Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding on the Ground: Victims and Ex-Combatants (Law, Conflict and International Relations) (55 page)

23
 Other issues regulated by Law 782 include witness protection and the surrender of military equipment and material goods possessed by illegal armed groups (Articles 50–82).

24
 Amnesty International,
Colombia. Los paramilitares en Medellín: ¿Desmovilización o legalización?
(London, 2005); CIDH,
Informe sobre la implementación de la Ley de Justicia y Paz: Etapas iniciales del proceso de desmovilización de las AUC y primeras diligencias judiciales
(San José, 2007).

25
 Legislative Bill 85, 2003,
Ley de Alternatividad Penal
.

26
 María Paula Saffon and Rodrigo Uprimny, “Uses and Abuses of Transitional Justice in Colombia,” in Morten Bergsmo and Pablo Kalmanovitz (eds),
Law in Peace Negotiations
(Oslo: Torkel Opsahl Electronic Publisher, 2009).

27
 Sentence C-370 of 2006 issued by the Constitutional Court of Colombia (Bogotá, 2006) <
www.corteconstitucional.gov.co/relatoria/2006/C-370–06.htm
>.

28
 Decree 3391 of 2006,
Por el cual se reglamenta parcialmente la ley 975 de 2005
, PRC; Decree 4436 of 2006,
Por la cual se reglamenta parcialmente la ley 782 de 1997
, PRC.

29
 An annotated law text including the Corte Constitucional (CC) decisions and specific considerations can be found in <
www.fiscalia.gov.co/justiciapaz/Documentos/LEY_975_concordada.pdf
>. Vicente Castaño Gil, one of the three AUC founders, withdrew from the process in 2006, as did others.

30
 Sergio de León, “El presidente Uribe asegura que en Colombia ‘hoy no hay paramilitarismo,’”
Revista Semana
(Bogotá, 20 July 2007).

31
 The diverse range of organizations includes the
Asociación Caminos de Esperanza de las Madres de la Candelaria
(<
www.madresdelacandelaria.org
>) and
La Ruta Pací
fi
ca de las Mujeres
(<
www.rutapacifica.org.co
>), both geographically based inter-regional groups addressing the needs of women victims of the armed conflict.
Organización Nacional de Indígenas de Colombia
(ONIC; <
www.onic.org.co
>) and
Unidad Indígena del Pueblo Awa
represent indigenous groups, at the national and local level respectively. Others, such as the
Asociación de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos
(ASFADDES;
<
www.asfaddes.info/node
>), work for the rights of the disappeared, regardless of the ethnicity or sex of the individual. Groups such as
País Libre
(<
www.paislibre.org
>) work with victims of kidnapping. At national level,
Movimiento Nacional de Víctimas de Crímenes de Estado
(MOVICE; <
www.movimientodevictimas.org
>), an umbrella organization comprising 200 victims’ associations and groups, plays an active role in the national debate concerning the Colombian process.

32
 Following the murder of peasant leader Benigno Gil Valencia on 22 November 2008, the CNRR called for the protection of peasant leaders and victim representatives putting forward claims for land restitution. Gil Valencia was spokesman for the
Mesa Nacional de Trabajo Campesina para el Programa de Recuperación de Tierras
in Mutatá (
CNRR Comunicado
, 24 November 2008, available at <
www.cnrr.org.co
>).

33
 Victims’ organizations were skeptical toward the process from the beginning. MOVICE, the largest and most vocal organization, did not participate in the institutional framework established to oversee the initial process of consultation led by CNRR. Victims’ organizations were originally represented at the CNRR by ONIC and
País Libre
.

34
 See, for example, DeJusticia <
www.dejusticia.org
>, CINEP (
Centro de Investigación y Educación Popular
), available at <
www.cinep.org.co
>, and particularly CODHES (
Consultoría para los Derechos Humanos y el Desplazamiento
), available at <
www.codhes.org
>.

35
 A more thorough discussion of other motives is beyond the scope of this chapter.

36
 This is clearly expressed in the Act of Constitution of the largest victims’ organization in Colombia, MOVICE (
Movimiento Nacional de Víctimas de Crímenes de Estado
), created on 25 June 2005, available at <
www.movimientodevictimas.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=61
>. MOVICE has remained firm in its opposition to Law 975.

37
 See Ana María Díaz (ed.),
Colombia: El espejismo de la justicia y la paz. Balance sobre la aplicación de la ley 975 de 2005
(Bogotá, 2008).

