The FARC insist to be recognized as a political organization.
As a political organization, they currently sit at a negotiating table with the state, and hence, the FARC are obliged to respect International Humanitarian Law. In short, this means they cannot recruit minors, they cannot use non-conventional arms like artisanal gas cylinder bombs, they cannot commit acts of terrorism, and they must respect the civilian population. They cannot kidnap or extortion.
(See: FARC continue recruiting children while talking peace and Around 1,387 minors in ranks of armed drug groups between 2012 and 2013 and Child soldiers being identified from mass graves.)
Just in the last month, as the FARC sit at the negotiating table as a political organization, the FARC have planted land mines near a school, shot at an ambulance, and chopped off, using a machete, the hand of a little girl who looked for ways to desert the group.
The FARC have admitted responsibility for crimes against the civilian population. FARC negotiator alias “Pablo Atrato” said, “We recognize explicitly that our actions have affected civilians in different moments and circumstances.”
But in a different take, FARC negotiator alias “Pablo Catatumbo” said, “Some voices look to confuse the Colombian people and the international community by presenting the guerrilla … as an organization that has been committing crimes against humanity and war crimes during the long armed conflict.”
Catatumbo added, “You cannot demand the same obligations of an army of campesinos as of the immense state army.”
Yes, you can demand the same obligations for everyone — it’s the law.
Related:
International law trumps transitional laws.
ICC Prosecutor speaks against Colombia’s Legal Framework for Peace.
Of interest:
Argentine Judge Orders Arrest of Spanish Ex-Officials.
Land mines planted near a school. (Source: Defensoría del pueblo.
(Source: Colombian Army.)
Talking About Colombia 
Leave a Reply