As 2020 draws to a close, so too does the Truth Commission’s second year in operation. This snapshot provides a brief overview of the commission’s work to date and points to some of the challenges that might arise in its upcoming final year of work. A more detailed look ahead to 2021 will be tackled in the next snapshot.
One of the central challenges of the Truth Commission is that both those giving their testimonies and the interviewers who are taking the testimonies require certain tools to manage the emotional impact of giving and listening to these stories. For the Commission, the importance of these testimonies lies not only in understanding the complexity of the internal armed conflict in the country, but also in recognising the stories of both victims and perpetrators throughout the years.
The Chamber for the Recognition of Truth of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) decided to open a case for the Urabá region, to investigate the crimes committed in the framework of the armed conflict between 1986 and 2016. The macro-case comprises 10 municipalities: 6 of them located in Antioquia (Turbo, Apartadó, Carepa, Chigorodó, Mutatá and Dabeiba) and 4 of them in Chocó (Carmen del Darién, Riosucio, Unguía and Acandí).
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.
Forced displacement has been recognised as a major consequence of the armed conflict in Colombia, sometimes forcing victims to leave the country in exile. According to the National Victims’ Registry, there are over 8,500,000 victims of the armed conflict and 7,500,000 victims of forced displacement. It is unknown exactly how many victims are living abroad but the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates it to be approximately 400,000 – it is likely to be even higher.
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