38
 Rafael Pardo,
Fin del paramilitarismo ¿Es posible su desmonte
? (Bogotá, 2007). Rodrigo Uprimny and María Paula Saffon,
Desplazamiento forzado y justicia transicional en Colombia. Estudio sectorial
(Bogotá, 2007); Saffon and Uprimny, “Uses and Abuses,” op. cit.; Gustavo Gallón, Michael Reed, and Catalina Lleras (eds),
Anotaciones sobre la ley de justicia y paz. Una mirada desde los derechos de las víctimas
(Bogotá, 2007).

39
 Law 975 of 2005, Art. 1. For a more detailed discussion of each transitional justice mechanism, see García-Godos and Lid, “The Unusual Case of Colombia,” op. cit.

40
 Proceso de Paz Informe Ejecutivo.

41
 Seguimiento Matriz de Justicia y Paz—Comité de Coordinación Interinstitucional de Justicia y Paz,
Quinto Bimestre 2010
, (Bogotá: October 2010),
Desmovilizados
(ACR, MD), available at <
www.mij.gov.co/econtent/library/documents/DocNewsNo1799DocumentNo6358.PDF
>; last accessed 5 April 2011.

42
 Ibid.

43
 Chapter IV, Law of Justice and Peace.

44
 Seguimiento Matriz, Proceso (Concejo Supremo de Justicia—CSJ).

45
 Seguimiento Matriz, Proceso (CSJ).

46
 “Paras Extraditados Seguían Delinquiendo e Incumplían Compromisos de Ley de Justicia y Paz: Uribe,”
El Tiempo
(13 May 2008).

47
 Mauricio Romero,
Parapolítica. La ruta de la expansión paramilitar y los acuerdos políticos
(Bogotá: Corporación Nuevo Arco Iris, 2007), available at <
www.nuevoarcoiris.org.co/sac/?q=node/80
>.

48
 “Conmigo Extraditaron la Verdad’: Salvatore Mancuso en Entrevista Exclusiva,”
Revista Cambio
(28 May 2009), available at <
http://justiciaypazcolombia.com/Conmigo-extraditaron-la-verdad
>; accessed 2 September 2010.

49
 Corporación Nuevo Arco Iris (2009)
Denuncian ante CIDH a Colombia por extradición de
‘
paras
’
y parapolítica
, 23 March 2009, Observatorio del Conflicto, available at <
www.nuevoarcoiris.org.co/sac/?q=node/325
>.

50
 
Eduardo Pizarro “La Extradición y las Víctimas,”
Semana
(19 May 2008), available at <
www.eltiempo.com/opinion/columnistas/eduardopizarroleongmez/ARTICULOWEB-PLANTILLA_NOTA_INTERIOR-4199074.html
>.

51
 García-Godos and Lid, “Unusual case of Colombia,” op. cit., p. 506.

52
 This is done by filling up the form “
Hechos atribuibles a grupos organizados al margen de la ley
,” developed by UNFPJ. It needs to be accompanied with documentation supporting the claim. See <
www.fiscalia.gov.co/justiciapaz/Documentos/Formato_Victimas.pdf
>.

53
 Seguimiento Matriz, Registro (Fondo Nacional de Garantias—FNG).

54
 Decree 1290 of 2008.
Por el cual se crea el programa de reparación individual por vía administrativa para las víctimas de los grupos armados organizados al margen de la ley
, Colombian Ministry of Interior and Justice.

55
 On the difference between solidarity and responsibility as the basis for victim reparations, see Nelson Camilo Sánchez, “¿Perder es Ganar un Poco? Avances y Frustraciones de la Discusión del Estatuto de Víctimas en Colombia,” in Catalina Díaz, Nelson Camilo Sánchez, and Rodrigo Uprimny (eds),
Reparar en Colombia: Los dilemas en contexto de con
fl
icto, pobreza y exclusión
(Bogotá: ICTJ—DeJusticia, 2009), pp. 623–718.

56
 Law 975 concerns all types of criminal acts penalized in the national penal code, without mentioning any specific type of crime. Damage to property is indirectly addressed by way of restitution, identified in the law as a form of victim reparations. The administrative reparations decree, on the contrary, does make explicit reference to the types of crimes considered for monetary compensation, including internal displacement. See Art. 5, Decree 1290/2108.

57
 The number of individual applications processed and approved for compensation payments is not available, and the only indicator made public is the number of families receiving compensation, along with the amount of money disbursed. See “Pagos Reparación Individual vía Administrativa,” Subdirección de Atención a Víctimas de la Violencia, Acción Social (Bogotá, October 2010).

58
 Author’s interview with CNNR Coordinator on Reconciliation, María Angélica Bueno (Bogotá 25 November 2011); “CNRR Proyecta Trabajo en Reconciliación para los Próximos Tres Años,” (15 December 2010), available at <
www.cnrr.org.co/contenido/09e/spip.php?article3874
>.

