Colombia's peace tribunal indicts ten ex-FARC rebels for crimes against Indigenous peoples

Colombia's transitional justice body, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, has indicted ten former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed from 1996 to 2016. The charges include torture, murder, forced displacement and the deployment of landmines on the lands of five Indigenous groups in the country's southeast, actions said to have devastated ecosystems vital to those communities.

JEP magistrate Catalina Diaz framed the case as delivering justice to Colombia's most forgotten peoples. The indictment also names Julian Gallo, who served eight years as a senator under the 2016 peace agreement that granted former rebels congressional seats. Indigenous activist Yhon Jairo Figueroa of the Koreguaje tribe praised the decision as the first state acknowledgment that armed groups aimed to erase their language, knowledge and territory. Critics note that the JEP can only impose non-prison penalties, and its future is uncertain under President Abelardo de la Espriella, whose allies propose significant budget cuts.