More than 17 years have passed since the International Criminal Court opened a preliminary examination into the situation in Colombia, the scene of crimes against humanity (1) that have occurred since November 1, 2002, and war crimes (2) that have occurred since November 2009, in the context of a non of a non-international armed conflict between State military forces, paramilitary groups and other organized armed groups.
Thus, since June 2004, the International Criminal Court has received a significant number of communications from social and victims’ organizations that share a concern that remains valid: the violence in Colombia has not ceased, there are still structural and other specific problems that could prevent the initiation or continuity of judicial proceedings with due diligence despite the seriousness of international crimes in qualitative and quantitative terms, and the demands constantly made to the State to comply with its obligation to investigate, prosecute and punish all those responsible – especially the most senior – for these crimes are ignored.
If the International Criminal Court decides to close this review and thereby culminate its investigation, it will be up to the Colombian justice system to prove that it has the will to prosecute those most responsible for the serious crimes under review. However, we consider the likelihood of serious, impartial and independent domestic investigations of the cases subject to this review to be nil, given the following concerns that were noted in one of the communications sent to the ICC Office of the Prosecutor in 2020:
1.The suspension of investigations in the ordinary justice system, which meant a total paralysis of the proceedings against State agents allegedly responsible for crimes or offenses under the jurisdiction of the SJP. Although it is true that this circular was repealed, in practical terms there has been no progress in such proceedings; on the contrary, it is totally valid to state that in an Attorney General’s Office co-opted by the Executive and the interests of the governing party, different maneuvers are attempted to prevent any procedural progress.
2. The Military Criminal Justice has not reported any report or judicial decision to the SJP, nor is there any public record of sending complete information on the cases they hear, despite the fact that it is a constitutional duty. One example is the discovery of graves in the cemetery of Dabeiba (Antioquia) where the bodies of people extrajudicially executed by State combatants had been hidden, and it is noteworthy that the Military Criminal Justice was only aware of 10 processes that did not advance significantly.
3. For the investigations against the commanders and other superiors, it is necessary to define the criteria of the SJP to attribute responsibilities. In this regard, the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC has reiterated the non-application of International Criminal Law in this matter (3), i.e. that a lower criterion be applied than that established in the Rome Statute, where such responsibility is not limited to knowledge or direct participation in the crime, but rather to the overall behavior of subordinates, or the absence of necessary and reasonable measures to prevent the commission of the crime or its repetition.
4. There are also serious concerns about contributions to the truth and exclusion from the SJP in scenarios of non-compliance with the conditionality regime to which all those appearing in the 03 macro-case are subject. The appearance before the SJP should be oriented toward clarifying the participation of commanders and superiors in the elaboration and consolidation of the policies that gave rise to the extrajudicial executions. On the contrary, and in particular the highest-ranking witnesses, insist on denying the facts and re-victimizing the victims, hindering progress in terms of justice.
5. Sexual violence as a weapon of war continues with high rates of impunity in the ordinary jurisdiction and in the Justice and Peace model, which is why the SJP has been requested to open a macro-case that prioritizes sexual violence that occurred in the armed conflict, although this request has not been granted to date.
6. Enormous difficulties persist in the investigation and prosecution of State agents who are not members of the security forces and civilian third parties, as it has been determined that the presentation of these actors before the SJP is voluntary. On the one hand, voluntariness puts the competence of the SJP in jeopardy, and on the other, the inactivity of the ordinary justice system is alarming, which is limited due to the lack of autonomy of the Attorney General’s Office, which must investigate and charge those allegedly responsible, so it is highly likely that impunity will continue for these actors.
7. The SJP will not be able to investigate a large number of State Agents who are not members of the Public Force -civilian superiors-, since they appear before the Accusations Commission of the House of Representatives, which is the body in charge of hearing investigations against the President of the Republic, the magistrates of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, the Council of State, the Superior Council of the Judiciary and the Attorney General of the Nation. This constitutes a clear disregard for the standards of International Criminal Law, the official position of these high officials is placed above justice and the rights of the victims and closes the way to the possibility of analyzing their responsibility and effective command control over their subordinates, if they deployed measures to prevent or repress the occurrence of international crimes, if they had information about them and ignored it, and also their negligence in not bringing the matter to the attention of the authorities.
