{"id":28880,"date":"2016-08-26T07:13:27","date_gmt":"2016-08-26T05:13:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html"},"modified":"2016-08-26T07:13:27","modified_gmt":"2016-08-26T05:13:27","slug":"colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html","title":{"rendered":"Colombia: Peace Pact a Key Opportunity to Curb Abuses"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Washington, DC, August 25, 2016) \u2013 The agreement between the Colombian<\/a>\u00a0government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas on August 24, 2016, to end their 52-year conflict is an unprecedented opportunity to curtail abuses in the country, Human Rights Watch said today. But it includes a serious defect that risks its unraveling: a flawed victims\u2019 agreement reached in December 2015, that could guarantee impunity for those responsible for human rights abuses and war crimes.<\/p>\n

Peace talks with guerrillas, which began in October 2012, involved partial agreements on five points in the agenda in addition to ending the conflict. They include political participation, victims\u2019 rights, and drug policy. The government will hold a national plebiscite to approve the agreement in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cFARC\u2019s commitment to demobilize and disarm should end a tragic and bloody chapter of Colombian history and help bring relief after years of violence and abuse,\u201d said Jos\u00e9 Miguel Vivanco<\/a>, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. \u201cBut the negotiating parties seriously undermined this opportunity for a sustainable and just peace with a so-called victims\u2019 agreement that fails to fulfill the rights of those who suffered some of the worst atrocities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since its formation in the mid-1960s, the FARC, Colombia\u2019s largest guerrilla insurgency, has been responsible for systematic abuses against civilians. The guerrillas have killed and abducted civilians, taken hostages, carried out disappearances, engaged in widespread sexual violence, used child soldiers, conducted grossly unfair trials, forcibly displaced civilians, and subjected captured combatants to cruel and inhuman treatment.<\/p>\n

\n

As it stands, the victims\u2019 agreement ensures that those most responsible for these atrocities will escape genuine justice by allowing people who confess their crimes to avoid any remotely serious form of punishment.<\/p>\n

Under the agreement, FARC guerillas who confess could avoid prison time or any \u201cequivalent\u201d form of detention. Instead, they would be subject to sanctions amounting to modest and short \u201crestrictions on rights and liberties\u201d while being required to carry out projects to assist victims of the conflict. The numerous ambiguities and loopholes in the agreement could allow confessed criminals to be released from any such restrictions before their sentences are completed and to avoid any consequences if they fail to comply with the sanctions against them.<\/p>\n

Similar sanctions would be applicable to members of the armed forces, probably including many of those alleged to be responsible for the systematic execution of thousands of civilians to boost the military\u2019s count for enemy casualties \u2013 known as \u201cfalse-positive\u201d cases \u2013 by army brigades across Colombia between 2002 and 2008.<\/p>\n

