BOGOTA, Colombia (AFP) — Colombia’s Senate late Monday approved a constitutional reform that creates special war crimes courts, a key component of the historic peace agreement reached with Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia guerrillas ending five decades of warfare.
The announcement was made via Twitter by Interior Minister Juan Fernando Cristo, who was in the Senate at the time of the vote.
President Juan Manuel Santos won the Nobel Peace Prize in October for his efforts to end his country’s 53-year conflict, which has drawn in numerous leftist rebel groups, right-wing paramilitary units, drug cartels and the army.