Former President Alvaro Uribe publicly asked his successor, Juan Manuel Santos, to make deals on transitional justice made during peace negotiations with FARC rebels public.
After announcing a transitional justice deal in September, the FARC and the government released points that had been agreed, but without the specifics.
For example, a convicted war criminal who fully cooperates with justice can receive a five to eight years of “restricted liberty.” However, what this consists of was not made public, causing speculation on the level of punishment and impunity for war criminals.
Human Rights Watch already warned that these “restricted liberty” penalties should be sufficient punishment for the crimes that were committed.
Colombia’s justice deal too soft on war crimes: Human Rights Watch
According to the FARC, the announced deals contains specifics about which punishment would correspond to which crime, but revealed none of the specifics.
Uribe, who currently serves as Senator for the opposition Democratic Center party, asked the deal to be unclassified claiming there were “differences [of opinion] and confusion” about the content.
“Why don’t the government and the FARC put forth the drafts, without final agreement. The Colombian people will be able to discuss it and we can seek consensus,” Uribe said Sunday.
The former president has long and fiercely rejected the peace talks and earlier made partial agreements, but — as a final peace deal seems to be coming closer — has taken a less divisive approach to the talks.
“We suggest that the government seeks strong national consensus before the final signing of the deals with the FARC,” said the former president who has been accused of war crimes and could be called to appear before a transitional justice tribunal himself.
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“Consensus is better that imposition, especially when there are differences [of opinion] and confusion … A previous consent is better,” said the former president, whose skepticism about the talks is shared by more than half of the Colombian population, according to several polls.
Santos responded that the deal would be made public as soon as jurists have approved the text.
In spite of significant progress made by the talks, Colombians’ have been persistently pessimistic over the prospects of peace in the country torn by war for more than a decade.