FINAL AGREEMENT TO END THE ARMED CONFLICT AND BUILD A STABLE AND LASTING PEACE

PREAMBLE Download the full agreement here.

Recalling that the Havana dialogues between delegates from the National Government, led by President Juan Manuel Santos, and delegates from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP), based on their mutual decision to bring the national armed conflict to an end, came about as the result of the exploratory meeting that took place in the capital of the Republic of Cuba between 23 February and 26 August 2012;

Considering that said exploratory dialogues resulted in a General Agreement to End the Armed Conflict and Build a Stable and Lasting Peace, signed on 26 August 2012 before national witnesses and before delegates from the Republic of Cuba and from the Kingdom of Norway, who also served as witnesses, and, since then, have accompanied the process as guarantor countries;

Emphasising the fact that the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Republic of Chile have been ready at all times to perform their proper duties as observer countries;

Recalling that in fulfilment of the agenda approved in the aforesaid Agreement, the Negotiation Table was established on 18 October 2012 in the city of Oslo, capital of the Kingdom of Norway, and activities have continued in the Cuban capital without interruption up to the act of signing the new Final Agreement;

Considering that, as a consequence of what was stated on 24 August of this year, the parties signed a Final Agreement to End the Armed Conflict and Build a Stable and Lasting Peace; that the people were consulted on the said agreement by means of a plebiscite accepted by the parties at the relevant time, on a date established for that purpose (2 October) and, by means of a ruling handed down by the Constitutional Court, which informed the country of the terms and conditions of the chosen path;

Recognising that in the ballot boxes NO prevailed over YES, although that does not mean a rejection of the right to peace or of fundamental rights;

Emphasising that the ruling itself of the Constitutional Court referred to above set out guidelines to be followed in the event that NO was the majority response in the plebiscite; the said ruling by the Court indicates that the President of the Republic retains the power to maintain public order "even by negotiating with illegal armed groups in order to achieve other peace agreements";

Asserting the decision of the parties to continue with the search for peace by first listening to those who expressed their reservations on the contents of the Final Agreement first signed, with

a desire to reach a new agreement with a greater consensus; that what was thereby achieved was an enrichment and amendment of the previous Agreement, taking into account the specific concerns, proposals, clarifications, and definitions put forward by a wide range of social groups and organisations, sectors of opinion and political movements and parties; that, after carefully examining with an open mind all the matters put forward by the interested parties for consideration by the negotiating parties, a large number of substantial changes and amendments were made to the old texts, converting the previous Peace Agreement into a new Final Agreement to End the Armed Conflict and Build a Stable and Lasting Peace;

Emphasising that the new Final Agreement signed on said date is the free manifestation of the wishes of the Colombian government and of the FARC-EP, after having responded to a number of initiatives by sectors of the people of Colombia, acting in good faith and with the full intention of fulfilling the agreement;

Bearing in mind that Article 22 of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Colombia establishes peace as a right and as a mandatory duty; that Article 95 states that the exercising of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution implies responsibilities, which include striving towards the achievement and maintenance of peace;  always and at every stage, have upheld the spirit and scope of the rules of the National Constitution, the principles of international law, international human rights law, international humanitarian law (its conventions and protocols), the stipulations of the Rome Statute (international criminal law), the decisions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights concerning conflicts and conflict termination, and other resolutions of universally recognized jurisdictions and authoritative pronouncements relating to the subject matters agreed upon;

Emphasising that the rights and duties enshrined in the Charter are interpreted in accordance with international treaties on human rights ratified by Colombia and their enjoyment or exercise may not be subject to any limitation;

Recalling that Article 94 states that “the declaration of the rights and guarantees enshrined in the Constitution and in current international conventions must not be understood as the negation of others that, intrinsic to the human individual, are not expressly mentioned therein”;

Emphasising that peace has come to be universally described as a superior human right and as a prerequisite for the exercising of all other rights and duties incumbent upon individuals and

citizens;

Bearing in mind the fact that the new Final Agreement encompasses each and every one of the accords reached in developing the Agenda of the General Agreement signed in Havana in August 2012; and that in order to achieve that, the parties

Considering that the sum of the accords of which the new Final Agreement is composed, contributes to the fulfilment of fundamental rights, such as political, social, economic and cultural

rights; the rights of the victims of conflict to truth, justice and reparations, the rights of boys, girls

Emphasising that the new Final Agreement places special emphasis on the fundamental rights of women, of vulnerable social groups such as indigenous peoples, girls, boys and adolescents, communities of African descent and other ethnically differentiated groups; the fundamental rights of the small-scale farmers, both male and female, and the essential rights of persons with disabilities and of those displaced by the conflict; and the fundamental rights of the elderly and of the LGBTI community;

Emphasising that, further to what is underlined above,

but as values that must be applied and defended as a prerequisite for bringing about peace and economic and social progress for all peoples, and emphasising that tolerance consists of "harmony in difference";

Noticing that, in the opinion of the National Government, the transformations that must be achieved when implementing this Agreement must play a part in reversing the effects of the conflict and in changing the conditions that have led to the persistence of violence across the country; and, in the opinion of the FARC-EP, such transformations must contribute to resolving the historical causes of the conflict, such as the unresolved issue of land ownership and, in particular, the concentration thereof, the exclusion of the rural population, and the underdevelopment of rural communities, which especially affects women, girls and boys.

