Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has been awarded the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end the 52-year conflict with left-wing rebels. .
The Nobel committee in Norway praised him for his peace agreement with Farc rebels, signed last month after four years of negotiations, even though voters narrowly rejected the deal in a vote last weekend.
The conflict has killed about 260,000 people, while more than six million have been internally displaced.
Santos was selected from a list of 376 candidates – 228 individuals and 148 organisations. These included the Syrian White Helmets – civil defence volunteers who rescue bomb victims – the negotiators of the international deal to limit Iran’s nuclear programme, and Greek islanders on the front line of Europe’s refugee crisis.
The award did not include Farc leader Rodrigo Londono, known as Timochenko, who signed the accord with Santos.
“The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2016 to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos for his resolute efforts to bring the country’s more than 50-year-long civil war to an end,” said committee chair Kaci Kulllmann Five.
“The award should also be seen as a tribute to the Colombian people who, despite great hardships and abuses, have not given up hope of a just peace, and to all the parties who have contributed to the peace process.”
The peace deal was rejected by 50.2% of voters who went to the polls in a referendum on 2 October. The committee acknowledged the result, saying: “What the ‘No’ side rejected was not the desire for peace, but a specific peace agreement.”
It also said that finding a balance between the need for reconciliation and ensuring justice for the victims would be a difficult challenge.
Under the agreement, special courts would have been created to try crimes committed during the conflict. Those who confessed would have received lighter sentences and avoided serving any time in conventional prisons.
The Farc would also have been guaranteed 10 seats in the Colombian Congress in the 2018 and 2022 elections.
Emily Thornberry MP, Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary, said: “I congratulate President Manuel Santos on the great strides he has made towards achieving a lasting peace in Colombia, which have been rightly recognised by the Nobel committee. The effort and compromises made in recent months in pursuit of peace by all sides, should not be forgotten.
“While the referendum on the deal failed to gain the consent of the people, it is clear that the vote was not a rejection of peace. With the bilateral ceasefire in place, it is vital that swift progress is now made towards achieving a lasting settlement that carries the support of the Colombian people.”