Colombia's Peace Tribunal Charges Ex-FARC Rebels with Anti-Indigenous War Crimes

Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), a transitional justice tribunal established to address crimes from the nation's protracted civil conflict, has indicted several former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). A group of 10 ex-rebels now face charges for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed between 1996 and 2016. The JEP announced that the accused are alleged to have perpetrated acts of torture, murder, and forced displacement against five Indigenous groups in southeastern Colombia.

“Today we are delivering justice to the most forgotten peoples of a segregated Colombia,” stated JEP magistrate Catalina Diaz. She elaborated that FARC commanders had allegedly ordered subordinates to plant landmines on Indigenous territories and to contaminate ecosystems vital for the survival of these tribes. “These people have had their basic right to exist compromised,” Diaz added.

This indictment represents a significant step in Colombia’s ongoing efforts to confront the abuses and violence of a civil conflict spanning over five decades, which resulted in severe human rights violations. Since the 1960s, the country has witnessed clashes between left-wing rebels, government security forces, criminal networks, and right-wing paramilitary groups aligned with the government, all vying for territorial control and influence over the nation's power structure. Indigenous communities and activists continue to be targets of violent attacks in Colombia, and ongoing fighting contributes to a rising death toll.

A 2022 report from Colombia’s Truth Commission documented that 450,664 people were killed and an additional 121,768 were forcibly disappeared between 1985 and 2018 due to the conflict.

Indigenous activists and community leaders have welcomed the JEP’s decision, viewing it as an acknowledgment that their communities were specifically targeted. “For the first time, the Colombian state recognises that [armed groups] did not just kill individuals,” said Yhon Jairo Figueroa, a leader of the Koreguaje tribe. “But they attempted to kill the knowledge, the language, the territory.”

Three of the individuals indicted are former members of the FARC's last secretariat. The FARC reached a peace agreement with the government in 2016, which included disarmament. However, critics of the deal and its implementation argue that many responsible for abuses have avoided accountability. Some FARC fighters who rejected the agreement have since formed splinter groups that continue to engage in conflict.

The 2016 peace deal allocated 10 seats in Colombia’s Congress to former FARC members to address their political concerns. Notably, one of the suspects indicted on Tuesday, Julian Gallo, served eight years as a senator under this agreement. The JEP's sentencing power is limited to non-prison penalties. For example, last year, it sentenced seven ex-FARC members accused of kidnapping to eight years of reparations, which included tasks like landmine clearing and assisting in locating missing persons.

In separate proceedings, the JEP also sentenced former military members to reparation work for their roles in the killing and disappearance of civilians, who were falsely reported as rebels in official government records—a phenomenon known as the “false positives” scandal.

Concerns have been raised about the JEP's future under Colombia’s newly inaugurated far-right President Abelardo de la Espriella. Allies of President de la Espriella have proposed a significant budget cut of nearly 17 percent for the JEP for fiscal year 2027, which is currently under consideration by Colombia’s Congress. Prior to assuming office in August, de la Espriella worked as a defense lawyer, sometimes representing right-wing paramilitaries, and has previously criticized the JEP for what he perceives as lenient sentencing.