Appreciating and extolling the fact that the central pillar of peace is the promotion of the presence and the effective operation of the state throughout the country, especially throughout the many regions that are today afflicted by neglect, by the lack of an effective civil service and by the effects of the internal armed conflict itself; that it is an essential goal of national reconciliation to construct a new territorial-based welfare and development paradigm to the benefit of broad sectors of the population that have hitherto been the victims of exclusion and despair;

Acknowledging the right of society to comprehensive human security, with the participation of the civil authorities;

and adolescents, the right to freedom of faith and its free exercise; the fundamental right of individual and/or collective legal certainty and physical safety; and the fundamental right of each

individual and of society to non-recurrence of the tragedy of the internal armed conflict that this

Agreement proposes to finally end; the state, pursuant to Article 13 of the

Political Constitution of Colombia, must guarantee the various aspects of the right to equality and non-discrimination, which must tend towards bringing about conditions that allow the

effective protection of persons who are clearly in a position of weakness and the punishment of

abuses committed against them;

Emphasising that Colombia has signed International treaties and declarations that enshrine equality, non-discrimination against persons and tolerance as universal conduct, not only as principles,

Extolling and enshrining the justice that is to come inasmuch as it acknowledges essential fundamental rights for new and future generations, such as the right to protected land, the right to the conservation of the human species, the right to be aware of one’s origins and identity, the right to know the truth with regard to events occurring before one’s birth, the right to exemption from liability for acts committed by earlier generations, the right to the preservation of freedom of choice, and other rights, notwithstanding the rights of victims of any age or generation to truth, justice and reparations;

Having regard to the fact that the new vision of a Colombia at peace enables us to achieve a sustainable society that is united in diversity and that is based not only on consideration for human rights but on mutual tolerance, protection of the environment, respect for nature and its renewable and non-renewable resources and biodiversity;

Recalling that on June 23 this year, the delegations from the National Government and from the FARC-EP signed, in the Cuban capital, the agreements on the Bilateral and Definitive Ceasefire and Cessation of Hostilities and Laying down of Arms and Security Guarantees, in the presence of the President of the Councils of State and Ministers of the Republic of Cuba, the Secretary- General of the United Nations, the President of the United Nations General Assembly, the President of the UN Security Council, Norway’s Foreign Minister, the heads of state of the observer countries, heads of government of countries in the region, the United States Special Envoy and the European Union Special Representative; that such cessation of hostilities has been repeated from the date of the plebiscite of last 2 October;

Accepting that customary international legal standards will continue to govern issues relating to fundamental rights not mentioned in the new Final Agreement, including the imperative whereby “in those cases not provided for by current law, the individual will be safeguarded by humanitarian principles and the demands of the public conscience”;

Admitting that the new Final Agreement to End the Armed Conflict and Build a Stable and Lasting Peace must be endorsed in accordance with Item 6 of the Agenda in the General Agreement; that such endorsement takes place by means of systems for participation by citizens such as a plebiscite, legislative initiatives, consultation, open local government councils and others, or by public corporations elected by suffrage, whose members are responsible for exercising representation with a mandate such as the Congress of the Republic, departmental assemblies and municipal councils; that such endorsement is decided by the parties and must take place as indicated in the relevant rules or judgments;

We, the Government of the Republic of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People’s Army, have agreed as follows:

Acknowledging all the foregoing and, in particular, the non-delegatable constitutional mandate that states that the President of the Republic, as head of state, head of government and supreme

administrative authority, is responsible for agreeing upon and endorsing peace accords;

To sign this Final Agreement to End the Armed Conflict and Build a Stable and Lasting Peace, with the substantial amendments that make it a new Agreement, the implementation of which will put a definitive end to an armed conflict that has lasted over fifty years, and which is recorded in writing below.

This Final Agreement to End the Armed Conflict and Build a Stable and Lasting Peace is signed by the National Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) as a Special Agreement pursuant to Article 3, common to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, as per its international standing.

The National Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) hereby sign seven originals, including the annexes thereto, one for each of the parties, one for each of the guarantor countries and one for each of the observer countries. The seventh original copy will be deposited, immediately after signature, with the Swiss Federal Council in Bern, or with such body as might replace it at a future date as repository of the Geneva Conventions. 

Download the full agreement here.