A Gender Perspective of the Colombian Peace Process

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A Gender Perspective of the Colombian Peace Process Master’s Degree in Comparative International Relations Final Thesis Women, war and peace: a gender perspective of the Colombian peace process Supervisor Ch. Prof. Luis Fernando BENEDUZI Assistant supervisor Ch. Prof. Vanni PETTINÀ Graduand Simona SCOTTI 877195 Academic Year 2019 / 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT p.4 INTRODUCTION p. 9 FIRST CHAPTER: A FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE OF GENDER AND WAR p. 15 1.1 Gender and war p. 16 1.1.1 Women in the military p. 18 1.1.2 Gender dynamics and impacts in armed conflict p. 20 1.1.3 Sexual violence as a weapon of war p. 22 1.1.4 Women and conflict negotiations p. 25 1.2 Global Commitments and regional perspectives p. 27 1.2.1 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women p. 28 1.2.2 UNSC Resolution 1325 and the Women, Peace and Security Agenda p. 29 1.2.3 International prosecution of sexual violence p. 31 1.2.4 Enhancing women’s rights and security in Latin America p. 33 1.3 Women’s Rights Instruments in Colombia p. 38 1.3.1 Constitutional Court Auto 092 of 2008 p. 40 1.3.2 Quota Law p. 41 1.3.3 Law 1257 of 2008 p. 42 1.3.4 Role of the civil society p. 43 Conclusion p. 44 SECOND CHAPTER: THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE COLOMBIAN ARMED CONFLICT p. 46 2.1 The Armed Conflict p. 46 2.1.1 The origins of the conflict: land ownership p. 47 2.1.2 Armed actors p. 49 1 2.1.3 The phases of the conflict p. 55 2.2 Women in Illegal Armed Groups p. 62 2.2.1 Women in the FARC-EP p. 63 2.2.2 Women in the paramilitary p. 66 2.2.3 Summing up p. 68 2.3 The Differential Impacts of the War p. 69 2.3.3 Sexual violence p. 69 2.3.2 Forced displacement p. 75 Conclusion p. 78 THIRD CHAPTER: TOWARDS A FEMINIST PEACE p. 79 3.1 Overview of the peace negotiations in the Colombian armed conflict p. 79 3.1.1 Negotiations between the previous governments and the guerrillas p. 81 3.1.2 Negotiations between Uribe’s government and the AUC p. 88 3.1.3 The Final Agreement p. 89 3.2 Gender perspective of the Colombian peace negotiations p. 91 3.2.1La paz sin las mujeres ¡no va! Feminist movements and organizations and the negotiating team p. 92 3.2.2 Referendum p. 97 3.3 Gender Provisions of the Final Agreement p. 99 3.3.1 Provisions of the Final Agreement p. 99 3.3.2 Gender Perspective of the Final Agreement p. 102 Conclusion p. 108 FOURTH CHAPTER: REMARKS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FINAL AGREEMENT p. 110 4.1 Implementation of the Final Agreement p. 110 4.2 Women’s Participation in Politics p. 121 4.2.1 Infringements to the Quota Law p. 121 4.3 Gender-based Violence p. 124 2 4.3.1 Domestic violence and gender discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic p. 125 4.3.2 Non prosecution and non punishment of sexual violence p. 129 4.4 Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration of Female Ex-Combatants p. 132 4.5 Challenges of gender-related public policies in the framework of the Final Agreement p. 140 CONCLUSION p. 146 BIBLIOGRAPHY p. 151 ANNEXES p. 169 Interview n. 1 p. 169 Interview n. 2 p. 184 Interview n. 3 p. 195 Interview n. 4 p. 201 Interview n. 5 p. 208 Interview n. 6 p. 217 3 ABSTRACT La Colombia è stata afflitta da uno dei conflitti più lunghi e sanguinosi dell'era moderna, nonché il più duraturo nella regione sudamericana. Il conflitto, emerso negli anni Sessanta a seguito della comparsa delle prime formazioni guerrigliere ispirate alla rivoluzione cubana e durato quasi 60 anni, ha logorato profondamente il Paese, provocando la morte di almeno 220.000 persone e determinando conseguenze devastanti sulla popolazione civile. L'appropriazione e l'uso della terra sono stati la forza trainante dell'origine e della continuazione del conflitto. La convergenza tra guerra e problema agrario si è allargata con l'aggiunta di ulteriori fattori che, negli anni, ne hanno modificato le dinamiche: traffico di droga, sfruttamento energetico e alleanze tra paramilitari, spacciatori, politici ed élite locali. L'intreccio di questi fattori ha fatto sì che il conflitto provocasse ferite profonde e non ancora rimarginate nella popolazione civile, che è stata sottoposta a molteplici violenze da parte degli attori armati. Il conflitto armato interno presenta delle dinamiche molto complesse che traggono le loro origini dalla pluralità di attori coinvolti, appartenenti a una diversità di gruppi e organizzazioni sia ai margini della legge sia facenti parte dell’assetto istituzionale dello stato. Tale complessità risulta evidente quando si esaminano le conseguenze che il conflitto ha avuto su diversi gruppi sociali, colpiti con diversi gradi di intensità a seconda della loro appartenenza identitaria. Ne consegue che qualsiasi analisi del conflitto armato colombiano non possa prescindere dall’esame delle dinamiche determinate dal coinvolgimento dei diversi gruppi nelle varie fasi della confrontazione e del processo di pace. Fra i gruppi che hanno contribuito in maniera sostanziale all’esito del conflitto e del processo di pace figurano le donne, le quali, oltre a rappresentare il maggior numero di vittime civili, in particolare riguardo a crimini di violenza sessuale e sfollamento, hanno ricoperto ruoli chiave nei gruppi armati sia legali che illegali, soprattutto nelle FARC-EP, dove si stima che rappresentassero il 40 percento dei combattenti e dove hanno assunto posizioni chiave di leadership. 