In that sense, considering the above points and the constant attacks that have been deployed -or that may arise- against justice in Colombia (4), from the Campaign for the Independence of Justice #NobodyOverJustice, individuals, social organizations and human rights platforms signatories, we call on the ICC Office of the Prosecutor to maintain the preliminary examination on Colombia, in which information has been collected that could account for a sufficient reason to carry out a formal investigation.
The closure of the preliminary examination cannot be interpreted in any way as the product of this government’s commitment to the fight against impunity, but rather as an endorsement by the ICC of the role of the SJP, an entity on whose results it will depend if the examination does not have to be reopened in the future. The serious international crimes committed in Colombia and their structural impunity need international justice.
#NobodyOverJustice
Notes:
- These include crimes against humanity such as murder, forcible transfer of population, imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty, torture, and rape and other forms of sexual violence, in accordance with Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
2. These include war crimes such as murder; intentional attacks against civilians; torture; other cruel treatment; outrages upon personal dignity; hostage-taking; rape and other forms of sexual violence; and the use of children to participate actively in hostilities, in accordance with Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
3. In particular, in accordance with Article 28 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
4. President Iván Duque, senior officials of his government and his political party, have initiated a resounding smear campaign that directly attacks the functioning and independence of the JEP, and this corresponds to a key point in their agenda: undermine at all costs the administration of justice, abolish this jurisdiction if possible, or modify central aspects in its structure and operation that directly affect the victims and is an obvious breach of what was agreed in 2016. These attacks have been collected by the Campaign for the Independence of Justice in its most recent report entitled: “Judicial independence in Colombia, at risk by an authoritarian regime“.
Suscribers:
Human Rights Platforms
- Coordinación Colombia Europa Estados Unidos
- Alianza de Organizaciones Sociales y Afines
- Plataforma Colombiana de Derechos Humanos, Democracia y Desarrollo
Organizations
- Colectivo Sociojurídico Orlando Fals Borda
- Comisión Colombiana de Juristas
- Consultoría para los Derechos Humanos y el Desplazamiento -CODHES-
- Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo
- Viva la Ciudadanía
- Asonal Judicial S.I.
- Colombia Human Rights Committee
- Corporación Reiniciar
- Fasol
- ANDAS – Asociación Nacional de Ayuda Solidaria, Capítulo Huila
- ASAMBLEA PROVINCIAL CONSTITUYENTE DEL ORIENTE ANTIOQUEÑO
- Asociación MINGA
- Asociación red de mujeres víctimas y profesionales
- Asojuntas Comuna 10 Estación Gutiérrez Dosquebradas Risaralda
- ASOMUDEM
- Campaña Internacional por la Defensa de las Cortes y la Democracia
- Ciudadanías por la Paz de Colombia
- Colombia humana saint HYACINTHE
- Comunal
- Conciliadores En Equidad
- Convergencia Internacional -NY
- Corporación Conciudadanía
- Corporación Cultural para el desarrollo Arlequín y los Juglares
- CPDH Colombia
- DESDE ADENTRO Grupo Socio Cultural
