Justice in Colombia owes a historical debt to the victims of state crimes
Despite the international sanctions that the Colombian State has received, the convictions handed down by the administrative justice system, as well as the criminal punishment of members of the security forces, the majority of State crimes continue in total impunity, Hence the need to create the Special Jurisdiction for Peace and respond to the international obligation to prosecute those most responsible in the armed forces and civilians who continue without being investigated, tried and punished, even though there is evidence of their responsibility widely known by society in different scenarios, including the statements made by paramilitary leaders before the special jurisdiction of Justice and Peace.
We welcome the decision of the Chamber for the Recognition of Truth, Responsibility and the Determination of Facts and Conduct (SRVR) of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace to continue advancing in the investigation of responsibility for crimes committed by the security forces and other agents of the State or in association with paramilitary groups and civilian third parties. This is a way to respond to the historical debt owed to the victims who for decades have demanded recognition of their rights to truth and justice.
The SRVR initiated today, in the city of Medellín, the hearings to listen to the victims about the decision to group, concentrate and prioritize the facts contained in the reports received so far in three new macro cases. Victims and human rights organizations call attention to the need to broaden participation without reducing it to this scenario, which is in fact limited. The Special Jurisdiction for Peace has the challenge of structuring a methodology that guarantees broad participation, with a differential and territorial approach, ensuring that the result of participation is reflected in the deliberations and decisions of the SRVR.
We ask the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, and in particular the Recognition Chamber, to take into account the requests we have made in reports, hearings and other scenarios, including the following:
1.Participation must respect the principle of integral participation of the victims, which implies that it must be: (i) effective, (ii) accessible and differential, (iii) informed, (iv) dialogic, (v) with suitable judicial representation, and (v) with psychosocial accompaniment and psycho-legal support, complying with the Manual for the participation of victims before the Special Jurisdiction for Peace.
2. Participation is not limited to a partial and limited listening; the SJP must bring the victims closer to it through the design of a methodology that provides guarantees for a real impact on decision-making that affects their rights.
3. It is necessary to make available to society and victims the information that supports the grouping of cases as a guarantee of effective and informed participation.
4. Given the lack of progress in the recognition of responsibility by those most responsible who have appeared before the SJP using denialist and justificatory strategies, we call on the SRVR to fully guarantee symmetrical, simultaneous, equitable and balanced treatment in the definition of the new macro cases and their investigation, including the rigorous application of the conditionality regime.
5. It is necessary to go beyond what is known about State Criminality and contribute to the construction of a narrative that allows for evidence of the policies and individual and collective actions that have promoted human rights violations, breaches of International Humanitarian Law, war crimes committed by the security forces, as well as impunity for all of these. The organizations trust that the SJP will be able to judge and punish those most responsible.
6. We hope that State crimes such as forced disappearance, forced displacement, massacres, land dispossession and sexual violence, which were committed by State agents or in association and connivance with paramilitary structures, will not be treated as mere lines of investigation, but rather, in accordance with the needs of the investigation, should be converted into cases with a territorial approach for which those who appear in the public force will be held accountable.
7. It is worrying that the SJP states that there are 9763 cases of forced disappearance attributable to the FARC, but does not have data on those committed by state agents, taking into account that the reports submitted by the organizations denounce more than 80 thousand cases. This type of shortcomings make the possibility of opening a Macro of Enforced Disappearance as the victims have demanded since 2017 far away.
8. We request that after the hearings, a territorial meeting between the governing body of the SJP and the SRVR be held with victims’ and human rights organizations to deliver the results of the hearings and the process to be followed for the opening of the macro case or cases on crimes committed by members of the security forces, other State agents or in association with paramilitary groups and civilian third parties.
9. The investigation of State Criminality is not exhausted in the lines that the SRVR has established, there are still facts to be clarified such as the criminal use of state intelligence against different layers of Colombian society, and the continued genocide suffered by the Colombian people, among many others.
The organizations support the actions of the Integral System of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-Repetition, including the Special Jurisdiction for Peace. This trust must be reciprocated through due attention to the claims, proposals and effective and binding participation.
Suscribe,
National Movement of Victims of State Crimes – Movice
Liberty Law Corporation – CJL
Mothers United in Sorrow Association – Afusodo
Association of Women Entrepreneurs – Asociación de Mujeres Emprendedoras
Victims of Violence – Puerto Berrío
Association of Victims of Corozal La Estrella
Association of Victims for Peace and Development – ASVIPAD
Victims and Survivors Association of Northeastern Antioquia – ASOVISNA
Association Ecate
Gente emprendedora Association, GEMPREN
Mothers for Life Association Buenaventura
Colectivo Mujeres Caminando por la Verdad – Comuna Trece
Colectivo Tejiendo Memorias
Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights – CPDH
Prisoner Solidarity Committee
Politicians Atlántico Sectional
Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights – Valle del Cauca
Peace Council of Repelon
Yira Castro Legal Corporation – CJYC
Regional Development Corporation
Corporation for Citizen Education and Self-Management – CEAC
Regional Corporation For The Defense Of Human Rights -CREDHOS
Walkirias Corporation
Relatives of Victims of Enforced Disappearance
Vereda La Esperanza Foundation
Committee in Solidarity with Political Prisoners – CSPP
Foundation of Afro-Colombian Black Communities
Raizales Palenquera Alegría y Paz de Repelon Foundation Guagua – Galería de la Memoria
Tiberio Fernández Mafla
Fundación Madres de la Candelaria Línea Fundadora
Mesa Departamental de Participación Efectiva de las Víctimas en Antioquia
Mesa Departamental sobre Desaparición
Forzada de Antioquia
Movice Capítulo Bogotá
Movice Capítulo Meta
Movice Capítulo Santander
Movimiento Nacional de Víctimas de
Crímenes de Estado – Capítulo Antioquia
Organización Ave Fénix – Puerto Berrío
Organización Nueva Vida y Esperanza
Secretaria de DDHH Magisterio de Nariño – SIMANA
Sindicato de Trabajadores de las Empresas
Municipales de Cali – Sintraemcali
Sindicato del Trabajo Doméstico de Bolívar
Tierra Patria
Unión de Ciudadanas de Colombia Seccional Cali
