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An article by Prensa Latina
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos welcomed today [Mar 14] the approval in Congress of the bill that will create the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), considered the backbone of the agreement with the FARC-EP.
President Santos
In his Twitter account, the President thanked the Senate for the validation of that rule on the eve – by 60 votes against two – during his final debate, one of the most controversial of the package planned to implement what was agreed with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia- People’s Army (FARC-EP), currently under disarmament.
The JEP sets up courts to investigate, prosecute and punish those responsible for the long war with the premises of zero impunity for crimes against humanity, but envisions pardons and amnesties in cases of political and related crimes.
It is the pillar for reconciliation, insisted the Executive when referring to the importance of such a mechanism aimed at implementing transitional justice, which contributes to move from war to a scenario of detente.
The heated discussions and absenteeism of some parliamentarians had hampered the passage of the aforementioned bill, so last night’s analysis was accompanied by representatives of victims’ organizations and other citizens in favor of the agreement with the FARC-EP.
Promoters of the popular initiative ‘Eye to the peace’, created to promote the implementation of the agreement between the Government and that guerrilla, remained on the outskirts of the Capitol and even within the Senate grounds to demand the validation of the JEP.
This methodology is part of an comprehensive system designed to clarify the truth, to apply justice, to repair damages caused to those directly affected by the confrontation (totaling almost eight million) and to offer guarantees of non-repetition.
(Click here for a Spanish version of this article.)