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The Republic of East Chanchajilla.
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East Chanchajilla to Remove RAFWC from Terror List
East Chanchajilla to Remove RAFWC from Terror List
Communist rebels loyal to the former Armbar regime have largely laid down their weapons and integrated back into society.
President Gideon Boer shows a signed a peace agreement made with RAFWC rebel leaders.
VILANJA - President Gideon Boer stated on Wednesday that East Chanchajilla’s planned removal of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of West Chanchajilla (RAFWC) rebel group from its list of “foreign terrorist organizations” could happen as early as the end of November. The move was first reported by news outlets on Tuesday, the eve of a landmark peace deal between the communist rebels who backed the former W.C. government of Frederick Armbar and East Chanchajilla government that put an end to decades of violence. Since the ceasing of hostilities between the two countries and the inauguration of Juan Diego Barrios, the rebels have largely surrendered and have been appropriated into society.
The RAFWC fought for five decades in an era of devastating political violence in Chanchajilla, carrying out bombings, assassinations, kidnappings and attacks in the name of toppling East Chanchajilla's capitalist government and redistributing wealth to the nation’s poor. It was immensely loyal to the regimes of Parish White and Frederick Armbar. The group signed the peace deal with East Chanchajilla and Paraboca in May, and later took part in a CCA-supervised decommissioning of the last of its accessible weapons. Today, it is designated as a political party, with a guaranteed share, albeit a small share, of seats in West Chanchajilla's new legislature.
Removing the group from the terror list would allow East Chanchajillan and Parabocan officials to work with RAFWC members who are now entering private or political life, President Boer stated. The official also said the administration of the President intends to keep hardliner groups made up of former RAFWC rebels and a second group of ex-rebels that uses a variation of the RAFWC name on the list of “terrorist” organizations.
“It also allows us to target the full tools of the EC government and law enforcement to go after those individuals who did not sign the agreement and remain active in terrorist activities,” the official added.
Despite the May agreement, minor spats of violence continue in several parts of West Chanchajilla where RAFWC dissidents who rejected the peace deal still hold weapons, and where other armed groups and drug traffickers operate.
This week, CCA Secretary-General Katherine von Wettin – on a visit to the central Euronian nation to mark the anniversary of the peace deal – deplored “enemies of peace” and called for “guaranteeing the safety of ex-combatants, social leaders and human rights defenders”.
“We must redouble our efforts to guarantee the sustainability of [reintegration] projects, with technical and financial support, land and housing,” von Wettin said on Tuesday.
Former combatants, victim representatives, the Chanchajillan government and the CCA chief gathered on Wednesday at the headquarters of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), a tribunal set up to adjudicate the worst crimes of the decades long series of conflicts that saw some one million people killed, injured, kidnapped or displaced.
“Our understanding of their pain grows daily in us and fills us with grief and shame,” he said.
Having former RAFWC members on the “terrorism” list prevented American government agencies from collaborating with development projects that include former fighters, such as schemes to remove landmines, or efforts to replace illegal crops like coca leaf
“We insist on apologizing to the victims of our actions during the conflict,” Rodrigo Ondondio, an ex-RAFWC commander, said during the ceremony in Ivora.
