Oil sector cautiously upbeat on Colombia peace

OREANDA-NEWS. September 25, 2015. Colombia-focused oil companies are hoping an imminent peace accord between Colombia's government and the main rebel group Farc will improve operating conditions.

Colombia's oil chamber ACP said yesterday?s formal advances on transitional justice sealed in Havana are "positive", adding that it is cautiously awaiting more details on the development and implementation of previous preliminary agreements and demobilization.

"The announcement yesterday is a significant step and undoubtedly an historic event that should contribute to ending the armed conflict with the Farc," ACP president Francisco Lloreda said today.

A peace accord between the government and the Farc could diminish rebel attacks on oil pipelines and other energy infrastructure, but splinter groups and rebels from the smaller and more ideological ELN group, as well as criminal organizations, could still pose a threat.

The ACP and its affiliated companies say they are ready to play a proactive role in the construction of a post-accord era.

President Juan Manuel Santos signed the justice agreement yesterday with Farc rebel leader Timoleon Jimenez, alias Timoshenko, and the two sides set a deadline of six months for finishing the talks and signing a final agreement.

Laying down arms is scheduled to take place within 60 days of a final agreement.

The preliminary agreement on transitional justice establishes an extraordinary jurisdiction, in which individuals on both sides will be tried for war crimes.

Those who confess to committing crimes will receive a five to eight year sentence of unspecified "restricted liberties" and those who do not but who are found guilty will receive 20 years in prison without special conditions.

Critics led by former president Alvaro Uribe say the justice agreement amounts to impunity, a charge the government vehemently rejects. But the perception of impunity seems unlikely to fade. "It is difficult to imagine how this arrangement could possibly survive a review by Colombia's constitutional court, or for that matter, the international criminal court," said Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director for New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Transitional justice is the fourth issue on a six-point agenda for the negotiations. An end to the conflict, which includes the terms of a bilateral cease-fire, and implementation, are the remaining points. Bogota plans to subject the accord to a popular referendum, a step that poses risks to its implementation in light of the controversy sparked by yesterday?s agreement.

Farc and Colombian negotiators have been discussing a peace deal since November 2012.

The ELN is still in exploratory talks with the Santos administration and could start a separate process in Ecuador soon.