Bogota, August 23 (RHC)-- The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia appointed its Monitoring and Verification Team members, which is one of the mechanisms to safeguard the imminent peace deal with the Colombian government.
A total of 18 persons were elected by the FARC-EP and consist of the same people that have taken part in technical visits to the areas of concentrations, where the rebels will relocate once the final agreement is signed. At the verification headquarters in Colombia’s capital, Bogota, will be: "Marco Leon Calarca," "Matias Aldecoa," Rubin Morro, Olga Marin, Maria Soler, Sofia Nariño, Gonzalo Porras, Damaris Acosta, Lucas Urueta and Ezequiel Martinez.
At the regional level, participants will be: "Lucas T" in Valledupar; Erika Montero in Medellin; Ezequiel Martinez in Quibdo; Francisco Gonzalez in Popayan; “Kunta Kinte” in Villavicencio; Victor Tirado in San Jose del Guaviare; Hernan Benitez in Florence; and Gloria Martinez in Bucaramanga.
The Monitoring and Verification Team will be made up of the tripartite commission formed by the FARC-EP, the Colombian government and the United Nations. The collection and storage of FARC-EP arms will be certified by the U.N. commission, which will be responsible for a final appraisal.
Incidents that are reported will be assessed by the United Nations and resolutions to disputes will be recommended by the U.N. delegation. The head of the U.N. mission, General Perez Atina, said earlier this month that the tripartite mechanism is novel because it integrates the verification mechanism of an independent international body, with the mechanism of mutual verification that the two sides will have with their respective commitments.
Atina added that as coordinator, the mission of U.N. observers will be to do everything possible for the protocol mechanism to fulfill its mandate and build confidence in implementation.
The FARC-EP and the Colombian government have been negotiating a peace deal in Havana, Cuba for the past four years, with a historic ceasefire signed on June 23.
