Colombia’s prosecutor general’s office on Friday refused to lift arrest warrants of paramilitary leaders, effectively blocking the government’s peace process.
Deputy Prosecutor General Martha Marcera wrote Peace Commissioner Danilo Rueda that the government wasn’t allowed to hold peace talks with illegal armed groups like paramilitary organization AGC.
The law does not enable the National Government to carry out negotiations or dialogues to enter into peace agreements with Organized Armed Groups [GAO’s] without political character or with armed high-impact organized crime structures. In other words, these organizations may only submit to justice.
Prosecutor General’s Office
The prosecution additionally said that it was unable to “apply decree 1081 of 2015,” which regulated the appointment of illegal armed groups’ delegates in order to facilitate a peace deal with guerrilla group FARC.
Consequently, the government can’t begin negotiations with the AGC as part of its “Total Peace” policy, which seeks peace with guerrilla group ELN and the dismantling of other illegal organizations.
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Why the prosecution’s claims are deceptive
The prosecution ignored the fact that Congress in November passed Law 2272, which explicitly allowed the government of President Gustavo Petro to hold “conversations” with illegal armed groups “in order to submit them to justice and to dismantle them.”
Following the disbanding of the FARC in 2017, Decree 1081 exclusively applies to the ELN, which was granted political status in the 1990’s.
Confusingly, the prosecution last week lifted the arrest warrants of delegates of a the “Southeastern Bloc, a guerrilla group that also has no political status.
Colombia suspends arrest warrants for dissident FARC guerrillas
Government response
In a press statement, Peace Commissioner Danilo Rueda said that his request to lift the paramilitary delegates’ arrest warrants was in accordance with the “Total Peace” law that was passed by Congress in November.
Interior Minister Alfonso Prada said that he would seek “a formal dialogue with the Prosecutor General’s Office,” and secure “exploratory” talks with the AGC and other illegal armed groups “in the coming hours or days.”
Until then, the government can’t organize talks with the AGC or any other illegal armed groups rejected by the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Mayor blow to peace
The prosecution’s attempt to block talks with the AGC is its latest attempt to sabotage peace in Colombia.
Former Prosecutor General Nestor Humberto Martinez all but ended the peace process with the FARC after fabricating drug trafficking charges against demobilized guerrilla commanders.
Martinez successor, Francisco Barbosa, has been fiercely criticized for his failure to investigate the mass killing of participants in the peace process.
According to the Truth Commission, Colombia’s Prosecutor General’s Office has been infiltrated by paramilitary organizations and drug traffickers since the 1990’s.