A group of relatives of former hostages of the FARC, the extinct guerrilla that demobilized in Colombia, rejected on Monday the alternative sentences to prison that the peace court will impose on the leaders of the organization
Text: RFI / AFP
«The victims felt disappointed, so we decided to step aside. In the JEP (Special Jurisdiction for Peace) we are not going to find justice,” the Defense of Innocents Foundation, which represents the relatives of some of the 12 deputies kidnapped in April 2002, said in a statement. Eleven of them were executed by guerrillas in 2007.
Arisen from the peace agreement that disarmed the then FARC in 2017, the JEP could hand down eight-year sentences “of non-prison restriction of freedoms and rights” for six leaders of today’s left-wing party, according to what was anticipated on Friday by one of the rooms that they make up the judicial system that investigates heinous crimes committed during the conflict.
However, the magistrates have not yet announced the final sanctions. The peace agreement excluded prison as punishment for former rebels who confess and ask for forgiveness for their crimes, in return they must carry out “work that contributes to the reparation of the victims.”
The Colombian-French Íngrid Betancourt, who was in the hands of the guerrillas for six years before being rescued by the military in 2008, announced that she will appeal the eventual ruling and has not ruled out going to international instances.
*Read also: 18 people kidnapped by FARC dissidents in Colombia released
“It is more about symbolic sanctions than a true restoration to the victims,” the former presidential candidate said in a statement.
Likewise, retired general Luis Mendieta, a hostage for almost 12 years, assured on W Radio that the ex-guerrilla “has not complied with the truth” and “there is no interest of the JEP in applying justice.”
Meanwhile Rodrigo Londoño, the last FARC commander known as Timochenko, reacted to the claims by reaffirming his “unrestricted and unwavering commitment” to the victims.
“We have recognized the kidnapping as an event that should never have occurred in the Colombian internal armed conflict and that caused deep pain to the victims and their families,” he said Monday in a statement signed by other former commanders.
The JEP accused the leadership of the FARC for crimes against humanity related to more than 21,000 kidnappings and torture committed between 1990 and 2016.
The magistrates have also charged army commanders with the execution of civilians who were presented as rebels killed in combat.
Post Views: 36
