Colombia’s universities “were not exempt from the conflict, and were stigmatized. When I was director of police intelligence, I contributed to stigmatizing it, because I considered them to be related to armed groups and that guerrilla fighters were linked to them. What a big mistake,” said former National Police chief and vice president Gen. Oscar Naranjo, in an appearance before the Truth Commission.
September 3, 2021
Here is an English translation of the stirring end-of-year message published by the President of Colombia’s Commission for Clarification of the Truth, Father Francisco de Roux.
“From the encounter with thousands of survivors of Colombia’s armed conflict who carry the memory of the kidnapped and false positives; from the pain of the soldiers, police and former guerrillas without legs; from destroyed villages, displaced peasants, indigenous and Afro-descendant people dispossessed of their territories, abused women, children driven to kill, families searching for the disappeared, and thousands who fled into exile; and also from the pain left by COVID-19; we extend the most sincere embrace on behalf of the Truth Commission.
The tragedy of the conflict contains the truth of hatred, caused by power and greed, that broke us as a human community and calls us to change. We build Colombia together, from our cultural, ethnic, political, gender, and generational differences, or there will be no peaceful future for anyone.
We invite you to look directly at where we went wrong when we soaked the human and ecological wealth we have in blood and vengeance, when we made it natural to live among war, lies, corruption, injustice, and cocaine.
We urge, from the cries of victims on all sides, the ELN, the FARC dissidents and the Second Marquetalia of Ivan Marquez, Romaña and Jesus Santrich, to lay down their arms. Sixty years of war have made it clear that armed confrontation does not make social revolution, but causes suffering and terror for a people who cry ‘stop that war, stop it on all sides, stop it now.’
We ask the government not to stop extending a truly effective hand of peace to the insurgents, because we do not despair of the human being within them. We also ask it to go beyond the serious implementation of the PDET (Territorial Development Plans), to assume the totality of the peace and comprehensive rural reform, and to surround with political and ethical protection the mission of the institutions of the System of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-Repetition, and particularly the demanding task of the JEP.
We invite the institutions to put themselves at the service of the life and human greatness of each person, to the inclusion of all without borders.
We propose a dialogue to transform security. Not to reverse the steps taken by the Military Forces when they tried to change the objective of the war to that of an Army at the service of peace, despite the fact that there are still guerrilla and criminal groups. We invite to a security created by trust: when citizens believe in each other and trust in their institutions. The exaltation of weapons from all sides creates mistrust and provokes war, it does not give security.
We urge politicians on the campaign trail to move away from the marketing of votes and to have the audacity to listen in order to seek together the non-repetition of the tragedy, so as not to allow the intolerable to happen again.
In the new year, may lies and fears fall, and let us set in motion, from the truth, a future of hope, reconciliation and brotherhood in which we rescue the dignity we deserve as the people of Colombia.”
Francisco de Roux.
January 4, 2021
Publicado por la Comisión de la Verdad el 8 de agosto de 2020.
Leaders pay tribute to the memory of the Truth Commissioner who passed away on August 7.
August 7, 2020
Publicado por El Espectador Colombia 2020 el 7 de agosto de 2020.
A tribute to the Truth Commissioner’s life and work, upon her death from COVID-19.
August 7, 2020
Publicado por la Comisión de la Verdad el 6 de agosto de 2020.
The conflict’s impact on land rights in the Caribbean region, especially on Afro-descendant populations.
August 6, 2020
Publicado por La Silla Vacía el 31 de julio de 2020.
About the Truth Commission’s often difficult relations with Colombia’s business sector, military, and political right.
July 31, 2020
Publicado por la Comisión de la Verdad el 31 de julio de 2020.
A message to the armed forces from the Truth Commission’s president following the military’s delivery of documents to the Commission.
July 31, 2020
Publicado por la Fundación Ideas para la Paz el 31 de julio de 2020.
Discussion of a report about the conflict and the oil sector being delivered to the Truth Commission.
July 31, 2020
Publicado por la Comisión de la Verdad el 31 de julio de 2020.
A discussion of the conflict’s impact on Afro-descendant families in Colombia.
July 31, 2020
Publicado por la Comisión de la Verdad el 30 de julio de 2020.
The Army delivers reports about the conflict to the Truth Commission.
July 30, 2020
Publicado por la Comisión de la Verdad el 30 de julio de 2020.
