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TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE
The Transitional Justice team aims to inform, explain, and create a dialogue around the work of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) and its connections with the broader transitional justice framework in Colombia. We publish snapshots once a month to inform and analyse the latest progress of JEP.
The JEP Advances in its Investigation of the Forced Recruitment of Minors
The SRVR published their internal prioritisation strategy with respect to the FARC-EP sub-case of Case 07 on the recruitment and use of children in the armed conflict.
The JEP and Moral Reparations for Victims of False Positives in Catatumbo
By means of Auto 125 of 2 July 2021, the JEP’s Chamber for Recognition of Truth, Responsibility and Determination of Conduct presented its findings related to the murder of 120 civilians and the attempted murder of another by military units belonging to the 30th Brigade, based in Ocaña, Norte de Santander.
The LGTBI Community in the JEP
The Chamber for Recognition of Truth issued Auto 066 in which, for the first time, five people from the LGBTI community were accredited as victims. By means of this decision, the Chamber established that the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) has jurisdiction in cases of persecution and discrimination against the LGBTI community associated with their sexual orientation or gender identity in the context of the armed conflict.
The New Strategy for Prioritisation in Case 03
On 18 February 2021, as part of Auto 033 of 2021, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) published its strategy for prioritisation within Case 03.
Auto 019: The JEP Attributes Responsibility for the First Time
On 26 January 2021, the Chamber for the Recognition of Truth, Responsibility and Determination of Conduct (SRVR) of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) issued its first ruling: Auto 019 of 2021. This sets out the crimes and practices committed by former members of the FARC-EP Secretariat, and explicitly makes them accountable for the crimes investigated in Case 001. This order (Auto) represents the JEP’s first formal ruling that attributes responsibility. It highlights the participation of victims, and how information has been collected and verified in order to establish the truth about the former FARC-EP’s methods and practices in Case 001.
This snapshot analyses some of the key points within Auto 019 that are essential for the peace process to progress, for comprehensive reparation to be made to victims, and for Colombian society to be reconciled.
2021: A CRITICAL YEAR FOR THE JEP
2021 is a critical year for the JEP. According to experts in peace processes, the first five years after a peace accord are the most decisive ones, because a conflict is more likely to reignite during that period. With the 2016 Peace Agreement entering its fifth year of implementation, it is not only the JEP’s decisions that are important in 2021, but also the political, institutional, and social context surrounding the agreement. This snapshot sets out some of the key elements that will define the work of the JEP this year.
The Case of Salvatore Mancuso and the JEP
With Order No. 90 of 2020, the Chamber for the Recognition of Truth, Responsibility and Determination of Conduct (SRVR) of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) rejected Salvatore Mancuso’s petition to be admitted. In 1997, Salvatore Mancuso helped form the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), an illegal organisation that, under his command, repeatedly committed severe human rights violations in seven departments of the Caribbean and in the region of Catatumbo.
Environmental Justice in the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP)
Understanding competition over land and natural resources as underpinning the Colombian conflict is a fundamental step both for recognising environmental justice as a component of the peace-building process, and for taking action to guarantee non-repetition. The JEP is taking an innovative racial, ethnic and territorial approach to the inclusion of the environment in the transitional justice process. This approach acknowledges the importance of the relationship established by Afro-Colombian, Indigenous and campesinos communities with their territories, and investigates the degradation of local natural resources as a violation of the communities’ collective rights. Three of the currently open macro-cases investigate the damage caused to the environment in the context of the armed conflict: macro-cases 002, 004 and 005. Moreover the JEP has established a “Commission on Territory and the Environment” to investigate the links between the conflict and environmental degradation and to promote a reflection on a territorial and environmental approach within the various bodies of the JEP.
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 Challenges of Transitional Justice from an Afro-Colombian Perspective
Between August and September 2020, the Transitional Justice team of ReD organised two online dialogues that addressed the perspectives of Afro-Colombian social leaders on transitional justice. We discussed the three regional cases currently under the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP): Case 002 focused on Nariño, Case 004 on Urabá, and Case 005 on Cauca and Valle del Cauca; and what the leaders considered to be the JEP’s greatest challenges. This snapshot gathers some of the reflections, concerns, and proposals that arose during those events.
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- Polarización y Reconciliación: un balance académico a...24th November 2021 - 5:14 pm
COVID-19: A Window of Opportunity for Negotiations with...25th April 2020 - 8:21 pm- A Guide to the Investigation and Accusation Unit of the...20th March 2020 - 7:39 pm
- Extrajudicial executions presented as deaths in combat by...21st January 2020 - 8:56 am
- Listening7th November 2020 - 1:16 pm
- THE 7 CASES BEFORE THE JEP13th October 2019 - 5:04 pm
- Polarización y Reconciliación: un balance académico a...24th November 2021 - 5:14 pm
- Compassionate Reasoning and Reconciliation30th November 2023 - 6:38 pm
- Diez Años de Procesos de Paz en Colombia28th November 2023 - 4:02 pm
- Ten Years of Peace Processes in Colombia27th November 2023 - 10:36 pm
- Compassion, Conflict and Reconciliation29th April 2023 - 4:48 pm
- Children and Youth: Lessons from the Colombian Truth Co...16th April 2023 - 11:59 am
