Colombia’s Inspector General sent a letter to the president on Wednesday criticizing the historical truth commission in Havana, fearing an outcome that will favor the FARC’s version of events.
Inspector General Alejandro Ordoñez told Santos Wednesday that the Historical Commission of the Conflict and its Victims could compromise the truth, reported El Espectador.
The Historical Commission of the Conflict and its Victims met for the first time on Thursday to begin analyzing the origin and affects of the 50 year conflict. Part of the Commission’s role is to establish an official version of events, or “truth,” which will be used in future negotiations.
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However, according to peace talks critic Ordoñez, it should not be for the interested parties to establish a negotiated history.
Ordoñez warned that in the interest of coming to a peace agreement, the commission may leave out parts of the truth that FARC will not like.
“Society has a right to know the story through a collective narrative that reflects, as faithfully as possible, the reality of the crimes and criminal networks,” said Ordoñez.
”Is it ethical to impose a narrative that results from the negotiation of interests of the government and the FARC, and not the interests of society, while are others who know the truth and will respect the rights of victims?”
Commission will not be biased: political scientist
Dr. Guitierrez Sanin, professor at the institute of Political Studies and International Relations at Colombia’s National Univeristy, claims that the commission will be diverse and not biased in its evaluation of the history of the conflict.
“The idea of the commission is to show that you can not do a single narrative of the conflict, and that there are many voices, versions, and victims. Obviously a 50 year conflict can’t be summarized through only one version of events,” Sanin told Blu Radio Wednesday. Regardless, an official truth will be established by the the committee for the future negotiations.
Pulzo reported that the committee has not been selected by either the government or the FARC, but by peace talks negotiators.
The complete list of names of commission members has yet to be published, but will consist of twelve experts and two rapporteurs.
Negotiations resumed Wednesday, focusing on the victims of the armed conflict. In this forth round of peace talks, the FARC and the Colombian government will discuss reparations for victims with an exchange of proposals from both parties. More than 6 million victims are to be compensated for the crimes they have suffered.
MORE: Peace talks resume in Cuba to address victims of Colombia’s armed conflict
Sources
- Procurador pide al Gobierno no “oficializar” la verdad del conflicto (El Espectador)
- Diálogos avanzan hacia Comisión de la Verdad (Confidencial Colombia)
- Expertos que irán a La Habana le dicen al Procurador que no fueron escogidos por las Farc (Pulzo)
- “La verdad no se negocia”: procurador Ordóñez arremete contra diálogos con Farc (Blu radio)
- Ordóñez cree que una visión distinta a la suya es sesgada: Francisco Gutiérrez (Blu Radio)
