Colombia’s prosecutor general said Tuesday that for the peace process to be a success there must be a balance between the rights of victims and the rights of a society that wants peace.
Prosecutor General Eduardo Montealegre again defended his position on the search for a model of the application of justice within the framework of the peace process involving the guerrillas of the FARC and the government of President Juan Manuel Santos, in a forum organized by newspaper El Tiempo.
Montealegre stated that a specific form of transitional justice must be applied to both the rebels and the army in order for the peace talks to succeed.
OPINION: Transition in Colombia
According to the chief prosecutor, for the peace process to be a success compromises would have to be made, although this was not to suggest that there would be impunity for the perpetrators of crimes.
He did however make an exception to members of the army involved in the false positives scandal, which involved the extrajudicial killings of thousands of civilians by members of the armed forces who dressed their victims as guerrillas in order to present them as combat kills.
FACT SHEET: False Positives
“I do not think there can be an automatic transfer of the benefits obtained by the guerrillas under the peace process … to members of the security forces,” said Montealegre.
The Prosecutor General also added that only individuals involved in crimes against humanity would be barred from holding public office, whilst perpetrators of other crimes would be able to join the political process.
He declared that a special court should be created to try the FARC guerrillas which would grant them the benefits set out in the Legal Framework for Peace.
We need to weigh the cost-benefit in terms of protection of fundamental rights for the country … Peace has a cost, but the peace process is not based on impunity,” said Attorney General .
The comments come following a FARC statement from the peace talks in Havana, on Tuesday, that the group is not willing to let the peace process with the Colombian government become a “Nuremberg tribunal to judge guerrillas.”
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