1500 AUC members may be released in 2013
1500 AUC members may be released in 2013
Wednesday, 06 June 2012 08:01
Brandon Barrett
Colombia's Prosecutor General's Office warned Tuesday that 1,500 demobilized paramilitaries could be released in 2013 without having been investigated for human rights violations.
As part of the 2005 widely-criticized Justice and Peace law, members of the paramilitary AUC accepted a maximum eight-year sentence if they demobilized and collaborated with prosecutors to clarify the tens of thousands of human rights violations committed by the AUC. Opponents of the bill have said the peace deal allowed for widespread impunity for human rights abusers.
"We have now finished seven years of Justice and Peace. The standard established penalty is eight years and the demobilized can say 'good, since I did eight [years] and not even the state has called me, I demand my release after the expiration of terms,'" explained the President of Colombia's Senate Roy Barreras.
The law should be extended to "avoid impunity (for paramilitaries and their accomplices) and ensure that the truth comes out for victims," according to Barreras.
More:
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/24437-1500-auc-members-may-be-released-in-2013.html
