commitment to addressing these issues.
Third, I instructed officials at the relevant EU working groups in Brussels to insist, during discussions on the FTA negotiations, on the inclusion of a clause committing both the EU member states and Colombia to the implementation of their human rights responsibilities with the proviso that failure to do so would result in the suspension of the agreement. Other member states followed our lead in this. I wrote to the then EU trade commissioner in January to underline the importance I attached to the inclusion of such a clause as an essential element of the agreement and the clause has, indeed, been included as the first article in the agreement. This is the first time that such a clause has been included in a free trade agreement and it is the first time that immediate suspension of the agreement is provided for should the circumstances warrant this.
I have to be honest with members. There was no support among member states for the idea of suspending even one round of negotiations, much less the agreement as a whole. We concentrated our efforts on working with like-minded member states to ensure that the agreement will result in further scrutiny of the Colombian labour market, thereby benefiting trade unionists and others. Having watched the effects of the US embargo on the Cuban people, I cannot envisage proceeding along similar paths with Colombia.
In addition to the bilateral track, the European Union has stepped up its human rights dialogue with the Colombian authorities, who have been left in no doubt about the seriousness of our preoccupation with the human rights situation and the extent of the improvements needed. Indeed, on foot of an initiative by Ireland, Colombia agreed to an extraordinary meeting of the human rights dialogue with the EU in December 2009 at which the issue of trade unionists was raised as a priority issue.
Over the coming weeks, the EU will meet once more with senior Colombian officials to continue the human rights dialogue and I understand that the situation of trade union officials will be a focus of that meeting. I believe that these efforts are bearing fruit and that there is an increasing awareness in the Colombian Government that pressure will continue on the part of the European Union to give greater effect to their commitments in this regard.
We must recognise also that the Colombian Government has taken concrete steps, such as trebling the protection programme for human rights defenders to $47 million in 2009. One concrete result of this was that coverage was extended to include union members and journalists and in the first half of 2009 the protection programme benefited 1,430 trade unionists. Another example is the justice and peace law, which has resulted in the disarming and demobilisation of 52,000 guerrillas. This is, in itself, a considerable achievement. Ireland has supported the law by providing considerable funds to the Organisation of American States in Washington towards the monitoring of its implementation. We have also funded the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights to ensure that human rights obligations are being upheld in that process. It is my wish that we will continue to provide funding to projects in Colombia and, to that end, a proposal for funding for a victim access and support project is currently under consideration.
In the Chairman's letter to me, he raised the matter of the visits by the five UN special rapporteurs to Colombia over the past year, on extrajudicial issues, human rights defenders, indigenous peoples' rights, judicial independence and minority issues . I welcome these visits as they ensure that pressure is maintained on Colombia to meet its human rights commitments. Each of the rapporteurs commented positively on the Colombian Government’s level of engagement with them during the visit and, more important, noted the progress made in a broad range of areas. Of course, work remains to be done and the fact that the rapporteurs’ reports are formally submitted to the UN will ensure that attention remains on Colombia and that concrete follow-up ensues.
In conclusion, it is my firm belief that this agreement will provide considerable investment, trade and co-operation opportunities for both EU member states and for Colombia. Solutions to the security and human rights situation in Colombia, as elsewhere, will be largely dependent on sustained growth and development, and in this sense I firmly believe that the agreement will make a decisive contribution to the improvement of the human rights situation for all Colombians, including trade union members. I can assure members that the Government will continue to follow the human rights situation in Colombia and take the steps we consider necessary bilaterally, as well as in co-operation with our EU partners.
