Project description

Title: Supporting the Peace Process in Colombia within the context of the Justice and Peace Law
Commissioned by: German Federal Foreign Office (AA)
Country: Colombia
Lead executing agency: Fiscalía General de la Nación, Unidad Nacional para la Justicia y Paz
Overall term: 2008 to 2012

Context

There has been armed conflict in Colombia involving state troops, guerrilla groups and paramilitary units since the 1960s, leaving the country in a constant state of unrest. However, in 2003 the Government of Colombia and the paramilitary Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) began a process of reconciliation and the AUC agreed to disarm their units and help reintegrate their members into civilian life. The legal conditions were established by the Government in 2005 in the Justice and Peace Law (ley de justicia y paz), which serves as the basis upon which crimes committed by members of illegal groups, such as the paramilitary, are to be prosecuted.

The Colombian Office of the Public Prosecutor is faced with an immense task. In addition to carrying out investigations, they have to integrate the victims into the legal process, which poses great material and logistical challenges and leads to interpersonal conflicts.

On behalf of the German Federal Foreign Office (AA), GIZ (until December 2010 GTZ) has been supporting this process since February 2008 through the project entitled Supporting the Peace Process in Colombia within the context of the Justice and Peace Law. The GIZ experts advise the Office of the Public Prosecutor on the legal implementation of the Justice and Peace Law, as well as the judges of the Supreme Court.

Objective

The Colombian Office of the Public Prosecutor is in a position to effectively implement the Justice and Peace Law. To do this, they have to meet various requirements, such as taking into account international doctrines, jurisprudence and lessons learned from comparable transitional justice processes in other countries. Special attention is paid to the victims, especially to women and minorities, such as the indigenous population and Afro-Colombians.

Approach

So that Colombia can fulfil this objective, advisory services address multiple levels at the same time. At the conceptional/legal level, public prosecutors, investigators, judges and officials from various institutions receive training. The aim is to optimise the legal process and standardise the criteria for implementing the Justice and Peace Law.

At the same time, the Office of the Public Prosecutor is decentralising the investigation process and is sharing best practices with national and international partners. The project is supplying the Special Unit for Peace and Justice with materials and equipment, as well as providing expertise and equipment for identifying the remains of victims, which is also important for investigations.

GIZ supports their partners in documenting and archiving collected materials so that results and experiences are not forgotten and are thus able to be used in the future.

Results achieved so far

Up to now, 29,000 victims, who mainly live in remote regions, have been actively involved in investigating crimes by illegal groups through the use of mobile court rooms. This enabled the victims to testify in 75 broadcasts, each lasting several days, and take part in the hearings of paramilitaries who confessed to their crimes.
By modernising DNA laboratories, it was possible to increase the identification rate of conflict fatalities from 13% in 2008 to 31.4% in January 2010.

Almost all of the 59 public prosecutors and 430 investigators in the Special Unit for Peace and Justice are involved in implementing the Justice and Peace Law. Since Germany started work on this issue, the number of accusations, and in time their effectiveness, have significantly increased. This can be attributed to the numerous training sessions on various relevant themes.

Government institutions taking part in the investigations and court processes jointly agree upon on their activities at round table discussions.
The handbook Justice and Peace, publication of which was supported by the project, as well as newly prepared specialist guides and handbooks, provide the investigative prosecutors with guiding principles and facilitate the consistent implementation of the Justice and Peace Law (process, indirect perpetration, principle of prosecutorial discretion).

Further information

• Local Website of the Project
  http://www.profis.co