Reuters/Havana

Representatives of the Colombian government and leftist Farc rebels signed an agreement yesterday on reparations for war victims and the establishment of special tribunals to try former combatants once the two sides reach a definitive peace pact.
The signing ceremony in Havana helps put peace talks back on track towards reaching a March 23 deadline for a comprehensive plan to end Latin America’s longest war, which has killed 220,000 people and displaced millions since 1964.
“We’ve never been so close to a definitive agreement before,” Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, who won re-election last year by staking his campaign on the peace talks, wrote on Twitter.
The partial agreement was the result of 18 months of work in which victims of the rebels, government troops and right-wing paramilitary groups participated and offered proposals. Sixty of them gave testimony to peace negotiators in Havana, site of the peace talks for the past three years.
The accord creates a truth commission to clarify what happened in the war and promises to search for thousands of missing people, identity their remains and return them. It also attempts to ensure those affected will not be victimised again.
In September, the Colombian government and guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc, reached a breakthrough agreement to establish special courts to try former combatants, including guerrillas, government soldiers and members of right-wing paramilitary groups.
While attempting to offer as much amnesty as possible, the courts would reduce sentences for those who admit guilt and exclude from amnesty those responsible for war crimes or crimes against humanity.
Judges on the special tribunal will not be chosen by either side of the negotiating table.
Yesterday’s agreement formalises the new justice system.