On September 23, 2015, after over 50 years of civil war and 3 years of negotiations, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian government reached a significant breakthrough in their peace talks. FARC leader Rodrigo Londoño and Colombian president Juan Santos agreed to put an end to the civil war and begin a process of transitional justice in the form of a Special Jurisdiction for Peace. The leaders have agreed to formally sign a document 6 months from now, after which FARC will have another 60 days to lay down their weapons. While this peace deal could have many positive outcomes, there are many potential sources of contention. For the purpose of this essay I will limit my discussion to three points: the validation
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The Historical Memory reported “220,000 homicides, 5 million internally displaced persons, nearly 25,000 disappearances, almost 2,000 massacres, and more than 27,000 kidnappings”* during this time. A vast majority of these war crimes have taken place in the interior of the country among marginalized populations, with FARC being a main perpetrator. Political ideologies form the backbone of FARC’s motivations and the perpetration of war crimes has stemmed from their sense of political unrest. Fighting a war requires a lot of financial backing and the communist group currently supports much of its costs through drug trafficking and coca …show more content…
The victim is typically considered during a truth commission but does not have an active role during a criminal trial. However, I am of the opinion that the desires of many victims are not being considered in the potential provisional, limited sentences for FARC members. Recent studies show that popular opinion does not always believe the perpetrators should be let off with shortened sentences. A paragraph on the “Pitfalls” essay- tying in the Colombian people’s strong desire for harsher sentences and demanding greater
The Historical Memory reported “220,000 homicides, 5 million internally displaced persons, nearly 25,000 disappearances, almost 2,000 massacres, and more than 27,000 kidnappings”* during this time. A vast majority of these war crimes have taken place in the interior of the country among marginalized populations, with FARC being a main perpetrator. Political ideologies form the backbone of FARC’s motivations and the perpetration of war crimes has stemmed from their sense of political unrest. Fighting a war requires a lot of financial backing and the communist group currently supports much of its costs through drug trafficking and coca …show more content…
The victim is typically considered during a truth commission but does not have an active role during a criminal trial. However, I am of the opinion that the desires of many victims are not being considered in the potential provisional, limited sentences for FARC members. Recent studies show that popular opinion does not always believe the perpetrators should be let off with shortened sentences. A paragraph on the “Pitfalls” essay- tying in the Colombian people’s strong desire for harsher sentences and demanding greater