A discussion of how the armed conflict has affected Afro-descendant communities in Colombia’s eastern plains.
July 30, 2020
The Truth Commission abruptly cancels a planned event about false positive killings, organized by Maj. Carlos Guillermo Ospina, the Commissioner who is a retired military officer. The decision comes because one of the event’s foreseen panelists was to be Col. Hernán Mejía, who was sentenced to 19 years in prison for ordering “false positive” killings and has been released pending trial before the JEP. Col. Mejía is an outspoken figure on Colombia’s political right who denies any responsibility for abuses.
July 29, 2020
Publicado por la Comisión de la Verdad el 29 de julio de 2020.
A discussion of the Colombian government’s security crackdown during the 1978-1982 government of President Julio César Turbay.
July 29, 2020
Publicado por El Espectador Colombia 2020 el 29 de julio de 2020.
The Comité de Solidaridad con los Presos Políticos delivers to the Truth Commission a report about a long-running case of forced displacement in Cesar.
July 29, 2020
Publicado por la Comisión de la Verdad el 25 de julio de 2020.
A discussion of how the armed conflict was lived in the Sumapaz region south of Bogotá.
July 25, 2020
Publicado por la Comisión de la Verdad el 23 de julio de 2020.
A discussion with social leaders from Colombia’s Pacific coast region.
July 23, 2020
Publicado por la Comisión de la Verdad el 22 de julio de 2020.
The Truth Commission hosts a discussion of forced coca eradication, with community leaders from Guaviare and Meta.
July 22, 2020
Publicado por Semana el 21 de julio de 2020.
Legislative proposals seek to weaken the JEP and the Truth Commission.
July 21, 2020
For the international civil society organizations that subscribe to this statement, the critical remarks made about the commissioners of the CEV, and in particular its president, Father Francisco de Roux S.J., are unacceptable. The Commission’s work has been criticized by members of the government party and a former minister of defense and ambassador who, in opposition to the Peace Agreement, insist on disqualifying the judicious and responsible work that the Commission has carried out as one of the temporary and extrajudicial components of the Comprehensive System of Truth, Justice, Reparation, and Non-repetition (Sistema Integral de Verdad, Justicia, Reparación y No repetición, SIVJRNR).
Since its 2017 constitution, the CEV has been developing an independent, rigorous exercise to reveal the truth of the profound pain produced by the long armed conflict suffered by Colombia.
From the perspective of the conflict’s victims, the CEV is weaving pathways, building methodologies, creating spaces, generating dialogues, and receiving reports and testimonies from throughout the country and abroad in order to clarify the truth and thus contribute to the end of the armed conflict in Colombia.
We are convinced that only Truth is the guarantee for the noncontinuity and non-repetition of the armed conflict in Colombia. The peace commissioners have demonstrated their commitment to this purpose and, from diversity and difference, have assumed their work with depth and dedication. Their honor is and will be the guarantee that will preserve such Truth in favor of Colombia’s peace.
We encourage the Commission to continue its work and look forward to the fruits of its labor with hope. We encourage all citizens of the country and abroad, regardless of their ideologies, to join forces so as not to let this process be mistreated, ideologized, or politicized by the interests of a few who reject the transformational force of the truth.
The truth is a public good.
July 20, 2020
Publicado por la Comisión de la Verdad el 17 de julio de 2020.
A discussion of Colombians who sought refuge from the conflict in Brazil.
July 17, 2020
Publicado por la Comisión de la Verdad el 16 de julio de 2020.
A discussion of victimization of members of the security forces during the conflict.
July 16, 2020
Publicado por la Comisión de la Verdad el 15 de julio de 2020.
A discussion of the conflict’s impact on Afro-Descendant communities in Antioquia, Caldas, Risaralda, and Quindío.
July 15, 2020
Publicado por Semana el 14 de julio de 2020.
A former defense minister and ambassador to the United States says that most Truth Commission members have “affinity or ties to armed groups.”
July 14, 2020
Publicado por la Comisión de la Verdad el 13 de julio de 2020.
A women’s singing group raises awareness of forced disappearance, of which there are more than 1,400 victims in Tumaco.
July 13, 2020
Publicado por la Comisión de la Verdad el 9 de julio de 2020.
A discussion of land tenure and the campesino movement.
July 9, 2020
