NAME OF MECHANISM

National reparations programme

PERIOD OF OPERATIONS

2005 – present

MANDATE AND OPERATIONS

Mandate: Until 2011, Colombia’s reparations programme was administered by the National Commission on Reparation and Reconciliation (Comisión Nacional de Reparación y Reconciliación, or CNRR), established by the 2005 Justice and Peace Law (Law 975). The enactment of the Victims’ Law in May 2011 means that additional administrative bodies will be set up to operationalise the provisions in the law [CNRR | 28 May 2011].

The CNRR’s mandate is to recognise victims of violence and to make recommendations for reparations. It aims to encourage the participation of victims in the judicial process and, should victims choose to participate, to ensure that their rights are respected. The CNRR is expected to report to the public on the rise and evolution of illegal armed groups and the reparations process. It will recommend the criteria of reparations for which the victims’ fund is responsible and coordinate the activities of Regional Commissions on Property Restitution, which aid the CNRR in implementing its mandate at the regional level. Finally, the commission is designed to receive requests, petitions and complaints from victims.

Staff: The CNRR is composed of 13 key staff members. Five represent civil society and two represent victims’ organisations. The remaining members represent the Vice President’s Office, the National Attorney General’s Office, the Ministry of the Interior and Justice, the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, the People’s Defender’s Office and the Office of the Director of the Presidential Agency for Social Action and International Cooperation. Some of the current members are Angelino Garzón (vice president of Colombia), Eduardo Pizarro Leongómez, Ana Teresa Bernal Montañez, Patricia Buriticá Céspedes, Jaime Jaramillo Panesso, Oscar Rojas Rentería and Monsignor Nel Beltrán Santamaría.

Budget: The CNNR’s budget for 2010 was US$150 million [República du Colombia | 2009]. The estimated cost of operationalising the Victims’ Law is US$23.5 million over 10 years [Colombia Reports | 22 Mar 2011].

RESOURCES

National Commission for Reparation and Reconciliation official website
Justice and Peace Law [2005]
Colombia and the Stocktaking Exercise of the ICC [2009]

RESULTS

The CNRR has registered more than 280,000 individuals as victims to date. In 2009, more than 11,000 families were granted compensation, for an estimated total of US$100 million. The Colombian government exhumed the bodies of 3,131 victims based on confessions from perpetrators, and 908 were subsequently identified by their DNA and returned to their families. According to the CNRR, more than 36,000 allegations of human rights abuses were being investigated in 2009 [República du Colombia | 2009]. The Colombian government has indicated that it will spend US$22 billion on reparations over the next decade [Colombia Reports | 31 Aug 2010].

The CNRR has been criticised for not fulfilling its mandate, in part as a result of poor staffing and corruption. Reports indicate that victims are in danger and that the government has been unable to provide protection to witnesses who have requested it [CIP | 2010]. In addition, the reparations process appears to have some legal loopholes. For instance, under Law 782, some perpetrators are eligible to request pardon for their crimes [HRW | 2010]. Another hindrance appears to be extraditions to the United States. Offenders extradited on drug trafficking charges are not required to stand trial for their crimes in Colombia. Fear of extradition may prevent combatants from cooperating with the commission. Lastly, civil society has suggested that many perpetrators hide or sell their assets to avoid being forced to compensate victims [CIP | 2010].

In May 2011, Colombia’s government adopted the Victims’ Law, which is designed to address some of the criticisms of the CNRR. The law seeks to ensure that victims receive swift compensation and expands reparations to victims of state agents, in addition to paramilitary groups and guerrillas [CIP | 2009]. The inclusion of state agents among the perpetrators made the law controversial and delayed its enactment by three years. The law also focuses on land restitution to the wrongfully displaced. Those living on contested land now have to prove they acquired it legally, instead of the burden of proof falling on those who were removed from it. The law’s proponents are not entirely satisfied with the final result of debates over the bill, particularly as the law does little to address ongoing human rights violations in the country [CNRR | 28 May 2011].

BACKGROUND

Colombia’s lingering conflict has led to years of human rights offences and impunity. The Justice and Peace Law was introduced in order to support Colombia’s transitional justice process, partly through the CNRR. Because of the CNRR’s limitations, civil society and victims have been pushing for a broader reparations programme. The Victims’ Law was passed partly in response to these calls, although its own limitations have been criticised.

SOURCES

[Center for International Policy | 2010]
[Center for International Policy | 2009]
[Colombia Reports | 22 Mar 2011] 
[Colombia Reports | 27 Sep 2010]
[Colombia Reports | 31 Aug 2010]
[Human Rights Watch | 2010]
[National Commission on Reparation and Reconciliation | 28 May 2011]