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Paramilitary demobilisation in Colombia: between peace and justice

25/04/2008 By Felipe Gómez Isa

Luis Acosta / AFP / Getty Images
Since President Álvaro Uribe took office in August 2002 a dialogue process and subsequent demobilisation of paramilitary groups has taken place in Colombia, with 31,671 members of illegal armed groups pledging to lay down their arms.

Throughout this process, Colombia has been faced with the onerous task of tackling the dilemmas which any transitional justice process creates: to pull off the precarious and unstable balancing act between the need for peace and the need for justice.

Amidst intense pressure from paramilitary groups that they should not have to go to prison, and also that they be allowed to keep a significant part of what they have acquired through their illegal activities, there is a danger that the process is utilised to guarantee impunity and does not ultimately lead to the dismantling of paramilitary structures. The absence of the victims in the process has also been criticised as one of its main failures.

This Working Paper from FRIDE explores the international legal framework with regards to justice, truth and reparation and asks to what extent Colombia’s very own tailor-made framework is in line with these parameters, especially in the light of the Constitutional Court’s ruling on the Justice and Peace Law.

This publication was produced under an agreement with the Institute of Human Rights at the University of Deusto.

 

 

 

 

 


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Keywords

Colombia Conflict resolution International Criminal Justice Justice Latin America & Caribbean Peace process Terrorism Transitional justice

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Bio author: Felipe Gómez Isa

Professor of Public International Law and Researcher at the Institute of Human Rights Pedro Arrupe of the University of Deusto, Bilbao.