Bogotá (EFE).- The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) sanctioned on Tuesday seven members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia command, including its top leader Rodrigo Londoño, with alternative sentences of eight years of “effective restriction of their rights.”
The JEP imposed the sentences for being “ultimately responsible for the criminal policy of kidnapping” carried out by the guerrilla group during the Colombian armed conflict.
A study by Colombia’s National Center for Historical Memory found that 220,000 people were killed in the conflict between 1958 and 2013.
Most of the victims were civilians, with 177,307 killed and 40,787 fighters killed. In addition, over 5 million civilians were forced from their homes between 1985 and 2012, creating the world’s second-largest population of internally displaced persons.
Magistrate Camilo Suárez stated that “this decision implies that the seven members of the FARC secretariat are declared criminally responsible as perpetrators for the commission of war crimes consisting of hostage-taking and homicide, as well as crimes against humanity consisting of deprivation of liberty, murders, and forced disappearances.”
These are the first sanctions issued by the JEP and the maximum provided by restorative justice for those who acknowledge their responsibility for the investigated acts and contribute to the truth. They do not entail prison sentences.
Those sanctioned, in addition to Londoño (also known as Timochenko), are Pastor Alape, Jaime Alberto Parra (aka El Médico), Pablo Catatumbo, Milton de Jesús Toncel (aka Joaquín Gómez), Julián Gallo (aka Carlos Antonio Lozada), and Rodrigo Granda (also known as Ricardo Téllez).
Suárez added, “Those most responsible, today condemned, submitted to this jurisdiction and have met the necessary conditions to access special treatment by carrying out work, deeds, and activities with reparative and restorative content in advance.”
The work includes searching for missing persons, taking integral action against landmines, environmental recovery, and providing symbolic reparations to victims, the JEP noted.
Three patterns of kidnapping
To sanction the FARC commanders, the JEP identified three main patterns. The first pattern as “depriving civilians of their liberty to obtain economic resources through ransom payments.”
The other two patterns were “detaining public force members and political leaders to force prisoner exchanges and seek political recognition” and “using kidnapping to control society and territory in different regions of the country.”
The magistrate added, “These patterns were executed under the direction of the FARC secretariat with broad autonomy and regional commands, generating a massive and prolonged impact on the civilian population, i.e., a phenomenon of macro-victimization.”
During the investigations, the JEP also established that captive persons were subjected to cruel, degrading, and inhuman treatment, including permanent shackling, coerced long walks, physical and psychological aggression, and deprivation of health care, food, and undignified conditions, as well as cases of sexual violence.
“Respected victims, this sentence will not give you back all that you lost. It cannot change a painful past, recover lost time, or completely heal your deep wounds. No sentence in the world could do so. But it does seek to alleviate your pain and that of your families,” stated JEP president Alejandro Ramelli.
These first sentences are part of macro-case 001, an investigation the JEP has spent seven years on. The case involves kidnappings committed by the FARC between 1993 and 2016.
The JEP has registered a provisional figure of 21,396 victims, of whom 4,325 were accredited as such before the court.
“What we are experiencing today is not only one painful case, but thousands. These are stories that tear us apart and appear in every corner of Colombia. Wherever you look, you see lives marked by conflict,” said Ramelli, who added that Colombia is “a country that chose to treat its wounds with truth and lifelong promises of restoration.” EFE
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