Colombia’s Juan Manuel Santos responded to critcism from the rights group, Human Rights Watch, in relation to a justice accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), saying that ‘perfect accords’ don’t exist.
The rights group likened an accord signed between the government and the rebels in mid-December to a ‘impunity piñata’.
The pact establishes that FARC members, military personnel and even civilians who accept resposibility for crimes committed during the conflict and truthfully confess could receive confinement between five to eight years but without serving time in jail.
“This accord that we are coming to is not a perfect accord because no peace accord in history has been a perfect accord. It is almost a contradiction – a perfect accord and a peace accord. But there should be no doubt that this accord that we have arrived at is the best accord for transitional justice that has ever been negotiated,” said Santos while speaking in Cartagena.
In September, Santos and the top FARC rebel commander pledged to end their 50-year war within the next six months, sealing their pact with a handshake likely to stand as a lasting image in the South American nation.
Santos and FARC rebel leader Rodrigo Londono, better known by the nom de guerre Timochenko, also agreed the leftist guerrillas would lay down arms within 60 days of signing the deal, which now has an official deadline of March 23, 2016.
If successful, it would end a conflict that has killed 220,000 and displaced millions over half a century.
“We are going to try to put a permanent session in place when they [peace talks] start again on January 12 in Havana, a permanent session in which hopefully we won’t get rid of until we get to the end of this process and have agreed on all the points that have yet to be resolved,” said Santos.
Half a century of war has embittered many Colombians who mistrust the peace talks or want harsher retribution for their enemies, but the centre-right Santos staked his presidency on the peace talks.
He won re-election in 2014 against a right-wing candidate who threatened to end the talks if elected. (Reuters)
