Bogota, Colombia – Colombian Peace Tribunal issued its first sentence on Tuesday on war crimes committed in decades of internal conflict Colombia,,,,, Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forcesguilty of imposing policies, resulting in the kidnapping of 21,000 people.
The court said the rebel groups kidnapped civilian ransoms to finance their operations, while also depriving soldiers and politicians of freedom in hopes of exchanging them for imprisoned rebels.
For the next eight years, former rebel leaders had to work on projects to find bodies of missing persons and remove mines from rural areas. They also have to engage in symbolic acts of compensation with the victim. To ensure compliance, seven leaders will follow a strict schedule and monitor it using electronic devices.
“This sentence does not remove the pain of the victims,” said Camilo Suárez, chief judge of the case. “But it is the voice that recognizes that what they are going through is unreasonable and inhumane.”
The special jurisdiction of the court, known as peace, was created as part of the peace agreement between the Colombian government and the Colombian government. Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces Rebels. Legal scholars believe that courts help record and reveal details Colombian civil war. But Colombians criticized this, too, hoping to see severe punishment for war criminals.
Sebastián Velásquez, spokesperson for the Federation of Victims of Terrorism Colombiarepresenting more than 1,200 victims Colombian Conflict said he was disappointed with the ruling because it did not force former rebel leaders to provide financial compensation to the kidnapped communities.
The victim group believes Colombian conflict Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces Leaders accumulate money in bank accounts and buy houses, farms and cattle transferred to third parties and can be sold to compensate victims – the former denies the claim Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces lead.
“They avoid going to prison in exchange for telling the truth,” Velásquez said. “We don’t think they’re fully compliant with the deal.”
Those called by the court, accepted their charges and worked with the investigation will usually survive the imprisonment and will instead have to engage in projects, including efforts to provide compensation to the victims. Colombian Armed conflict.
A suspect who does not accept the Peace Court allegations but is convicted of war crimes could face a lengthy prison sentence.
In the early stages of the kidnapping investigation, Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces The former Secretariat accepted allegations that its policy led to the kidnapping of 21,000 people, and seven of its members attended several hearings, where they were questioned by judges and victims.
During the investigation, the court found that the rebels kept many of the victims in chains or cages and had sexual abuse cases. The rebel leaders who are being tried today also acknowledged that they failed to control the behavior of the soldiers under their command.
Later this week, the Peace Tribunal is expected to rule a second case involving extrajudicial executions Colombian army.