4 È opportuno menzionare che gli studi sulla sicurezza internazionale hanno a lungo centrato la loro analisi su una prospettiva maschile, ed è solo negli ultimi anni che variabili come sesso, etnia ed età hanno iniziato ad assumere rilevanza per comprendere le conseguenze della guerra. In effetti, il riconoscimento esplicito della violenza differenziata subita dalle donne in contesti di guerra è un fenomeno recente, nonostante la sua natura sistematica che ha permeato tutti i conflitti moderni. Con l'acquisizione della piena cittadinanza, le donne di tutto il mondo hanno iniziato lentamente a rivendicare diritti dai quali erano storicamente escluse, rendendo finalmente giustizia a tutti gli abusi di cui sono state vittime nel corso dei secoli. A livello internazionale sono stati sviluppati numerosi strumenti per contrastare e punire la violenza subita dalle donne nei conflitti armati e per garantire una più ampia partecipazione delle donne ai processi di pace. La Convenzione sull'Eliminazione di ogni Forma di Discriminazione della Donna, la Risoluzione 1325 del Consiglio di Sicurezza delle Nazioni Unite e lo Statuto di Roma della Corte Penale Internazionale sono solo alcuni esempi. Tuttavia, questi strumenti da soli non sono sufficienti per garantire un cambiamento reale, che può avvenire solo attraverso un impegno a tutto campo per sradicare gli stereotipi di genere e creare una società più equa e sostenibile. In Colombia, gli immensi sforzi che le organizzazioni femministe hanno compiuto per garantire una più equa partecipazione delle donne ai negoziati di pace hanno reso l'Accordo Finale un modello all'avanguardia per la prospettiva di genere. Tuttavia, mentre da un lato si assiste ad una sempre più ampia sensibilizzazione all'importanza di includere una prospettiva di genere in tutte le politiche che si occupano della risoluzione del conflitto armato, dall'altro emerge il rischio di relegare le donne a ruoli di vittime, minimizzando la loro capacità di azione e resistenza. È quindi importante offrire rappresentazioni che vadano oltre il binomio donna-passività, evitando immagini di subordinazione che troppo spesso giustificano la violenza esercitata contro il genere femminile. I ruoli chiave che le donne hanno ricoperto sia durante il conflitto che nelle negoziazioni dell’Havana richiedono l'adozione di leggi e misure incentrate con una forte componente di genere, soprattutto in relazione alla sicurezza e del reinserimento delle ex guerrigliere. Il corpus legislativo nazionale e internazionale 5 a cui la Colombia deve fare riferimento in materia di donne e sicurezza risulta denso di strumenti che permettono di raggiungere tali scopi. Tale corpus è stato poi ampliato con l'integrazione delle disposizioni di genere elencate nell'Accordo Finale, che hanno stabilito misure concrete e organi istituzionali destinati a implementare e monitorare la parità di genere nel Paese. Questi risultati sono stati facilitati dalla mobilitazione delle organizzazioni femminili colombiane, il cui impegno è stato fondamentale nello stabilire la dimensione di genere come principio guida per l'attuazione dell'Accordo Finale, nonché nel riconoscere la vittimizzazione delle donne nel conflitto armato colombiano e nell'adozione di azioni differenziate per garantire alle donne parità di accesso ai programmi contenuto nell'accordo di pace. Tuttavia, l'analisi sviluppata in questa tesi mostra che l'implementazione delle disposizioni di genere previste dall’Accordo Finale è ancora molto scarsa in questioni chiave, soprattutto in relazione al reinserimento delle donne ex combattenti, alla partecipazione politica e all'accesso alla terra per le donne. In effetti, nonostante i progressi, la mancanza di volontà politica e impegno a favore dei diritti delle donne è considerevole e le disposizioni in materia di genere procedono a un ritmo più lento di quelle relative alla generalità dell'accordo. Le interviste realizzate con esponenti del mondo accademico, think tank e ONG confermano quanto finora analizzato. Infatti, è riconosciuto all’unanimità che gli strumenti presenti nel quadro legislativo e istituzionale sono adeguati al superamento di una società patriarcale, all'inclusione delle donne nei più alti vertici politici, alla prevenzione e alla punizione della violenza di genere e, in generale, a garantire un ambiente più favorevole all'uguaglianza di genere.
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