Colombia's Congress has approved an amnesty law protecting the FARC guerrilla group from prosecution for minor crimes. The law is part of a historic peace deal signed last month ending more than 50 years of civil war.
Image: pictue alliance/dpa/L.-E. Noriega
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Colombia approves guerrilla 'amnesty law'
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As FARC rebels prepare to demobilize, Colombia's Senate and Lower House on Wednesday passed an amnesty bill protecting the group's guerrilla fighters from persecution for minor crimes committed during the country's 52-year civil war.
The new law is a key part of the historic peace agreement signed last month between the government and rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The accord saw Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos receive the Nobel Peace Prizefor his role in the peace talks.
The new amnesty law passed with a clear majority in both chambers, winning 69 votes in the 102-seat Senate and 121 votes in the 166-seat Lower House. However, members from the right-wing Democratic Center Party, which has stridently opposed the peace accord, abstained from voting.
Santos took to Twitter to praise the "historic" vote, calling the amnesty law the "first step towards consolidating peace."
Amnesty for minor crimes
As part of the law, rebel fighters found guilty of committing minor crimes during the civil war will be granted amnesty. The same law also applies to members of the military.
Rebels found guilty of committing serious crimes, such as massacres, sexual violence or kidnapping, will not fall under amnesty. A special court set up to hear their crimes will hand out alternative sentences such as land mine removal.
In a joint statement Wednesday, FARC leaders and the government said they would establish how many rebels are not eligible for amnesty by the end of January.
Complex peace process
The amnesty law is the first in a series of measures designed to reassure FARC rebels of the peace deal and accelerate their demobilization. Other laws tied to the accord include rural reform, compensation to victims, the removal of land mines and a ceasefire deal to be monitored by the United Nations.
Perhaps most controversially, the FARC will transform into a political party, receiving a guaranteed 10 unelected seats in Colombia's parliament until 2026.
Ahead of Wednesday's vote, the President of Colombia's Senate, Mauricio Lizcano, said that some 5,700 guerrilla fighters had already laid down their arms and begun moving into special demobilization zones.
Colombia's 52-year long conflict saw more than 260,000 people killed and left some 45,000 missing.
Receiving the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this month, Santos said his country's peace deal should serve as proof to all countries mired in civil war that peace is always possible.
dm/cmk (Reuters, AFP)
Latin America's longest armed conflict comes to an end
The Colombian government has reached a historic truce with FARC, ending over half a century of violence with the leftist group. Latin America's longest conflict claimed at least 220,000 lives.
Image: Reuters/A. Meneghini
How the insurgency started
In 1948, the assassination of populist leader Jorge Eliecer Gaitan sparked political chaos in Colombia known as "the violence." Tens of thousands died and peasant groups joined with communists to arm themselves. Later in 1964, a military attack on the insurgency's main encampment led to the creation of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
What the rebels wanted
FARC's political ideology has never been well defined. Initially, it sought to weaken the oligarchy's grip on power. The rebels also wanted land reforms in a country where more than 5 million people have been forcibly displaced, mostly by far-right militias. However, the group lost popularity as it turned to kidnapping and illegal gold mining for funds.
Image: Reuters
How the US got involved
To help the Colombian security forces fight against the insurgency and to counter drug-trafficking, the US began sending billions of dollars under Plan Colombia. The US State Department classifies the group as a terrorist organization and its leaders face US indictments.
Image: Reuters/J. Vizcaino
The human cost of the conflict
Latin America's longest-running armed conflict is responsible for the death an estimated 220,000 people, while millions of Colombians have been displaced within their country. According to Bogota’s estimates, there are 7.6 million direct and indirect victims of the conflict. The country has more landmine victims than any country except for Afghanistan.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Escobar Mora
Peace accord after decades of failed attempts
Peace talks between FARC and the government collapsed in the mid 1980s after at least 3,000 allies of FARC's political wing Patriotic Union Party were killed at the hands of right-wing paramilitaries. Efforts fell short again in 2002 after the rebels hijacked an airliner to kidnap a senator. The latest round of talks started in 2012 in Havana and culminated on August 24, 2016 with a deal.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/E. Abramovich
50 years of conflict
"We have reached a final, integral and definitive agreement" to end the conflict and build a stable, lasting peace, the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia said in a joint statement. In June, the negotiators had already announced a cease-fire agreement and a blueprint for how the estimated 7,000 to 8,000 fighters will demobilize.
