In Colombia, Victims and Ex-Combatants See Each Other's Humanity

Three women stop to look at photos of people placed on easels.

Passersby pause to observe a tribute to disappeared kidnapping victims placed outside the Virgilio Barco Library auditorium in Bogotá, where the Special Jurisdiction of Peace (JEP) held its first acknowledgment hearing on June 21-23, 2022. The hearing concerned the judicial case on taking hostages, serious deprivation of liberty, and other concurrent crimes (known as Case 01). In its investigations, the JEP identified a total of 2,396 victims, many of whom are still missing. (Maria Margarita Rivera/ICTJ)

A man with glasses looks at the camera

“The preparation process we underwent before this acknowledgment hearing has been sobering. It has allowed us to reflect profoundly on a practice that should never have been adopted.” — Former FARC-EP leader Rodrigo Londoño (Maria Margarita Rivera/ICTJ) 

A group of seven man stand around a table, looking down at papers on the table top.

As part of the preparation process, those appearing listened to the victims and their stories and reflected on the seriousness of the damage their actions caused, no longer as combatants but as civilians and members society. (Maria Margarita Rivera/ICTJ) 

Outside view of a meeting room, with posters of people hung outside.

Restorative justice is cultivated from the first moment the parties start preparing for the hearing. Victims and perpetrators began meeting at the Virgilio Barco Library weeks before the hearing. (Maria Margarita Rivera/ICTJ)

A man and a woman face another man across a table as they discuss something.

During both the preparation sessions and hearing, victims demanded recognition of the inhuman and degrading treatment to which the hostages were subjected and insisted on the need to search for those who are still missing. Héctor Angulo, whose aging parents were kidnapped and disappeared, is still looking for the remains of his father. Here, he speaks to ex-combatant Rodrigo Granda. (Maria Margarita Rivera/ICTJ) 

A woman on the left faces a man on the right across a table as they talk.

Bringing victims and perpetrators face to face to answer questions posed by the ICTJ team before the hearing allowed victims express their demands for justice and truth in a non-judicial setting and helped both parties understand how the hearing would go and manage their expectations. (Maria Margarita Rivera/ICTJ) 

A man with glasses and a yellow collared shirt looks at the camera

“Reflecting on the responsibility we had as commanders and authors of these crimes and putting ourselves in the victims’ shoes. As the acknowledgment process has advanced, we have learned about new facts and victims’ stories that were unknown to us.” — Former FARC-EP leader Pablo Catatumbo (Maria Margarita Rivera/ICTJ) 

Several people sit on one side of a table, leaning intently forward as they listen.

Victims Gonzalo Botero, who was kidnapped, and Zamora Díaz, whose brother Oswaldo Díaz was kidnapped and disappeared, listen intently to an ex-combatant’s statement during a restorative justice session. After such conversations, many victims felt that, even though the perpetrators committed kidnapping and other horrendous crimes, they were human beings committed to the transitional justice process and the search for truth. (Maria Margarita Rivera/ICTJ) 

Two women embrace each other.

In order to lay the strongest possible foundation for the encounter between victims and the former FARC-EP leaders, ICTJ facilitated three individual sessions with each of the 29 victims who offered their testimony at the hearing, four preparation workshops with former FARC-EP leaders, and three restorative justice meetings between victims and those responsible before the hearing. (Maria Margarita Rivera/ICTJ) 

A man with glasses and a blue shirt gazes to the left of the camera

“First and foremost, victims are at the center of this process. As such, we owe them complete acknowledgment of what happened to themselves and their loved ones.” — Former FARC-EP leader Milton de Jesús Toncel (Maria Margarita Rivera/ICTJ) 

Several people hug and talk to each other.

In the preparation sessions, victims shared their experiences related the crimes and criminal policies identified in the indictment, discussed the responsibility that the former FARC-EP leaders should acknowledge in the public hearing, and received psychosocial support to help them tell their stories. (Maria Margarita Rivera/ICTJ) 

A man with tinted glasses and a green shirt looks just to the left of the camera.

