Queering Colombia's peace process: a case study of LGBTI inclusion

ABSTRACT

In August 2016, Colombia's government announced that they had reached an agreement with the country's largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). This peace deal was historic in Colombia's more than half-century long armed conflict; however, Colombian voters rejected it. A revised version was ultimately passed through a congressional vote. Despite the intense domestic criticism of the peace talks, they have been praised internationally and revered as a model for the world, particularly with regard to their efforts surrounding victims of the armed conflict. This article focuses on one particular group of victims, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) individuals. The experience of LGBTI people in armed conflicts has historically been one of exclusion from peace processes. This article explores how Colombia's peace process has approached the LGBTI experience through interviews with LGBTI activists and analyses of collaborative civil society efforts. The actions taken by LGBTI organisations reveal the critical role of truth and memory initiatives and capacity building. While much work has been done, Colombia is left with many unanswered questions about what a post-conflict society will look like for LGBTI victims of the armed conflict.

KEYWORDS:

• LGBT
• victim
• Colombia
• armed conflict
• transitional justice
• peacebuilding

Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge the tireless efforts of the victims, survivors, and activists who put their lives at risk to pursue justice in the face of endless obstacles. She would also like to thank ICTJ for providing access to the forums and conferences that helped inform this article. A special thank you to the activists interviewed who were willing to share their insights for the purposes of this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Nicole Maier has been working in the field of victim advocacy since 2008. She earned her bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Florida and her master's degree in Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation from the SIT Graduate Institute in Vermont. Nicole completed her research for this article as part of her master's degree field placement with the International Center for Transitional Justice in Bogotá, Colombia. Nicole currently serves as the Director of Denver's Sexual Assault Interagency Council. She is passionate about dismantling deeply held biases that perpetuate systemic oppression, particularly within the realm of violence against women.

Notes

1 Names have been changed.

2 These four identities have been chosen because they are the most commonly referred to in the Colombian context. While the queer identity is very prominent in the United States, hence the acronym LGBTQ, this term has not experienced the same reclaiming by the community in Colombia.

3 Adriaan Alsema, ‘History of Peace Talks in Colombia’, Colombia Reports, August 28, 2012, http://colombiareports.com/peace-talks-colombia-farc-eln/ (accessed July 1, 2017)

4 ‘Profiles: Colombia's Armed Groups’, BBC, August 29, 2013, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-11400950 (accessed July 1, 2017).

5 The Norwegian Nobel Committee, ‘The Nobel Peace Prize 2016 – Press Release’, News Release, October 7, 2016, http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2016/press.html

6 ‘A Post-“No” Recovery Requires Quick Action and Realism About What is Achievable’, Washington Office on Latin America, October 3, 2016, http://colombiapeace.org/2016/10/03/a-post-no-recovery-requires-quick-action-and-realism-about-what-is-achievable/ (accessed July 1, 2017).

7 Helen Murphy, ‘Colombian Peace Deal Passed by Congress, Ending 52-Year War’, Reuters, November 30, 2016, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-colombia-peace-idUSKBN13P1D2 (accessed July 1, 2017).

8 John Paul Lederach, Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies (Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press, 1997).

9 Ibid.

10 Danielle Renwick and Stephanie Hanson, ‘FARC, ELN: Colombia's Left-Wing Guerrillas’, Council on Foreign Relations, December 1, 2014, http://www.cfr.org/colombia/farc-eln-colombias-left-wing-guerrillas/p9272 (accessed November 21, 2015; webpage now unavailable).

11 Red Nacional de Información, ‘Registro único de víctimas’, Unidad para las Víctimas, https://rni.unidadvictimas.gov.co/RUV (accessed July 1, 2017).

12 English translation of ‘delitos contra la libertad y la integridad sexual’

13 Ibid.

14 United Nations, Guidance Note of the Secretary-General: United Nations Approach to Transitional Justice, United Nations, 2, 2010.

15 International Center for Transitional Justice, ‘What is Transitional Justice?’ https://www.ictj.org/about/transitional-justice (accessed November 21, 2015).

16 International Center for Transitional Justice, ‘Truth and Memory’. https://www.ictj.org/our-work/transitional-justice-issues/truth-and-memory (accessed November 21, 2015).

