Reuters/Bogota


The justice accord signed at peace talks between Marxist Farc rebels and the Colombian government does not address possible prison time for those who confess crimes committed during the country’s 51-year war, the rebel group said yesterday, contradicting government statements on the issue.
The government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) pledged last week to sign a peace accord within six months to end the conflict. As part of the deal they agreed to create special tribunals to try former rebels and military suspected of war crimes.
The government has said the accord on justice, considered the thorniest of the topics at the negotiating table, establishes that those responsible for massacres, kidnappings, forced disappearances, torture and sexual violence should be tried and sentenced to serve time in austere conditions.
However, in a statement on its website, the Farc said that the accord does not talk about incarceration for rebels who have fully confessed or about confining guerrilla troops to designated areas.
The Farc added that the accord on justice was closed, saying, “It is not true that, in regards to its substantive and procedural content, there are topics which require additional precision.”
Its statement came after lead government negotiator Humberto de la Calle said on Monday that the justice accord was still in development and that some topics remain to be decided.
Among key issues that the government says have yet to be finalised are whether Farc leaders convicted of crimes would later be allowed to participate in politics and if guerrillas could face extradition abroad.
Meanwhile, the Human Right Watch said the deal will not adequately punish war crimes’ perpetrators.
“We fully support Colombia’s efforts to obtain a peace agreement that would end years of bloodshed, including by finding innovative ways to promote accountability for human rights abuses,” said Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Right Watch.
“But while the special jurisdiction would encourage confessions, it would also allow those most responsible for mass atrocities to completely avoid prison, denying their victims the right to justice in any meaningful sense of the word,” Vivanco said.
The government claimed that the maximum sentence possible is 20 years, which will be given to the accused who are found guilty but refuse to admit their crime. Those who admit to serious crimes including genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture, forced displacement and sexual violence, will face between five and eight years of “restricted liberty” in certain conditions.
“The September 23, 2015, agreement between the Colombian government and Farc guerrillas would deny justice to thousands of victims of grave violations of human rights and humanitarian law,” said HRW.