Tanja Nijmeijer
Tanja Nijmeijer (L) (Still: YouTube
War and peace

FARC proposes $11B fund for Colombia conflict victims

by Emil Foget

Colombian rebel group FARC proposed on Sunday to create a conflict victim compensation fund consisting of 3% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which translates to $11.3 billion.

The FARC’s proposals related to victims

  1. Clarification of the historical truth of the conflict and its impact on the population.
  2. Recognition of the victims of the conflict.
  3. Special recognition of collective victims; political and social organizations, trade unions and peasant and afro-descendant communities, and indigenous peoples.
  4. Systemic responsibility, primary responsibility of the state and multiple responsibilities, including responsibilities of the guerrilla, towards the victims of the conflict.
  5. Full recognition and real and effective materialization of the rights of the victims of the conflict, with particular attention to women’s rights.
  6. Full compensation for the victims of conflict and creation of the Special Fund for Comprehensive Compensation (FERI).
  7. Direct participation of the victims of the conflict and their organizations in the definition of policies for the effective protection of their rights.
  8. Agreed definition of legal mechanisms and tools to ensure the rights of the victims of the conflict.
  9. Provision of real and material guarantees of non-repetition.
  10. Political and social pardon as a foundation for a national reconciliation process.

The fund should guarantee the direct participation of representatives of victims’ organizations, according to FARC spokeswoman Tanja Nijmeijer, a Dutch citizen who joined the guerrillas more than 10 years ago.

PROFILE: Tanja Nijmeijer

The goal with the compensation is to “re-establish the situation of individual and collective victims as it was before the victimizing events took place, and compensate the impact on their lives, ‘according to international standards’.”

The fund should additionally focus on social, territorial and gender justice, said the FARC.

The FARC said victims should not only be compensated economically, but also politically, socially, culturally, symbolically and psycho-socially.

The rebels and the government have entered the 28th round of talks and are currently discussing reparations of victims.

The peace talks between the FARC and the Colombian government have been ongoing since November 2012. So far, both parties have come to agreements on the topics of agrarian land reform, political participation, and illicit drugs and crops.

In the event an agreement is found on victims and the logistics of the demobilization and reintegration of FARC fighters, a formal peace accord will be signed to end 50 years of political violence between the state and the Marxist rebels.

PROFILE: FARC

Sources