. . HUMAN RIGHTS . .
Special to CPNN from Amada Benevides
On June 9, more than 1,300 educational institutions throughout Colombia commemorated the first anniversary of the delivery of the Final Report of the Truth Commission. In the company of civil society organizations and education secretariats, the schools organized to live a special day with their educational communities, opening a path of dialogue and reflection on the value of truth in coexistence and the history of the Colombian armed conflict.
On June 28, 2022, after more than 3 years of work, the Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence, and Non-repetition delivered its Final Report to society. The Truth Commission (CEV), together with the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) and the Unit for the Search for Disappeared Persons in the framework of the Armed Conflict (UBPD), are part of the Comprehensive System of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-repetition (SVJR). The SVJR arising from the Agreement between the FARC-EP and the Colombian Government to end the armed conflict that lasted more than 60 years.
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(click here for the article in Spanish.).)
Truth Commissions, Do they improve human rights?
What is happening in Colombia, Is peace possible?
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The Commission’s report is made up of 11 chapters that are designed in multiple formats so that they can be addressed by diverse communities and populations. The Commission’s Final Report is a public good. Its recommendations arise from an in-depth analysis of what happened during years of violence from more than 1,000 reports delivered by civil society, nearly 30,000 people interviewed and heard about what is necessary for non-repetition. Not all the recommendations are addressed to the Government or the State; there are several that fall on the rest of civil society and that is why their dissemination with the formal and non-formal education sectors is so important. Girls, boys, adolescents and young people, as well as the entire educational community, have the right to know the truth about what happened in the context of the armed conflict and the commitment to work on actions so that this does not happen again.
To commemorate the date of the launch of the report, the organizations allied with the Commission invite the educational institutions to develop three special days of deliberation and action. The aim of these journeys are to promote spaces for reflection with the educational community on the most important aspects of the report and how these processes contribute to the construction of peace from the clarification of the truth and the recommendations for the construction of coexistence that the CEV developed in its three years of work.
The allied organizations of the Commission, including Fundación Escuelas de Paz – civil society organizations, universities, Secretaries of Education and the Ministry of National Education – are aware that the contribution to Peace must be a continuous process. We unite in order to propose the development of a commemorative agenda with three milestone dates that motivate reflection on the work that is carried out from the Comprehensive System for Peace and keep the Legacy of the Commission alive.
These sessions will be:
June 9: The School Embraces the Truth.
August 30: The School embraces empathy.
October 2: The school embraces justice and restoration.