UNITED NATIONS, United States, May 12, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Tuesday extending its mission to monitor Colombia’s peace process until the end of October, and to broaden its mandate.
The decision will strengthen the Special Jurisdiction of Peace (JEP), a tribunal that was created in 2017 to try the worst crimes committed by combatants during more than six decades of armed conflict, after the UN expressed concern in February about attacks by pro-government forces against the court.
A diplomatic source said that the mandate had only been extended until October, rather than for a whole year, to avoid the next renewal from occurring just before presidential elections slated for May 2022.
More than a half dozen leaders of the main disbanded guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), who have been indicted by the JEP admitted in April to their part in more than 21,000 kidnappings.
The JEP also revealed that 6,400 civilians were executed by the military but reported as having been killed in action during the term of former president Alvaro Uribe (2002-2010), the founder and leader of the ruling party.
The tribunal, which cannot try former presidents or military personnel who do not voluntarily submit to its jurisdiction, is expected to begin handing down sentences in the second half of this year.
Those who admit their crimes and compensate their victims can have alternatives to prison sentences handed down. Those who do not accept responsibility can face up to 20 years behind bars.
In a telephone call Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated to Colombian President Ivan Duque the United Nations’ “full support for the peace process,” according to his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric.