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October 03, 2020 – 12:21 pm
AFP
The former guerrilla FARC acknowledged before the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, JEP, its responsibility in six notorious crimes, including the assassination of former conservative presidential candidate Álvaro Gómez, which occurred in Bogotá in 1995.
In a statement released on Saturday, the court that investigates the worst crimes committed during the Colombian conflict said that the former armed organization offered in the letter “to provide truth, clarify the events that occurred and assume responsibility early” in several cases.
Among them the assassination of Álvaro Gómez, as well as the murders of retired army general Fernando Landazábal, in 1998, and of the former peace councilor Jesús Antonio Bejarano in 1999.
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The announcement caused surprise and uproar in a country that for many years believed that behind the attack against Gómez, one of the main conservative leaders of the 20th century, were rival politicians allied with the military and drug traffickers.
The justice declared the case as a “crime against humanity” to prevent it from prescribing the investigation until those responsible were found.
The explosive letter from the ex-guerrilla was received by the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) on September 30, and is signed by former rebel commanders Julián Gallo, Pastor Alape and Pablo Catatumbo.
Gallo and Catatumbo represent the former guerrillas in the Colombian Congress, in seats they assumed as part of the 2016 peace accords that ended a nearly six-decade conflict.
What was the most powerful rebel organization in America laid down its arms and became a political party, in exchange for submitting to the JEP.
Commanders who confess their crimes and make amends for their victims will receive alternative sentences to prison. If they breach their commitments, they face penalties of up to 20 years in prison.
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