Launch of Colombia’s Reparations Commission
The Prime Minister of St. Vincent, Ralph Gonsalves, will attend the launch of Colombia’s Reparations Commission. On Sunday, Gonsalves announced that he had received the formal invitation.
Colombia’s National Commission for Reparation and Reconciliation (NCRR), which is in charge of overseeing the country’s transitional justice process, presented the Institutional Programme for Collective Reparation (IPCR) to national government leaders.
“On Wednesday, I leave for Colombia to participate in the establishment of a reparations commission.” You know, the Vice President is a young black woman, and President Petro has tasked her with building those “afro descendants” across the Caribbean and Latin America, and this is part of it.”
The NCRR, led by Colombia’s Vice President, Angelino Garzón, handed over the document to representatives of the Ministry of Justice and the High Commissioner for Social Action and International Cooperation, both of whom are tasked with carrying out the recently approved Victims’ Law, which requires the central government to design and implement a national policy of collective reparation.
Colombia has promised to compensate victims after the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) determined that the state permitted the systematic elimination of the left-wing Patriotic Union (UP) party in the 1980s and 1990s.
Colombia’s establishment of the commission, according to Gonsalves, is a positive step, and St. Vincent will support it.
Adrian Odle, the Chairman of SVG’s Reparation Commissioner, will accompany the Prime Minister.
Ernesto is a senior journalist with the St. Vincent Times. Having worked in the media for 16 years, he focuses on local and international issues. He has written for the New York Times and reported for the BBC during the La Soufriere eruptions of 2021.