“Today, we understand how barbaric we were and how absorbed we were by this conflict, as were all other actors.” — Former FARC-EP leader Rodrigo Granda (Maria Margarita Rivera/ICTJ) 

In a hearing chamber, a man addresses an audience at a podium, with six men seated behind him.

Ex-combatants Rodrigo Londoño, Pablo Catatumbo, Pastor Lisandro Alape, Milton de Jesús Toncel, Jaime Alberto Parra, Rodrigo Granda, and Julián Gallo acknowledged their command responsibility for the kidnapping crimes in the presence of victims, JEP officials, representatives from civil society and international organizations, and members of the national and international press. (Maria Margarita Rivera/ICTJ) 

A man in the audience in the foreground uses a cell phone to record the hearing chamber in the background.

The acknowledgment hearing was broadcasted on major and alternative media outlets and livestreamed on YouTube. (Maria Margarita Rivera/ICTJ) 

A woman sits with her back to the camera in the foreground with the hearing chamber in front of her.

Representatives of the Truth, Coexistence, and Non-Repetition Commission and the Unit for the Search for Persons Presumed Disappeared (UBPD). The UBPD has been leading non-judicial proceedings in which the former FARC-EP members are helping to find the remains of kidnapping victims who were disappeared and murdered. (Maria Margarita Rivera/ICTJ) 

In a large hearing room, a digital screen displays an image of a family photo as a an audience looks on.

A photo of Oswaldo Díaz, a local councilman who was kidnapped and disappeared, and his son, Edward Díaz, as a child is displayed at the hearing. Edward Díaz gave one of the most heartbreaking speeches during the hearing. (Maria Margarita Rivera/ICTJ) 

A man in glasses and a red shirt gazes at the camera.

“When we were pitted against each other, we saw each other as enemies. Now we see people. We see their face; they see ours and it humanizes us. We have stopped making enemies and now we see  human beings who have been hurt by our actions.” — Former FARC-EP leader Pastor Alape (Maria Margarita Rivera/ICTJ) 

A woman in the audience wipes tears away with a tissue while she records the hearing with her cell phone.

Implementing restorative justice measures in the context of a special tribunal has its challenges. Chief among them is ensuring that any encounters between victims and those responsible are victim centered and conducted in a sincere and respectful manner, while meeting the requirements of the judicial procedures. (Maria Margarita Rivera/ICTJ)

A bald man in a grey shirt gazes intently at the camera

“Acknowledging these actions and giving victims, the country, and  all of society the full truth will allow us to build bridges toward a society that is completely different than what we had to go through.” — Former FARC-EP leader Julián Gallo (Maria Margarita Rivera/ICTJ) 

Four people embrace each other.

Victim Diva Díaz and former FARC-EP leader Pastor Alape partake in a group hug. Many victims and ex-combatants had meaning exchanges before, during, and after the hearing that gave them confidence in the transitional justice process and encouraged reconciliation. (Maria Margarita Rivera/ICTJ) 

On June 21-23, 2022, Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction of Peace (la Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz, or JEP) held its first acknowledgment hearing on the taking hostages, serious deprivation of liberty, and other concurrent crimes (known as Case 01) at the Virgilio Barco Library auditorium in Bogotá. Seven former leaders of the guerrilla group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—People’s Army (FARC-EP) acknowledged their command responsibility for the kidnapping crimes that were the FARC-EP’s policy from 1993 to 2012 in the presence of victims, JEP officials, representatives from civil society and international organizations, and members of the national and international press.  

This hearing marked the first time ever FARC-EP leaders publicly acknowledged their role in such systemic crimes and represents a decisive step in the country’s restorative justice process and in the affirmation of the victims’ dignity, both needed to mend Colombia’s social fabric torn apart by over 50 years of war. 

In order to lay the strongest possible foundation for the encounter between victims and the former FARC-EP leaders, ICTJ facilitated three individual sessions with each of the 29 victims who offered their testimony at the hearing, four preparation workshops with former FARC-EP leaders, and three restorative justice meetings between victims and those responsible before the hearing. 

For more, visit "The Road to Acknowledgment in Colombia" feature story.