President Petro ordered the suspension of military operations and offensive police operations, starting on July 6.
In the midst of the violence unleashed by the ELN throughout the country, in addition to the recent kidnapping of Army sergeant Ghislaine Ramírez and her two young children, President Gustavo Petro signed Decree 1117 of July 5, 2023 that orders a ceasefire bilateral and temporary of a national nature with the ELN, between August 3, 2023 and January 29, 2024, which may be extended based on the assessment made by the Peace Dialogues Table of the reports submitted the Monitoring and Verification Mechanism, and as agreed by the parties.
The Decree specifies that the ceasefire will aim to improve the humanitarian situation of the populations and territories, with the purpose that “the civilian population can exercise their rights and freedoms, with emphasis on the most vulnerable, among them, the social and environmental leaders, ethnic peoples, women, human rights defenders and minors”.
In this sense, through this norm, structured in four chapters and 15 articles, the Head of State orders the suspension of military operations and offensive police operations, “as of 00:00 hours on July 6, 2023, against the members of the ELN who participate in the peace process and are within the procedures for the execution of the bilateral and temporary ceasefire agreement of a national nature and the corresponding protocols”.
Likewise, the Decree indicates that “the suspension of military operations and offensive police operations will be done without prejudice to compliance with the function and constitutional and legal obligation of the Public Force to preserve the integrity of the national territory, guarantee the constitutional and legal order and ensure the necessary conditions for the exercise of public rights and liberties throughout the national territory”.
It is noteworthy when the aforementioned Decree says that, … “without prejudice to compliance with the function and constitutional and legal obligation of the Public Force to preserve the integrity of the national territory…”, if the ELN guerrillas, as well as the so-called dissidence of The Farc and other illegal groups have been intensifying terrorist attacks for months in most departments, including Cauca, without the offensive of the public force showing forcefulness in another of the delinquents.
Verification mechanism
Regarding the Monitoring and Verification Mechanism of the ceasefire, the Decree established that this will be made up of the National Government (Public Force and Office of the High Commissioner for Peace), the ELN, the Episcopal Conference of Colombia and the Verification Mission of the United Nations (UN) in Colombia.
Finally, the National Government orders that, through the Fund for Special Programs for Peace, or other funds created for this purpose, the necessary resources are available for the implementation of the commitments and responsibilities derived from this Decree.