Over six thousand victims of the ongoing conflict in Colombia sent letters to all 166 Members of the House of Representatives, requesting them not to vote for the Victims Law bill as it currently stands.
The controversial bill allows victims to claim compensation for damage or injury suffered at any time in the country’s 44-year violent conflict.
In the letters, victims requested that Representatives to not pass the bill because it fails to recognize the the rights of thousands of victims.
The bill, first presented to the Parliament in October 2007, was revised by the Álvaro Uribe administration in 2008. Victims of crimes committed by the State say the bill
protects the Government and prevents thousands of victims from receiving their rightful
compensation.
The bill, passed by Congress after its penultimate debate, has met with serious objections by the United Nations and the Catholic Church and the government has requested its postponement until a consensus is reached.