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Paths to Prioritization in Colombia’s Justice System

The first panel of the international conference opened the discussion about the pertinence of a selection or prioritization strategy for the prosecutions of mass crimes in Colombia. Iván Orozco, professor of Los Andes University in Colombia, Dan Saxon, former member of the international Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and Kai Ambos, professor of Gottinger University, Germany, presented their thoughts and experiences on the topic.

A Strategy to Confront Colombia’s Crisis

The conference "Selection or Prioritization as a Strategy for Prosecuting International Crimes Cases?" opened this morning in Bogotá with more than 150 participants from Colombia and around the world, including experts in transitional justice in the former Yugoslavia, Guatemala, Argentina, Germany, and Colombia, among others.

Strategic Challenges of the Justice and Peace Law

This brief address by Pablo de Greiff, Director of ICTJ’s Research Unit, is for the occasion of the conference to be held on August 24, “Selection or Prioritization as a Strategy for Prosecuting International Crimes?” The issue is absolutely crucial: six years after the enactment of Law 975 of 2005, the “Justice and Peace” Law, under President Uribe’s initiative, Colombia has found—as many other countries that have tried to confront legacies of massive human rights abuses—that criminal justice measures, however important they may be in a transitional process, cannot be the only answer to its sad legacy.

Rethinking a Strategy for Justice and Peace

Colombia’s Justice and Peace process, established six years ago as a justice mechanism for the demobilization of 30,000 paramilitaries from the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), has made valuable progress, but also has significant gaps. While achievements have been made—especially in gathering information about human rights violations, the discovery of the remains of thousands of missing victims and the knowledge of paramilitary links with political authorities, the military, public servants and some private companies—the Justice and Peace Process is under the scrutiny of state representatives, as well as of civil society and the international community.

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