• Country/entity

  Colombia
  

• Region

  Americas
  

• Agreement name

  Acuerdo sobre Reglamento para la Verificacion de la Zona de Encuentro, Gobierno Nacional-ELN

• Date

  14 Dec 2000

• Agreement status

  Multiparty signed/agreed

• Interim arrangement

  Yes

• Agreement/conflict level

  Intrastate/intrastate conflict ( Colombian Conflict (1964 - ) )

• Stage

  Implementation/renegotiation

• Conflict nature

  Government

• Peace process

  Colombia III - Arango

• Parties

  The National Government; the National Liberation Army (ELN)

• Third parties

  -

• Description

  The agreement deals with the establishment of a Verification Commission to verify compliance with the regulations for the Meeting Zone.

• Agreement document

  CO_001214_ACUERDO SOBRE REGLAMENTO PARA LA VERIFICACI‡N DE ZONA DE ENCUENTRO GOBIERNO NACIONAL - ELN - tr.pdf | Download PDF

Groups

Gender

State definition

Governance

Power sharing

Human rights and equality

Rights related issues

Rights institutions

Justice sector reform

Socio-economic reconstruction

Land, property and environment

Security sector

Transitional justice

Implementation

AGREEMENT ON REGULATIONS FOR THE VERIFICATION OF THE MEETING ZONE, THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT AND THE NATIONAL LIBERATION ARMY

Havana, Cuba, 14 December 2000

The national government and the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional, ELN) agree to establish a Verification Commission to verify compliance with the regulations for the Meeting Zone and its corresponding annexes, whose characteristics and composition are indicated below.

COMPOSITION

The Verification Commission will have five members:

two selected by ELN

two selected by the government

a fifth, selected by mutual agreement, who will act as president.

The members will be chosen from people who are not members of ELN or government officials.

The members of the Verification Commission will be of high standing and will be guaranteed to act independently and neutrally.

Within the framework of this document, the commission will draw up the regulations for its internal operation.

VERIFICATION TEAM

To carry out its tasks, the commission will have a group of up to 150 verification assistants, grouped into national and international divisions.

A. NATIONAL DIVISION

The national component will comprise up to 100 verification assistants, appointed by the Verification Commission and selected by the mutual agreement of the parties from people of Colombian nationality who are identified with the purposes of the peace process between the government and ELN.

These people must be of sufficient physical, moral and intellectual standing to guarantee full compliance with their responsibilities.

The national component will have a manager, chosen by the Verification Committee.

B. INTERNATIONAL COMPONENT

The international component will comprise up to 50 verification assistants, appointed by the Verification Commission and selected by the mutual agreement of the parties from candidates put forward by the interested countries and international organisations.

The international component will have a manager chosen by the Verification Commission.

The national government will determine the legal conditions applicable to facilitate the work of foreign staff assisting the commission.

The heads of the national and international components will act as contacts between their respective component and the Verification Commission and will be able to participate, without decision-making powers, in its meetings, as applicable.

In carrying out their tasks, the heads of the national and international components will be subject to the instructions given by the Verification Commission and the provisions of this regulation.

LOGISTIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT

The commission will hire the administrative support staff required for its work.

The commission will have a budget assigned by the national government for its functioning and operation.

The handling of this budget will be subject to all the controls established by the legislation in force.

The national government will provide the commission with the facilities and resources required for its functioning and operation.

The national government and the commission will make the necessary arrangements for the provision of the equipment, transport and communications required for its work.

The parties will make the efforts required to contribute to the correct functioning and adequate operation of the commission.

PROCEDURE

The verification must fully cover the Meeting Zone.

In carrying out its functions, the commission will examine complaints, comments and suggestions regarding compliance with the regulations of the Meeting Zone submitted by the parties, the authorities of the zone and the community, notwithstanding their own verification programme.

Each of the parties will appoint a representative to act as their agent before the commission.

The agents will inform the commission of the requirements and assessments of the parties for the verification tasks.

They will also receive any recommendations and requirements the commission deems fit to make.

The commission will be entitled to summon, as deemed fit, the agents of the parties to address any aspect relative to the verification of the Meeting Zone.

The recommendations of the commission and the issues raised by the parties will be confidential and may not be disclosed, except when the commission believes this is indispensable for the benefit of the assigned task.

The first task of the commission will be to verify the withdrawal of the military forces and the national police from the Meeting Zone.

The commission will be responsible for verifying the end of the Meeting Zone when this occurs.

The commission will be entitled to formulate recommendations for the parties to facilitate the development of the negotiation process.

However, it will not be entitled to participate in or voice opinions on the process, except when its contribution is specifically and occasionally requested by mutual agreement of the parties.