Colombia’s Inspector General expressed his dissatisfaction with ongoing government peace talks with rebel group FARC, saying Thursday that human rights crimes and drug trafficking could not be considered “political offenses.”
Inspector General Alejandro Ordoñez told Colombian media that the Colombian government “cannot allow serious violations of human rights to be related to political offenses. International crime, drug trafficking and terrorism cannot be political offenses, this would imply a lack of extradition treaties,” reported HSB news.
The inspector general reportedly argued that by allowing the crimes of members of the FARC – Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – to be treated as political offenses rather than the crimes against humanity that they really are allows war criminals to become the “beneficiaries of amnesties and pardons.”
The FARC, Colombia’s longest lived and most capable rebel group, has participated in peace talks with the Colombian government since November 2012. It is currently negotiating the terms to the third point of six, how to deal with the issue of the drug trade.
Convicted drug traffickers and violators of human rights in Colombia are often extradited to the United States.