The Ministry of Defense announced Thursday that it would host a global meeting to discuss how the rules and regulations of international humanitarian law can be integrated into Colombia’s military’s planning and operations.
The gathering represents an an annual meeting called the Senior Workshop on International Rules Governing Military Operations (SWIRMO) that will be held next week. The International Committee of the Red Cross will organize the event with the help of Colombia’s Ministry of Defense.
The meeting will take place in Cartagena from October 7 to October 11 and senior defense officers from over 60 countries will be in attendance according to Vice Minister of Defense, Jorge Bedoya.
“It will be a very positive scenario for the exchange of experiences in the application of international humanitarian law,” continued Bedoya.
He added that most of those attending the meeting will be either colonels or generals who are involved with internal conflict.
The SWIRMO was first launched in 2007 and took place in Geneva. Malaysia held last years workshop.
The news of this meeting comes at an opportune time for the Colombian military, as just earlier this week, humanitarian NGO, Human Rights Watch, dug into Colombia’s military penal system once again for allegedly not being able to hold military criminals of humanitarian law accountable for their actions.
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