Colombia in the Sight of the International Criminal Court

2.12.07

Author: CCAJAR – Editorial 19/11/2007

The different informal academic visits to Colombia undertaken by senior ICC officials, along with their meetings with victims, judicial authorities, the national government, and human rights organizations, in addition to the recent visit by ICC Prosecutor-General Luis Moreno Ocampo, fulfill the expectations of the victims of crimes against humanity with respect to the possibility of overcoming impunity as an historic challenge in demand for the rights to truth, justice, and comprehensive reparation, which would be impossible within the framework of so called “Justice and Peace” regulations applied to paramilitary members.

Likewise, this visit by the ICC Prosecutor, and the one the President of the Inter-American Court, are a show of support for the Supreme Court of Justice and its investigations into “para-politics” as well as a call to respect the Court’s independence, which has recently been attacked by the president of Colombia.

When Souhayr Belhassen, president of the FIDH, spoke with El Tiempo on the report evaluating the application of the Justice and Peace Law, she concluded the law is “[...] a disguise sanctioned to avert the action of the ICC. [...] The report confirmed the aim to eliminate the criminal responsibility of the principal authors of crimes against humanity. The victims participating in the public hearings are not guaranteed their safety. The paramilitaries continue to commit crimes from jail. Moreover, instead of expressing remorse for their crimes, they justify them in their voluntary confessions.” [1]

The ICC means to deny impunity or the absence of punishment for those responsible for the commission of crimes against humanity. This is an impunity, which has been desired by the victimisers and those supporting these crimes. The grave and systematic human rights violations are crimes normally carried out in settings favouring impunity by politicians, civilian or military authorities, or groups that are a part or prolongation of the State (such as paramilitary groups). In the criminal exercise of power, these parties perpetrate acts of torture, forced disappearances, forced displacement, extrajudicial executions, genocide, as well as other abuses, against a defenceless civilian population. In short, these sophisticated mechanisms of repression are set to guarantee impunity.

History reveals how impunity is inherent in these types of crimes. In many of the countries where grave human rights violations have been committed, the judicial system does not function. In many of these crimes, investigations are initiated and apparent trials are carried out before military tribunals or civilian courts; however, these actions usually only result in prescriptions, dismissals, the closing of proceedings, or acquittals, which create the appearance of justice. In certain cases, persons are imposed sentences, which are ridiculously disproportional to the gravity of the crimes committed. (As will surely occur in the proceedings of the Justice and Peace Law.)

Accordingly to the ICC, trials must be carried out against those most responsible for crimes against humanity. As a result, the Court is following up on the application of the so-called Justice and Peace Law as well as on such grave cases as para-politics (which currently implicates hundreds of politicians with links with paramilitary organisations). In this sense, Luis Moreno Ocampo recently stated, “[w]e are following up on how the Colombian Justice system may process these types of cases. We are checking.” [2] In other words, the ICC is waiting to see if the Justice and Peace processes are genuine trials or merely ways to extract the responsible parties from justice. Likewise, the ICC sees these para-politicians as the instigators and economic and political beneficiaries of the crimes perpetrated through paramilitarism. Nonetheless, in spite of the very important work being carried out by the Supreme Court in the search for justice, these politicians are still not being processed for these crimes against humanity, rather only for aggravated conspiracy to commit an crime (corresponding to belonging to these groups), which does not resolve the principal judgement for these crimes committed with the purpose of guaranteeing their current economic and political power.

With respect to such international crimes as crimes against humanity, all States must investigate and punish. Each State possesses the jurisdiction for the crimes committed by their citizens, or citizens from other States, in their territory. However, in a complementary manner, when a State cannot, or does not want to, investigate and convict, the opportunity rises for the ICC to investigate and punish the parties responsible for the unpunished crimes. “If the national State does not guarantee the absence of impunity, the international community will,” asserted Luis Moreno Ocampo. [3] On this visit, senior officials from the ICC Prosecutor-General’s Office confirmed the ongoing commission of crimes against humanity (despite the enforcement of ICC jurisdiction since November 2002), which during the Álvaro Uribe Vélez administrations has amounted to more than a million persons internally displaced, hundreds of new forced disappearances, and thousands of civilians murdered and extrajudicially executed. These crimes, as well as those of the past, also remain in total impunity. Furthermore, the regulations like those for the Justice and Peace process have resulted in more than 35,000 persons demobilized collectively and individually, but only 55 in prison.

The ICC will put into motion the national investigations and trials for crimes against humanity. According to Luis Moreno Ocampo, “crimes against humanity are not national affairs. The international community may intervene. It is not a local affair and it is not an ideological issue.” [4] This statement, which concerns recent government criticism of the Supreme Court, also manifests that, if justice does not function in either the Justice and Peace or ordinary jurisdictions, the ICC will intervene. (And officials from the executive branch, members of congress, or members of the military will enjoy no special immunity against prosecution.) Furthermore, Ocampo stated, “[a]ll I do is analyze the criminal investigations of acts committed after November 2002, when Colombia ratified the treaty of the Court. I analyze if there are current criminal investigations and if they are genuine.” [5]

With a permanent International Criminal Tribunal (such as the ICC), which tries the authors of crimes against humanity, the current impunity reigning within States may be overcome without violating the principle of sovereignty. The Colombian State is preparing for this eventuality. In fact, the executive branch and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has gone to The Hague, where the ICC is headquartered, and even keep an official there on an ongoing basis (who in the hallways of the Court is known as “Justice and Peace” since he tries to convince everyone the trials are real and that the magistrates, judges, prosecutors, and human rights defenders will be able to pursue justice against the paramilitaries members, active duty generals, and members of congress). Nonetheless, even more significantly, after holding interviews with the Office of the Prosecutor (in Colombia and The Hague) and the Victims and Witnesses Unit, the victims continue to present communications on crimes under ICC jurisdiction. Furthermore, many of these ICC officials study this vast amount of information on Colombia in the Spanish language. In conclusion, we believe in advocating for ICC jurisdiction with respect to the current impunity in Colombia.

[1] Piden a CPI investigar a ex ’paras’. El Tiempo, Bogotá, October 4, 2007.

[2] Corte Penal Internacional sigue pista a la parapolítica, asegura su fiscal jefe, Luis Moreno Ocampo. El Tiempo, Bogotá, October 21, 2007.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

Read more Denuncias

International Peace Observatory  |  Observatorio Internacional de la Paz  |  Bogotá, Colombia  |  NIT: 900.013.419-3

www.peaceobservatory.org  |  info@peaceobservatory.org  |  Telefax: (+57) 1 232 10 06   |  Móvil: (+57) 314 296 47 69