Posts

The FARC’s Progress Before the JEP

Over the last few months, the leaders of the FARC Party (Common Alternative Revolutionary Force) have publicly admitted their responsibility for crimes they committed during the armed conflict. In early October, in a letter directed to the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), they admitted to the murders of the conservative leader Álvaro Gómez Hurtado and five others. This followed a letter released in September 2020, within which the FARC both acknowledged their responsibility for kidnappings that they had carried out and asked for forgiveness from the victims. In August, the FARC also began giving testimony about the recruitment of minors. In this snapshot, we look at the progress made by the FARC Party in offering truth and acknowledging its responsibilities before the JEP.

The FARC’s Acknowledgement of Kidnapping: An Important Achievement of the Truth Commission

Following the testimony of Ingrid Betancourt in a Listening Space led by Francisco de Roux, president of the Truth Commission (TC), the former leaders of the FARC-EP decided to publish a letter acknowledging the suffering that they had caused through kidnapping. This is an important achievement of the TC, demonstrating both its effectiveness in attaining the truth and acknowledgements of responsibility, and also its ability to mobilise emotions surrounding reconciliation. This snapshot analyses this recent development as part of the virtuous circle of truth.

Case 001: Illegal retention of people by FARC-EP

The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has an open preliminary examination against the Colombian State since 2004 for crimes against humanity.