The family members of the victims of the 1989 Avianca terrorist attack demanded that the Victims Law include victims of narco-terrorism, Colombia media report Thursday.
According to Federico Arellano, the lawyer representing the victims and son of slain passenger and composer Gerardo Arellano, the third article of the Victims Law is unjust because it only recognizes victims as those affected by paramilitary or guerrilla groups in the armed conflict.
Arellano asked the Supreme Court to declare the Victims Law unconstitutional and to consider including victims of other forms of terrorism, including acts perpetrated by drug cartels and state agents.
The tragic terrorist attack on an Avianca flight in 1989 was the deadliest single criminal attack committed in several decades of Colombian violence. The crash, caused by a bomb planted by the Medellin Cartel, killed all 107 people on board as well as three victims killed by falling debris.
The Victims Law is a historic law passed by President Juan Manuel Santos and Congress this year. The act will pay reparations and redistribute land to those affected by the armed conflict since 1985. The text of the law has received some criticism for its definition of what constitutes a victim, as well as the manner in which proof of victimization needs to be provided.