Letter to Charles, Prince of Wales

Rodeemos el Diálogo
http://rodeemoseldialogo.com
rodeareldialogo@gmail.com
Bogotá and London

October 2014

To Your Royal Highness the Prince of Wales

It gives us great pleasure to receive the news of your and Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall’s visit to Colombia.  We are very interested to hear that you will be taking part in a ceremony to commemorate the victims of Colombia’s armed conflict in the Centre for Peace, Memory and Reconciliation. Your presence at this event will contribute to creating legitimacy for the Colombian peace process, at a crucial point in the negotiations when the issue of victims is being discussed in Havana.

Rodeemos el Diálogo (ReD) is a network of Colombian and British volunteers who support the peace process. We do not take political sides; we simply believe in the negotiated solution to the armed conflict, and the need to create a culture of dialogue among people of differing political opinions through academic and cultural events in the UK and Colombia.

We would like to invite you to take the opportunity afforded by your presence in the event at the Centre for Peace, Memory and Reconciliation, to express publically something that is of great concern to us at the moment, and to many members of civil society who want to see this peace process carried to good term. We believe that the weight afforded to the Royal Family of the United Kingdom in Colombia will have a positive impact on public opinion and help create legitimacy for the peace process, especially at this moment in the negotiations while victims’ rights are being discussed.

We are concerned with reports that some of the victims who have travelled to Havana to participate in dialogues with the negotiating teams have been threatened, as denounced by UN Resident Coordinator in Colombia Fabrizio Hochschild and by the victims themselves. We are concerned for the risk they face from violent reprisals which threaten the future participation of other victims, who may be fearful to come forward and share their experiences. We believe there is a need to support these individuals who have so bravely agreed to come face to face with their victimisers and tell their stories, and emphasise the fact that their role in the peace process is revolutionising the way of doing conflict resolution in the world.

We would therefore like to invite you to express your support to the delegations of victims participating in the peace talks, and to condemn threats against them. We invite you to encourage the Colombian government to guarantee their security, and to call on Colombian society to join you and ReD in rallying around the victims at this crucial moment in the country’s history. Your words could offer a powerful and inspirational incentive.

We are grateful for the support shown by the international community for the peace talks. Relations between the UK and Colombia are perhaps as strong as they ever have been. We would like to ask you, on your return to London, to emphasise to those whom you encounter – including in government – the importance of sustained support from Colombia’s allies around the world in realising a just and lasting peace, and the need for global support to the victims who are reshaping the way of doing conflict resolution.

We hope that you and the Duchess of Cornwall enjoy your stay, and that your journey may be as rewarding as this country is enchanting.

Yours sincerely,

Rodeemos el Diálogo