17 United Nations, Guidance Note of the Secretary-General.

18 Katherine Fobear, ‘Queering Truth Commissions’, Journal of Human Rights Practice 6, no. 1 (2014): 51–68.

19 Ibid.

20 Fred Strasser, ‘Q&A: Colombia Breakthrough a World Model for Peace Talks’, United States Institute of Peace, September 24, 2015, http://www.usip.org/publications/2015/09/24/qa-colombia-breakthrough-world-model-peace-talks (accessed July 1, 2017).

21 ‘El colectivo LGBTI reclama su presencia en los procesos de verdad y memoria en Colombia,’ International Center for Transitional Justice, April, 15, 2015, https://www.ictj.org/es/news/colectivo-lgbti-procesos-verdad-memoria-colombia (accessed July 1, 2017). The description of the forum throughout the article comes from the author's participation in the national forum.

22 Fobear, ‘Queering Truth Commissions’.

23 Caribe Afirmativo, ‘Caribe Afirmativo capacita a personas LGBTI víctimas del conflicto’, Caribe Afirmativo, March 15, 2016, http://caribeafirmativo.lgbt/2016/03/15/caribe-afirmativo-capacita-a-personas-lgbti-victimas-del-conflicto/ (accessed July 1, 2017).

24 Caribe Afirmativo, ‘Primer evento de grupos históricamente discriminados sobre el proceso de Paz’, Caribe Afirmativo, April 14, 2016 http://caribeafirmativo.lgbt/2016/04/14/primer-evento-grupos-historicamente-discriminados-proceso-paz/ (accessed July 1, 2017).

25 Lederach, Building Peace.

26 Margaret Wheatley and Deborah Frieze, Using Emergence to Take Social Innovation to Scale (Provo, UT: The Berkana Institute, 2006).

27 Caribe Afirmativo, ‘Tres momentos clave en lanzamiento de informe sobre víctimas LGBT del conflicto’, Caribe Afirmativo, April 29, 2016, http://caribeafirmativo.lgbt/2016/04/29/tres-momentos-clave-lanzamiento-informe-victimas-lgbt-del-conflicto/ (accessed July 1, 2017).

28 Wilson Castañeda Castro, ‘Pronuncimiento ante la Mesa de Negociación del Gobierno Colombiano y las FARC EP en el proceso de Paz’ (speech, la Subcomisión de Género de la Mesa de Negociación, Havana, Cuba, February 11, 2015), http://caribeafirmativo.lgbt/2015/02/10/personas-lgbti-conflicto-y-postconflicto-proceso-de-paz-la-habana/ (accessed July 1, 2017). All analyses of Castro's comments to the Gender Subcommission are derived from this written transcript of his speech.

29 Mauricio Albarracín, ‘Intervención de Mauricio Albarracín, Director Ejecutivo de Colombia Diversa, en la Subcomisión de Género de la Mesa de Conversaciones entre el Gobierno Colombiano y las FARC – EP,’ (speech, la Subcomisión de Género de la Mesa de Negociación, Havana, Cuba, March 6, 2015), https://jkrincon.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/colombia-diversa-intervencic3b3n-mauricio-albarracc3adn.pdf (accessed July 1, 2017). All analyses of Albarracín's comments to the Gender Subcommission are derived from this written transcript of his speech.

30 Castro, ‘Pronuncimiento ante la Mesa de Negociación’.

31 Lederach, Building Peace, 41.

32 Interview, activist 1, Bogotá, Colombia, June 2015. All analyses presented in the interview section are derived from the combined interview with this activist and activist 2.

33 Interview, activist 2, Bogotá, Colombia, June 2015. All analyses presented in the interview section are derived from the combined interview with this activist and activist 1.

34 Kelly Muddell, ‘International Perspective on the Challenges of Transitional Justice for the LGBTI Population’, (panel discussion, Challenges of transitional justice and the peace process facing the LGBTI population, Bogotá, Colombia, March, 2015).

35 Lederach, Building Peace, 26.

36 Ibid, 24.

37 Muddell, ‘International Perspective on the Challenges’.

38 Ibid.

39 Lederach, Building Peace, 24.