\n The Colombian government has pardoned at least 110 FARC rebels as part of a peace deal to end a 52-year conflict, the justice minister said Wednesday.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"I believe around 300 pardons could be granted in all,\" Justice Minister Jorge Londono told a press conference.\n<\/p>\n
\n The pardons, as well as an amnesty law currently before Congress, apply only to \"political crimes\" and not more serious offenses such as killings, rape and torture, he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n All pardons will be reviewed by a judge before taking effect, he added.\n<\/p>\n
\n Another 5,500 jailed soldiers, police officers and other state agents convicted of crimes linked to the conflict could also be released if their offenses are minor, he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n The issue of meting out justice has been a stumbling block as President Juan Manuel Santos seeks to end half a century of conflict with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).\n<\/p>\n
\n Voters narrowly rejected an initial version of the peace deal in October after opponents attacked it as too soft on the rebels.\n<\/p>\n
\n Santos, this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner, then passed a revised version of the deal through Congress, where he has a majority.\n<\/p>\n
\n But critics still say the deal grants impunity for crimes against humanity and will allow war criminals to hold public office.\n<\/p>\n
\n Launched in 1964 from the ashes of a quashed peasant uprising, the FARC today has some 5,700 fighters who are preparing to disarm.\n<\/p>\n
\n Another 4,500 members of the Marxist guerrilla group are in prison.\n<\/p>\n
\n Colombia's conflict has killed more than 260,000 people and left 45,000 missing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Colombian government has pardoned at least 110 FARC rebels as part of a peace deal to end a 52-year conflict, the justice minister said Wednesday. \"I believe around 300 pardons could be granted in all,\" Justice Minister Jorge Londono told a press conference. The pardons, as well as an amnesty law currently before Congress, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-31127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n