Extradited former paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso said that it would take 200 years for him to confess his crimes, to be sentenced and to compensate his victims under the Justice and Peace process in Colombia. Speaking via satellite link from Washington, he was critical of how slowly the reparation system moves in the Andean nation.
Mancuso said that he had only confessed about 500 of the crimes committed by his men and that there were 7,000 more to confess.
He calculated, based on his previous collaboration with Justice and Peace process, that it would take 42 years to confess all these crimes.
He then said that to process and compensate victims for all these crimes would take up to 200 years.
“With this methodology there will never be reparation nor truth for the victims and neither will they receive the supposed benefits that the law allows them,” he said.
The former paramilitary said that he was concerned at how slow the process was.
“We need to do something about it because this process is sinking under the indolent gaze of those who promised to keep it powering ahead,” he said.
Mancuso led the demobilization of paramilitary organization the AUC in 2006 and 2007. His organization is suspected of tens of thousands of crimes against humanity, including thousands of murders, rape and forced displacement.
He was one of 12 paramilitary leaders extradited to the U.S. in May 2008. He is currently on trial in the U.S. for drug related crimes
