PEACE DIALOGUES TABLE BETWEEN THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA AND THE CENTRAL GENERAL STAFF OF THE FARC-EP

RULES OF OPERATION OF THE PEACE DIALOGUES TABLE -MDP-

NATIONAL GOVERNMENT AND THE CENTRAL GENERAL STAFF OF THE FARC-EP

As part of the set of agreements for the development of the sessions of the Peace Dialogues Table, the parties adopt the following elements as basic rules for the functioning of the Roundtable, which may be adjusted in the development of the dialogues.

Place for meetings

The Roundtable will meet in Colombia and will be itinerant in places within the national territory to be defined by the parties and may eventually meet outside the country.

The definition of each site will be made by mutual agreement between the parties.

Meeting topics

The roundtable will meet for the construction and development of the Agenda's guidelines.

CONFORMATION OF THE ROUNDTABLE

The Peace Dialogues Table is made up of delegated persons from the National Government, among them the Military and Police observers, the duly accredited delegated persons from the Central General Staff of the FARC-EP, who act as its representatives, and the High Commissioner for Peace of the Presidency of the Republic of Colombia.

Guarantors and Accompaniers

The permanent international accompaniers may participate with two people for the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations in Colombia, and up to two people for the Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia of the Organization of American States (MAPP-OEA), as well as up to two people for the accompaniers of the Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches duly delegated by their respective organisations.

Likewise, up to two delegated persons will participate on behalf of the Guarantors:

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Ireland, the Swiss Confederation, the Kingdom of Norway and the European Union , in accordance with the Agreement that defines their functions.

And others that the parties agree upon.

MDP attendees duly accredited by standing invitation or for specific sessions:

1. Members of the Oversight, Monitoring and Verification Mechanism of their respective bodies.

2. Special guests that the MDP decides to invite by mutual agreement.

3. Advisers:

accredited by each party indicating the subjects on which they will to advise in specific sessions

4. Military and Police observers support teams.

5. Facilitators:

Persons who have fulfilled this role in the preliminary phase will be able to attend when the MDP deems it appropriate.

6. National Government officials duly designated and accredited for specific activities by the High Commissioner for Peace, in accordance with the requirements of the parties.

7. Members of social, citizen and community oversight bodies, social, governmental, non-governmental, intergovernmental, national and international organisations and multilateral bodies will participate as guests in special sessions, subject to prior agreement by the parties.

Technical advisors, as well as advisors on cultural and scientific ways of knowing

The MDP will have advisors according to the thematic needs required.

They will be persons of recognised suitability presented by the parties, who, duly authorised by the Roundtable, form part of the technical teams agreed upon by the delegations and who are previously accredited.

The advisors, both women and men, may form technical commissions agreed upon by the MDP.

The advisers or members of technical, cultural and scientific teams shall not take decisions for the Roundtable.

They will be heard when deemed appropriate by the parties.

Cycles and sessions.

The Roundtable will hold closed sessions, exclusively between the dialoguing commissions.

There will be plenary sessions with all the components and extended sessions with those who the parties decide.

The MDP may hold meetings by teams or commissions as agreed.

In the period between each ordinary session, it may agree to hold working sessions in subgroups or subcommittees.

The parties may agree on autonomous spaces, before, during and after the sessions, if they deem it appropriate.

The MDP will meet periodically in an ordinary manner, for which the corresponding trimestral schedule will be established between the parties, and in an extraordinary manner that will be defined according to the special situations that may arise.

The agenda and duration of the meetings to deal with specific issues will be defined according to the needs and priorities established by the Roundtable.

The agenda and goals of each meeting will be previously agreed and jointly prepared.

At each session, a list of the defined commitments will be made and the follow-up of their fulfilment by the parties will be agreed upon in the time between the sessions.

Peace dialogues table decisions

Decisions will be taken by consensus between the parties.

For this purpose, the proposals of the ethnic communities, social and peasant organisations and other sectors of the country, who will have a special protocol on their participation, will be used as a frame of reference.

The documents that will govern them will be the following:

'"Protocol for the Participation and Social Oversight of the Population, their Communities and Organisations" and a Special Agreement for Participation and Decisions.

The decisions will be recorded in each case by means of agreements, protocols and declarations.

These documents must be signed by both delegations or by the coordinators, if the parties so decide.

The Guarantors and Accompanying Persons will sign as witnesses and depositaries.

The agreements and protocols signed have the character of documents of good faith, define precise commitments and oblige the parties to comply with them within the framework of their roles and competencies.

