Colombia’s JEP issues first individual sentences under 2016 peace deal, focusing on victims’ justice and reconciliation.Bogota, Colombia – Seven ex-leaders of the demobilised Colombian FARC rebels have been convicted over the kidnappings of tens of thousands of people during their half-century of conflict with the state.The decisions, handed down on Tuesday by Colombia’s transitional justice body, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), mark the first individual sentences imposed in the restorative justice process set out in the 2016 peace deal.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThe JEP, established in 2017, issued “proper sanctions” on the seven former rebels, sentencing them to eight years of reparations – obligatory work helping clear land mines and search for missing persons.More than 450,000 people died in the more than 50-year conflict, according to Colombia’s Truth Commission, with more than 50,000 documented kidnappings between 1990 and 2018. The FARC is believed to be responsible for 40 percent of these kidnappings.“These defendants were declared to be the most senior leaders of the FARC-EP and criminally responsible in their capacity as perpetrators of the war crimes of hostage-taking and murder,” the JEP wrote in a statement.The seven sanctioned FARC leaders are Rodrigo Londono Echeverri, Pablo Catatumbo Torres Victoria, Pastor Lisandro Alape Lascarro, Milton de Jesus Toncel Redondo, Jaime Alberto Parra, Julian Gallo Cubillos, and Rodrigo Granda Escobar.Londono, whose alias is Timochenko, was the FARC’s top commander, while Catatumbo and Gallo are serving senators in seats allocated by the 2016 peace deal. Advertisement “Nine years after the …