59
 The relative success of the CNRR is partly due to the leadership and commitment of its first president, Eduardo Pizarro Leóngomez, replaced in December 2010 by current Vice-President Angelino Garzón.

60
 Decree 4530 of 2008.
Por el cual se modifica la estructura del Ministerio del Interior y Justicia y se dictan otras disposiciones
, Ministry of Interior and Justice, Colombia.

61
 Author’s interview with Andrea León López, Advisor at the Department of Transitional Justice, Ministry of Interior and Justice (Bogotá, November 2010).

62
 “¿Consolidación de Qué? Informe Sobre Desplazamiento, Conflicto Armado y Derechos Humanos en Colombia en 2010,”
CODHES Informa
, No. 77 (Bogotá, 15 February 2010), p. 8, available at <
www.codhes.org/images/stories/pdf/bolet%C3%ADn%2077.pdf
>; accessed 17 April 2011.

63
 Law 387 of 1997.
Por la cual se adoptan medidas para la prevención del desplazamiento forzado; la atención, protección, consolidación y estabilización socioeconómica de los desplazados internos por la violencia en la República de Colombia
, CRC.

64
 Colombian Constitutional Court. Sentence T-025, 22 January 2004.

65
 See <
www.accionsocial.gov.co/contenido/contenido.aspx?catID=295&conID=1933
>.

66
 Law 975/2005, Art. 52.

67
 See Francisco Gutiérrez Sanín, “Land and Property Rights in Colombia—Change and Continuity,”
Nordic Journal of Human Rights
, vol. 28, no. 2 (2010), pp. 230–61; and Knut Andreas Orgland Lid and Jemima García-Godos, “Land Restitution in the Colombian Transitional Justice Process,”
Nordic Journal of Human Rights
, vol. 28, no. 2 (2010), pp. 262–88.

68
 
For a detailed discussion of the CNRR activities on land restitution, see Lid and García-Godos, “Land Restitution,” op. cit.

69
 Several community leaders have been killed during ongoing restitution processes or after the returns have been completed. CODHES, “¿Consolidación de Qué?,” op. cit., p. 12.

70
 In the instructions regarding registration to the administrative reparations program it is clearly stated that IDPs already registered with the SNAIPD did not need to register their victimization for internal displacement, only for other criminal acts. See <
www.accionsocial.gov.co/contenido/contenido.aspx?catID=297&conID=1736&pagID=5326
>.

71
 This initiative was known as “Estatuto de Víctimas” (Law proposal 044/08, Senate, 157/08). For a discussion of this proposal, see Nelson Camilo Sánchez, “Perder es Ganar un Poco? Avances y Frustraciones de la Discusión del Estatuto de Víctimas en Colombia,” in Catalina Díaz, N. C. Sánchez, and Rodrigo Uprimny (eds),
Reparar en Colombia: Los dilemas en contextos de con
fl
icto, pobreza y exclusión
(Bogotá: ICTJ—DeJusticia), pp. 623–718.

72
 “Ley de Víctimas: un paso histórico,”
Semana
, Issue 1517, 28 May 2011, available at <
www.semana.com/nacion/ley-victimas-paso-historico/157521–23.aspx
>.

73
 An updated list of decrees regulating Law 1448 can be found in in its own website, created by the Ministry of Justice and the Law, available at <
www.leydevictimas.gov.co/#!–reglamentacion
>; last accessed 28 March 2012.

74
 Departamento para la Prosperidad Social: La Entidad—Antecedentes, available at <
www.dps.gov.co/contenido/contenido.aspx?catID=3&conID=544&pagID=823
>; last accessed 28 March 2012.

75
 Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Boletín de Prensa No. 077, 15 March 2012, available at <
www.minagricultura.gov.co/archivos/_bol_077–2012reclamaciones_de_los_despojados_ya_supera_las_700_mil_hectareas.pdf
>; last accessed 28 March 2012.

76
 “Reintegración en Colombia. Hechos y Datos” (Bogotá: Alta Consejería para la Reintegración, Presidencia de la República, 2010).

77
 Law 782 of 2002.
Por la cual se prorroga la vigencia de la Ley 418 de 1997, prorrogada y modi
fi
cada por la Ley 548 de 1999 y se modi
fi
can algunas de sus disposiciones
, CRC. This law was renewed and extended by Law 1106 of 2006.

78
 These are Decrees 128 of 2003, 3043 of 2006, and 395 of 2007.

79
 CONPES, “Política Nacional de Reintegración Social y Económica para Personas y Grupos Armados Ilegales,”
Documento CONPES
3554 (Bogotá: Consejo Nacional de Política Económica y Social, 2008).

80
 Author’s interview with Joshua Mitrotti, General Manager, High Advisory for Reintegration (1 December 2010, Bogotá).