\u201cAllowing confessed and convicted war criminals to be \u2018punished\u2019 by no more than orders for community service is grotesquely insufficient,\u201d Vivanco said. \u201cThe international community should not turn a blind eye to this fa\u00e7ade of justice in the name of peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other troubling features of the justice agreement include a definition of \u201ccommand responsibility\u201d that could be interpreted in a manner inconsistent with international law to allow military commanders within the Colombian armed forces and the FARC to avoid responsibility for crimes carried out by their subordinates. Unlike the definition established in international law, the agreement could require proof that commanders actually knew of human rights crimes committed by their troops, rather than merely had reason to know of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the Colombian government is serious about ensuring a sustainable peace and respecting victims\u2019 rights to justice, it should use the implementing legislation to fix the serious flaws in the victims\u2019 agreement,\u201d Vivanco said. \u201cFor starters, it should amend the agreement to ensure that commanders are held responsible for crimes committed by their troops and to fix ambiguities that may allow inadequate sanctions for confessed criminals.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Washington, DC, August 25, 2016) \u2013 The agreement between the Colombian\u00a0government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas on August 24, 2016, to end their 52-year conflict is an unprecedented opportunity to curtail abuses in the country, Human Rights Watch said today. But it includes a serious defect that risks its unraveling: a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":66382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[],"ji_location":[2177],"class_list":["post-28880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","ji_location-colombia"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nColombia: Peace Pact a Key Opportunity to Curb Abuses - JusticeInfo.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Colombia: Peace Pact a Key Opportunity to Curb Abuses\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(Washington, DC, August 25, 2016) \u2013 The agreement between the Colombian\u00a0government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas on August 24, 2016, to end their 52-year conflict is an unprecedented opportunity to curtail abuses in the country, Human Rights Watch said today. But it includes a serious defect that risks its unraveling: a […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"JusticeInfo.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeInfo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-26T05:13:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/f477f718ed72fbf9fc88f3ee1de7f451.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"728\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"473\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Human Rights Watch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@justiceinfonet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@justiceinfonet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Human Rights Watch\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"solivri\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/6e53cba1629e2e66f3fc1821d3091865\"},\"headline\":\"Colombia: Peace Pact a Key Opportunity to Curb Abuses\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-26T05:13:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html\"},\"wordCount\":610,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/f477f718ed72fbf9fc88f3ee1de7f451.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html\",\"name\":\"Colombia: Peace Pact a Key Opportunity to Curb Abuses - JusticeInfo.net\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/f477f718ed72fbf9fc88f3ee1de7f451.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-26T05:13:27+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/f477f718ed72fbf9fc88f3ee1de7f451.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/f477f718ed72fbf9fc88f3ee1de7f451.jpg\",\"width\":728,\"height\":473},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Colombia: Peace Pact a Key Opportunity to Curb Abuses\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/\",\"name\":\"JusticeInfo.net\",\"description\":\"For justice to be done, it must be seen\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Justice Info\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/justiceinfo_logo-trans_1200x1200px.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/justiceinfo_logo-trans_1200x1200px.png\",\"width\":1199,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"Justice Info\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeInfo\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/justiceinfonet\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/justice-info\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCyCEsARodyuWtkWyhn-e7pA\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Human Rights Watch\",\"url\":\"\/en\/?s=Human Rights Watch\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Colombia: Peace Pact a Key Opportunity to Curb Abuses - JusticeInfo.net","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Colombia: Peace Pact a Key Opportunity to Curb Abuses","og_description":"(Washington, DC, August 25, 2016) \u2013 The agreement between the Colombian\u00a0government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas on August 24, 2016, to end their 52-year conflict is an unprecedented opportunity to curtail abuses in the country, Human Rights Watch said today. But it includes a serious defect that risks its unraveling: a […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html","og_site_name":"JusticeInfo.net","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeInfo\/","article_published_time":"2016-08-26T05:13:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":728,"height":473,"url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/f477f718ed72fbf9fc88f3ee1de7f451.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Human Rights Watch","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@justiceinfonet","twitter_site":"@justiceinfonet","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Human Rights Watch","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html"},"author":{"name":"solivri","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/6e53cba1629e2e66f3fc1821d3091865"},"headline":"Colombia: Peace Pact a Key Opportunity to Curb Abuses","datePublished":"2016-08-26T05:13:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html"},"wordCount":610,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/f477f718ed72fbf9fc88f3ee1de7f451.jpg","articleSection":["Opinion"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html","name":"Colombia: Peace Pact a Key Opportunity to Curb Abuses - JusticeInfo.net","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/f477f718ed72fbf9fc88f3ee1de7f451.jpg","datePublished":"2016-08-26T05:13:27+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/f477f718ed72fbf9fc88f3ee1de7f451.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/f477f718ed72fbf9fc88f3ee1de7f451.jpg","width":728,"height":473},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/28880-colombia-peace-pact-a-key-opportunity-to-curb-abuses.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Colombia: Peace Pact a Key Opportunity to Curb Abuses"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/","name":"JusticeInfo.net","description":"For justice to be done, it must be seen","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization","name":"Justice Info","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/justiceinfo_logo-trans_1200x1200px.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/justiceinfo_logo-trans_1200x1200px.png","width":1199,"height":1200,"caption":"Justice Info"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeInfo\/","https:\/\/x.com\/justiceinfonet","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/justice-info","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCyCEsARodyuWtkWyhn-e7pA"]},{"@type":"Person","name":"Human Rights Watch","url":"\/en\/?s=Human Rights Watch"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28880"},{"taxonomy":"ji_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ji_location?post=28880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}