A government displacement agency has filed lawsuits against at least 1,300 lawyers who are trying to deceive displaced people and beneficiaries of the Victims Law, Colombian media reported.
Diego Molano Aponte, the director of Accion Social, a presidential agency responsible for the management of the reparation funds, explained that these lawyers are charging displaced victims of the armed conflict to manage their restitution process when the process should be provided for free.
“There are people who take advantage of the beneficiaries [of the Victims Law] and charge them to manage their status determination process, they manipulate this entitled population,” said Molano.
Miguel Samper, the transitional justice director for the Justice Ministry, said that lawyers who manipulate victims should be banned from practicing law.
United Nations representative in Colombia Bruno Moro has asked the Colombian state to better protect displaced people, especially in terms of security.