Colombia's FARC put end to recruiting minors

Until 2015, the FARC had allowed 15-year-olds to join the organization. This was the minimum age which was later raised to 17 last year...


The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) announced the end to recruiting under 18-year-olds in their ranks, on Wednesday in Havana, Cuba.

This decision forms part of the guerrilla movement's contribution to the peace talks that have been taking place in Cuba with the Colombian government. The peace talks seek to put an end to a 52-year-long armed conflict.

Until 2015, the FARC had allowed 15-year-olds to join the organization. This was the minimum age which was later raised to 17 last year.

• In Colombia, the legal age of adulthood is 18 years old.

Parallel to their new-found determination, the FARC asked President Juan Manuel Santos' government to put an end to compulsory military service in Colombia as well as recruiting minors.

According to a press release published by the guerrilla movement, a large part of the minors enlisted in the country's army are sent to protect multinational companies in areas with a high level of confrontation.

Delegations from FARC and the Colombian government have been under going peace talks in the Cuban capital since November 2012 and, after 46 rounds of talks, they reached a consensus in issues referring to comprehensive agricultural development, political participation, illegal drugs and ways to compensate the victims of the conflict.

According to figures from Colombia's Historical Memory Center, the armed conflict in the South American country has left 220,000 people dead, 45,000 missing people and around 6 million displaced people.

The guerrilla movement and Colombia's government are addressing the finer details surrounding the end of the conflict, countersigning mechanisms and the verification of the final peace agreement.

Both parties should sign a final peace agreement in Colombia in March, according to an agreement previously announced in the Cuban capital by President Santos and the head of FARC, Rodrigo Londono, known as Timoleon Jimenez "Timochenko."

  Source:Xinhua - globaltimes.cn

11/2/16