- There are 9789,921 victims in Colombia, 403,352 are members of the Military Forces and the National Police.
- Minister of Defense, Diego Molano expressed his concern because after five years of the Havana agreement, the spotlight has not been placed on the true perpetrators, the Farc.
- Academic experts, the Military Forces, the Ministry of Defense together with the Editorial Planeta were part of the process of building this report.
- The report presents the main historical facts that show how the former FARC systematically violated Human Rights.
After a research and academic effort of more than a year, the government of President Ivan Duque presented the country the report Contribution to the truth: context of the Military Forces for historical memory, a work that highlights the evolution and strengthening of the Military Forces and the facts under which systematically they suffered all kinds of humiliation which leave today, nearly half a million victims among soldiers and police officers.
This report is an invisible chapter never before treated and today it seeks to contribute to the construction of historical memory, to clarify what happened in the context of the conflict and thus contribute to plurality, inclusion and reconciliation.
During the book launch event, President Iván Duque Márquez asked the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, JEP in Spanish, to review the war crimes committed by Farc against the Military Forces and their families through the use of unconventional weapons prohibited by human rights and International Humanitarian Law.
The report is an initiative of the Ministry of Defense; it is the result of more than a year of work of the researchers at the Center for Studies on Transitional Justice, Victims and Restitution of Lands of the Sergio Arboleda University; the Joint Command of the Strategic Transition of the Military Forces and the Police Unit to the Building of Peace, which complements the more than 80 reports that from 2017 the Military Forces has distributed to the organizations that make up the System of Truth, Justice and Reparation and non-Repetition.
In this regard, the minister of National Defence, Diego Molano Aponte, argued that if today the institutions and democracy exist “it is thanks to the work by the military and police officers, because they are those who value the life that others despise; those who raise the human dignity that others ignored; those who build the peace that others have never wanted.”
There are 9,789,921 victims in Colombia, 403,352 are members of the Military Forces (332 372 military and 70 980 police officers), Colombian citizens who have lost their lives or have been threatened in their good physical condition, dignity, and humanity.
“Organized armed groups, such as the Farc, have been the protagonists of barbarism and war crimes against the Military Forces and civilians. We are concerned that after five years of the Havana agreement, and 10 years to [complete] its implementation, the spotlight is only on the Military Forces and not on the real perpetrators,” the minister emphasized.
The report Contribution to the truth: context of the Military Forces for historical memory, is designed in an audiovisual production and a 750-page book that will be publicly accessible to citizens. Through seven chapters it shows the role of the Military Forces in the armed confrontation, training and doctrinal development of members of the Military Forces, the evolution of human rights policy and international humanitarian law in the Defense sector.
Source: press - Ministry of National Defence