- Escuela Derecho Propio Laureano Inampues
- FCSPP Atlántico
- Foro Nacional por Colombia
- Fundación víctimas de estado desaparición Forzada ddhh (FVEDFDH)
- JAC Olarte
- MOVICE Meta
- MOVIMIENTO NACIONAL DE VÍCTIMAS DE CRÍMENES DE ESTADO-MOVICE
- Polo Democrático Alternativo
- Red De Mujeres Nodo Caldas
- Sintraime la jagua
- Sintravidricol
- Vamos Cundinamarca
- Grupo de Litigio Estratégico Carlos Gaviria Díaz de la Escuela de Derecho UIS
- Asociación Nacional de Ayuda Solidaria ANDAS
- Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz
- Coalición contra la vinculación de niños, niñas y jóvenes al conflicto armado en Colombia (COALICO)
- Comité de Solidaridad con los Presos Políticos – CSPP
- Movimiento Nacional de Víctimas de Crímenes de Estado
- Corporación Claretiana Norman Pérez Bello
- Plataforma de organizaciones sociales, de víctimas y defensa de los Derechos Humanos Nariño
- Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz
- Asociación Urabá Global Suiza Colombia
- Nexus Human Rights
- Asociación Urabá Global Suiza Colombia
- Plataforma de Organizaciones Sociales, de Víctimas y Defensa de los Derechos Humanos Nariño
People
- Adriana María Diosa Colorado, Corporación Cultural para el desarrollo Arlequín y los Juglares
- Ana Aracelly Hoyos Gómez, Ciudadanía
- Andrea Toro, Colombia humana
- Anton Castro, Partido FARC
- Beatriz Durango Hernández, Ciudadanía
- Blanca Valdelamar Navarro, Conciliadores En Equidad
- Boris Orjuela, Colectivo OFB
- Carlos Arturo Correa Páez, Ciudadanía
- Claudia Campo Cisneros, JAC Olarte
- Cristian Oswaldo Quintero Rincon, Vamos Cundinamarca
- Diana Sánchez Lara, Asociación MINGA
- Eduardo Bustamante, Asamblea Provincial Constituyente Del Oriente Antioqueño
- Enrique Rico, Docente Pensionado
- Fernando Matamoros Castiblanco, Ciudadanía
- Jairo Alberto Guerrero Davila, Escuela Derecho Propio Laureano Inampues
- Jesus Rodriguez De Las Salas, Sinproseg
- José David Ortega Ruiz , ASCSUCOR
- Joselito Rojas Rico, Asonal Judicial S.I.
- Juan Sebastián Quintero Cabrera , Universidad Nacional
- Julia De Castro Andrade, Ciudadana
- Julio Cesar Bonilla Mosquera, Líderes Barriales
- Leidy Jhoana Dávila Cano, Universidad de Antioquia
- Leonor Cortés Bolívar , Colombia Humana
- Luisa Antonia Serrano Gómez , Persona
- Luisa María Muñoz López, Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo
- Luz Mery Velasquez Carmona , DESDE ADENTRO Grupo Socio Cultural
- Maria Cecilia Lozano, ASOMUDEM
- Maria Cepeda Castro, Vamos Por Los Derechos Internacional
- Maria Jesus Cedeño Sarmiento, FCSPP Atlántico
- Maria Teresa Muñoz , Foro Nacional por Colombia
- Martha Rincón, Colombia humana saint HYACINTHE
- Maureén Maya, Piero x la paz
- Mildreth Solandy Hernández Rodríguez, Juventudes Unidas por la Sostenibilidad del Planeta
- Natalie Callejas, NA
- Nívea Esperanza Dorado Guerrero, Independiente
- Nixa Wguerddy Triana Balaguera, UNAL
- Ramiro Antonio Sandoval, Convergencia Internacional -NY
- Rosario Montoya Hoyos, Ceac
- Saúl Felipe Malagón Maldonado, Cajar
- Sonia Racines Velásquez, Comunal
- Stella Cano, Escuela de Paz Eje Cafetero
- Victoria Sandino Simanca Herrera, Senadora Partido Fuerza Alternativa Revolucionaria del Común
- Vilma Gutiérrez Mendez, MOVICE Meta
- Wilfer Antonio Vergara García, Realizador radial Emisora Cultural U deA
- Willman Parraci Peña , ANDAS – Asociación Nacional de Ayuda Solidaria, Capítulo Huila
- Wilson Borja Díaz, Polo Democrático Alternativo
- Wilson Montoya Castro, Sintravidricol
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