Skip to main content

Statement on the Transitional Justice Agreement between the Colombian Government and the FARC




REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini

The agreement on transitional justice reached by the government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and publicly announced yesterday in Havana is a major breakthrough in the four-year peace talks. In effect, it anticipates the termination of the 51-year armed conflict. In an unprecedented personal meeting, President Juan Manual Santos and the FARC’s maximum leader, Rodrigo Londoño Echeverry (‘Timochenko”), agreed that a final peace agreement would be signed within six months.


The agreement establishes a “Special Peace Jurisdiction”, formed around courts that will be set up to try those considered to have been responsible for particularly the most serious and representative crimes committed during the conflict. Those who co-operate with this judicial system and acknowledge past wrongdoings would, if convicted, serve between five and eight years under special conditions that would in any case ensure effective restriction of their personal freedom. Those who are slow to come forward and accept responsibility for wrongdoings could eventually serve the same term but in ordinary prisons, while those who do not cooperate could eventually be convicted and punished with prison sentences of up to twenty years.

The announcement is silent on the nomination and appointment process for these courts – which would be largely staffed by national judges, with a minority international presence – and the facilities where sentences would be served, as well as the question of reparation for victims. However, it indicates a balanced and wise approach is being taken to the difficult dilemmas posed by a conflict that has inflicted suffering on more than six million victims, according to official reports, and a peace process that requires legal and political certainties for the parties and for Colombian society. The FARC have gone farther than ever before by accepting the requirement that those most responsible for serious crimes must face restrictions on their liberties for up to eight years. The government has accepted that the new mechanism will have jurisdiction over all who participated in the internal armed conflict -- including state agents.

By providing an amnesty for political crimes and crimes associated with them, the agreement also resolves the legal uncertainties facing thousands of rank and file guerrilla members. Simultaneously, by reaffirming that certain crimes (crimes against humanity, genocide and serious war crimes) cannot be granted any legal pardon and will be prosecuted, it meets Colombia’s basic obligations under international law and ensures an easier passage for the ultimate peace agreement, albeit still with the prospect of some revision, by the legislature, the Constitutional Court and other mechanisms.

The separate commitments that the final peace document will be signed within six months and that the FARC will begin the decommissioning of their weapons within 60 days thereafter mean the parties have for the first time established a clear timeline for the effective termination of the conflict. It is critical to this end that a bilateral ceasefire take shape during the coming weeks. The agreement also links the goal of justice for victims with the objective of reincorporation of the guerrillas into political life.

The coming period will not be easy for the negotiators in Havana, as many details remain to be worked out. The decommissioning of weapons and reincorporation of former combatants will be of utmost complexity. The parties will need energy, courage and political will – as well as the active engagement and support of their partners in the international community -- to prepare for what will be the difficult implementation of a final accord. Setbacks will be inevitable; and cohesion on both sides cannot be guaranteed.

However, this agreement on transitional justice is a sound, efficient and intelligent step forward. If correctly implemented and completed, it significantly improves the chances that one of the oldest conflicts in the world may be brought to an end. This is good news for Colombia and the region.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Why States Still Use Barrel Bombs

Smoke ascends after a Syrian military helicopter allegedly dropped a barrel bomb over the city of Daraya on Jan. 31.(FADI DIRANI/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Barrel bombs are not especially effective weapons. They are often poorly constructed; they fail to detonate more often than other devices constructed for a similar purpose; and their lack of precision means they can have a disproportionate effect on civilian populations. However, combatants continue to use barrel bombs in conflicts, including in recent and ongoing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and they are ideally suited to the requirements of resource-poor states. Analysis Barrel bombs are improvised devices that contain explosive filling and shrapnel packed into a container, often in a cylindrical shape such as a barrel. The devices continue to be dropped on towns all over Syria . Indeed, there have been several documented cases of their use in Iraq over the past months, and residents of the city of Mosul, which was re

Russia Looks East for New Oil Markets

Click to Enlarge In the final years of the Soviet Union, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began orienting his foreign policy toward Asia in response to a rising Japan. Putin has also piloted a much-touted pivot to Asia, coinciding with renewed U.S. interest in the area. A good expression of intent was Russia's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2012 in Vladivostok, near Russia's borders with China and North Korea. Although its efforts in Asia have been limited by more direct interests in Russia's periphery and in Europe, Moscow recently has been able to look more to the east. Part of this renewed interest involves finding new export markets for Russian hydrocarbons. Russia's economy relies on energy exports, particularly crude oil and natural gas exported via pipeline to the West. However, Western Europe is diversifying its energy sources as new supplies come online out of a desire to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies . This has

LONDON POLICE INDIRECTLY ENCOURAGE CRIMINALS TO ATTACK RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC PROPERTY

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE A few days ago an unknown perpetrator trespassed on the territory of the Russian Trade Delegation in London, causing damage to the property and the vehicles belonging to the trade delegation , Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during the September 12 press briefing. The diplomat revealed the response by the London police was discouraging. Police told that the case does not have any prospects and is likely to be closed. This was made despite the fact that the British law enforcement was provided with video surveillance tapes and detailed information shedding light on the incident. By this byehavior, British law inforcements indirectly encourage criminals to continue attacks on Russian diplomatic property in the UK. Zakharova’s statement on “Trespassing on the Russian Trade Mission premises in London” ( source ): During our briefings, we have repeatedly discussed compliance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, specif