Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos is seeking preemptive UN approval of a possible peace agreement with rebel group FARC that might grant amnesty to the guerrillas, reported Caracol Radio on Wednesday.
According to the radio station, Santos wants the UN’s Secretary General, South Korea’s Ban Ki-Moon, or the General Assembly of the international body to voice their commitment to respecting a deal, disregarding the fact it has not been finalized.
The president is reportedly doing so after the International Criminal Court (ICC) on several occasions warned the Colombian government that granting full amnesty to the country’s oldest and largest rebel group would go against the court’s statutes that were signed and ratified by Colombia.
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Caracol reported that Santos wants the UN to obligate its judicial instances “to respect what is done in Colombia” and prevent a peace deal to lead to the criminal prosecution of the government.
While no official statement has made on amnesty, polls indicate that the possibility of a full pardon of the guerrillas — suspected for thousands of human rights violations — can count on wide disapproval of Colombians.
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