Transitional justice in Colombia: A very sharp double-edged sword
Transitional justice in Colombia: A very sharp double-edged sword
Posted by Adriaan Alsema on Jul 27, 2015
Colombia’s peace talks are stuck on the subject of justice as both the FARC and the government fear the legal consequences of the tens of thousands of war crimes committed by both parties.
The FARC has consistently rejected the possibility of serving any prison time, in spite of being accused of thousands of war crimes including kidnapping, homicides, sex crimes, child recruitment and the laying of landmines.
However, the state — including many top ranking officials — faces possibly even more charges because of thousands of cases of civilian killings, torture and the long-time collaboration between paramilitary groups and (elected) state officials.
The big thorny question is: If FARC negotiator “Ivan Marquez” goes to prison for civilian killings committed under his command, will President Juan Manuel Santos be punished for the at least 1,500 civilian killings allegedly carried out by the military when he was Defense Minister? And how?
More:
http://colombiareports.com/transitional-justice-in-colombia-a-very-sharp-two-edged-sword/
