MADRID 15 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Colombia’s Ombudsman, Iris Marín Ortiz, has questioned the Government’s recent designation of several former paramilitary leaders as peace managers and has asked why to now trust those who committed serious war crimes and are now in prison for repeat offending.
Ortiz highlights that although it seems “positive” that the commanders of these groups contribute to ending the war of which “they have been the cause and actors”, he recalled how some of these new peace managers were already expelled from the Justice and Justice Law. Peace from former president Álvaro Uribe for reoffending.
Among the repeat offenders, he highlighted, are Hernán Giraldo Serna, known as ‘El Taladro’ for his sexual crimes against girls for decades; or Rodrigo Tobar Pupo, alias ‘Jorge 40’, responsible for forced displacement and recruitment, kidnappings, massacres, torture, homicides, or sexual violence of his troops.
“Why this time can we trust that they will contribute to peace, if in the past they have not done so? Why call them peace managers, if they have been war managers and are deprived of their liberty after having reoffended and have been recognized as war criminals? What message do we send them?” he asked.
In that sense, he stressed that these designations must bring with them “a clear commitment to truth, justice and reparation to the victims.” The work of managers, he said, must be carried out within the framework of a “very precise and public” plan that can be followed to prevent them from deviating from their work.
However, Ortiz has highlighted that this executive resolution that recognizes them as peace managers does not modify their situation before the law and does not entail any judicial benefits. “This is very important (…) It is essential that a Government decision does not undo what Justice has achieved,” he said.
In turn, Ortiz has emphasized that those who have been designated “are not and cannot be seen as moral references in the construction of peace in Colombia.”
“If we want those who commit crimes today to stop committing crimes as a consequence of the peace talks, we must demand compliance with their commitments from those who were given the opportunity for peace in the past; we owe them to the victims of yesterday and to those of today. “he said.
Ortiz has also denounced at the beginning of his message an increase in the forced recruitment of minors by armed groups operating in Colombia despite the fact that some of them have ongoing dialogues with the Government.
Earlier this week, the High Commissioner for Peace shared a resolution signed on November 8 by which the Government of Colombia designated 18 former paramilitary leaders as peace managers to collaborate with Justice in reparation for the victims.
To the aforementioned ‘Jorge 40’ and ‘El Taladro’, other well-known old men are added such as Carlos Mario Jiménez, alias ‘Macaco’, and Arnubio Triana Mahechas, alias ‘Botalón’, or Diego Murillo Bejarano, alias ‘Don Berna’.