They will be articulated through public policies and the life plans of the ethnic communities.

Any modification after the signature has to be made in the MDP by decision of the parties.

All consultations deemed necessary must be made before the signing of agreements and protocols.

The MDP will adopt partial agreements, especially on agreements of immediate application and on other matters that the parties agree on procedurally and substantially.

The implementation and its developments correspond to the National Government according to its competences.

Spaces for interaction between the MDP and the community

The MDP will adopt a methodology that guarantees the participation of society through hearings or other forums, and in places defined by the parties.

This methodology will be governed by the ‘Protocol for the Participation and Social Oversight of the Population, its Communities and Organisations’.

Given that the objective is to achieve a peace agreement with structural and territorial transformations and with a special focus on the communities most affected by the social and armed conflict, both parties undertake to include in the Agenda for Dialogues for Peace, to be established, a specific point that addresses in a special way the participation of the victims of the conflict, indigenous peoples, Black, Afro-Colombian, Raizal, Palenquero, Rrom and peasant communities, women, youth and other groups of special protection.

In accordance with the agenda guidelines protocol and the participation agreements and protocols.

Moderation of the sessions

The sessions will be chaired by the coordinators of the delegations, or by whomever they designate by mutual agreement.

MDP's Technical Secretariat

There will be a Secretariat made up of a joint team of representatives from both parties that will be in charge of:

To keep a consolidated record of the MDP's minutes, to file the agreements and protocols.

To compile the documents produced by the MDP, its working committees or subcommittees, as well as the documents sent to it by institutions, social organisations and citizenry in general, within the framework of the Roundtable's functions.

The Technical Secretariat will have two members agreed upon by the parties.

Rules of interaction.

In all the sessions of the MDP, the dialogues will be conducted according to rules of respect, without personal attacks or stigmatisation.

There will be no uniformed or armed presence at MDP sessions.

At all meetings, these rules shall be read out so that persons who are invited are duly informed.

Photos and recordings will not be allowed, unless previously agreed jointly.

The guests shall have the opportunity to speak for a limited and relevant period of time to be agreed between the parties

Spokespersonship

The spokespersonship of the Roundtable will be defined by its members, in a bipartite manner, and will only be assumed by the parties with the media in the case of public pronouncements, such as announcements, communiqués and others.

All announcements and communications from the MDP will be under embargo and will only be released on the date and time agreed by the parties.

Security and logistical guarantees for the normal functioning of the MDP.

The parties will identify in advance of each MDP session the security guarantees required for the delegates of the dialogue commissions.

The venues for the sessions will be agreed by the parties.

The assessment of the legal and security guarantees for the delegates to the Roundtable and participants in the process, as well as the venue of the session, is the responsibility of the National Government.

The National Government will guarantee the financing of the necessary logistics.

It may rely on territorial authorities, organised communities or Churches for adequate infrastructure and the functioning of meeting spaces.

The MDP sessions will be carried out in accordance with strict security regulations, including:

attendance register, introduction of people, notification of withdrawal of participants communicated to the delegation coordinators, signing of collective and individual commitment records when required by the topic under discussion.

The parties must report information leaks in the appropriate cases and the Roundtable will define the procedure for establishing responsibilities.

Communications

During the plenary sessions or committee meetings, no statements will be made regarding the progress of the talks.

Joint statements will be distributed by the parties to the media, after coordination and according to the criteria for spokespersonships in accordance with the Communications Protocol.

The MDP may promote communication mechanisms, such as space in national public and community media, in order to educate and inform about the process.

It could also set up a website or other channels.

The MDP will adopt a communication strategy.

The MDP will generate spaces for dialogue with the media to share information of public interest and that can be an input in the full respect of press freedom and the right to information of national and international public opinion.

Statements in the media must be in line with what has been agreed.

The MDP will establish guidelines for relations with the media so that they comply with the principles of freedom of expression.

The institutional communication will promote respectful and non-stigmatising treatment.

Independence of the MDP with regard to facts specific to the conflict

The Roundtable does not issue statements on events or incidents of armed violence or breaches of the ceasefire, except in cases recommended by the accompaniers.

Capacity and channel for consultations

At all times, the delegations reserve the right to consult, before signing decisions binding each party.

In the case of the Government delegation, the channel is the High Commissioner for Peace and the President of the Republic;

in the case of the Central General Staff of the FARC-EP, its channel is the Central General Staff.