ICIP and the Truth Commission of Colombia organize the first training course for interviewers of victims of the Colombian conflict in exile

The International Catalan Institute for Peace (ICIP) and the Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence and Non-Repetition of Colombia have organized the first training course for a group of people who are going to interview victims of the Colombian conflict in exile in order to document cases and contribute to the clarification of events, recognition and memory. The training took place from 28 February to 3 March at the Casa de la Sagrada Família, bringing together forty participants with experience working with victims of conflict and with the armed conflict in Colombia, and mindful of the mandate of the Truth Commission. The workshops were led by Carlos Martín Beristain and Alejandro Valencia Vila, commissioners of the Truth Commission.
The Truth Commission thus begins working with victims outside Colombia and it does so in collaboration with ICIP, which has performed the functions of the Technical Secretariat of the Commission in Europe since 2019. The aim is to facilitate the process of contact and coordination among the various organizations of victims in exile and among institutions that have the capacity to identify people who had to flee Colombia because of the armed conflict, and to document cases. Swisspeace, Ask! (Switzerland-Colombia Working Group), Réseau France Colombie Solidarités, Iglesia Sueca y la Fundación Sueca para los Derechos Humanos, Kolko (Human Rights for Colombia), OIDHACO, Taula Catalana per la Pau i els Drets Humans a Colòmbia, Foro Internacional de Víctimas, Colectivo Creando Memoria, Mujer Diáspora, Colectiva de Mujeres Migradas y Exiliadas, and Constituyente de Exiliados are among these organizations.
The taking of testimony and case documentation will begin following the training of interviewers, based on the guidelines established by the Truth Commission. Based on this first experience in Europe, the Truth Commission will assess the possibility of spreading this work to other regions of the world.
Innovative and unprecedented mandate
The Truth Commission of Colombia has an innovative mandate that is unprecedented in other truth commissions, which implies being present in at least 16 countries in order to document a 1.200 cases in Europe.
The Commission’s mandate provides for an active role for victims’ organizations, as well as for victims who are not organized, with the aim of creating a representative picture of the phenomenon of exile. At the same time, the work of the Commission implies guaranteeing accompaniment and psychosocial support for the victims, creating trust between the parties, and working on the basis of recognition of diversity and a gender focus.