Colombia

Provides a listing of articles on restorative justice developments in Colombia. Articles appear in the order in which they were added to the site with the most recent appearing first.

Dewhurst, Dale. Parallel Justice Systems, or a Tale of Two Spiders.

Recently, attempts have been made to modify or create systems of justice to respond to Aboriginal rights and values. One such attempt is the establishment of Canada’s first Aboriginal Court, the Tsuu T’ina First Nation Court. Staunch advocates of the adversarial system of justice may complain that the First nations Court gives Aboriginal people too much power; or, they may complain that it breaches fundamental principles of justice by providing separate justice systems for Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals. However, it is my position that where the court model is weak, it is because Aboriginal people have too little control. My concern is that attempts to introduce Aboriginal justice systems into the “adversarial system” (the term used to designate the current Canadian justice system) are prone to fail where the two systems have differing levels of authority. If Aboriginal systems are considered to be alternative, preliminary, of lower authority, or unofficial, their opponents will resort to the more “final” or “official” adversarial system in controversial cases. Instead, Aboriginal justice systems must be designed as authoritative and parallel models of justice. To discover some of the principles necessary to achieve this end, I will critically examine the rationale and structure of the Tsuu T’ina First Nation Court and I will draw out three useful comparative points from the historical development of the courts of common law and equity. This critique and comparison will show how we may take further steps toward achieving truly authoritative and parallel Aboriginal justice models. But first of all, for those who want a shorter route the problem and its solution are revealed in the tale of the two spiders. (excerpt)

Te Whiti Love, Morris. The Waitangi Tribunal’s Role in the Dispute Resolution of Indigenous (Maori) Treaty Claims.

This chapter looks a the main dispute resolution process for the resolution of indigenous (Maori) claims dating back to 1840 and the original signing of the Treat of Waitangi, a treaty between the British Crown and Maori tribes from throughout Aotearoa (New Zealand). These disputes are dominated by claims concerning the appropriation and alienation of Maori land to the Crown and private individuals over a period of 160 years. The chapter begins with an overview of nature of the disputes and the history leading to the establishment of the Waitangi Tribunal in 1975. This is followed by a discussion of mechanisms established by the tribunal for negotiation and settlement of claims between Maori tribes and the New Zealand government (the Crown). As the process for solving these macrodisputes gives rise to microdisputes between tribes and among groups within tribes, less formal processes of dispute resolution designed to address conflict between and within tribal groups will also be examined. (excerpt)

Pelikan, Christa. Restorative justice and peacemaking in Colombia.

I really want to tell very briefly my friends and colleagues in the European Forum of the recent experience I had participating in the ‘II Foro Nacional: Iniciativas Universitarias por La Paz’ in the city of Cali in Colombia. It was to a considerable part dedicated to the theme of restorative justice in the context of peacemaking efforts in Colombia, and I was asked to talk about restorative justice within the United Nations and within the Council of Europe. (excerpt)

Van Ness, Daniel W. Restorative Justice Symposium in Cali, Colombia

From February 9 xe2x80x93 12, 2005, 1000 people attended the symposium Justicia Restaurative y Paz en Colombia (Restorative Justice and Peace in Colombia). Invited speakers included Colombians and international guests, including a delegation of six South Africans, led by Archbishop Desmund Tutu.

Pearson, Annette. Can Colombian Community Justice Houses Help the new Criminal Justice System Achieve Restorative Results?

Restorative Justice is not a familiar term amongst the public or in legal circles. Key characteristics of restorative justice values, actors, procedures and settings are not known or understood by formal justice system operators. The 1991 Colombian Constitution created community conciliators and popularly elected judges who do play a role in the justice system. These community justice figures are not acquainted with the restorative justice conccepts as such but they often do have an approach to conflict resolution which resembles restorative justice practices. Rather surprisingly, proponents of restorative justice innovations from within the university context were successful in their bid to have restorative justice references included in the new criminal procedure code passed in July, 2004. This legislation which will come into force on the 1st of January 2005 has an entire section entitled restorative justice. In a wide range of crimes which require citizen initiative to bring them into the criminal justice system, obligatory conciliation proceedings between the victim and the suspected offender before a criminal investigation will be commenced. The reform of the criminal justice system does assume that preliminary conciliation encounters between the victim and the suspected offender can produce restorative justice type agreements. Given the provisions foreseen for the operation of the obligatory conciliation proceedings, it is not likely that restorative justice ends will be well served. Some of these conciliation encounters will be undertaken in community justice houses. The community justice house model located in 32 cities, principally in poor peripheral urban suburbs, included both formal criminal justice system operators, as well as community mediators, conciliators and judges. Abstract courtesy of the Centre for Justice and Peace Development, Massey University, http://justpeace.massey.ac.nz.

Guerrero Peralta, Óscar Julian. Las víctimas en el contexto del Derecho Procesal Penal colombiano (perfiles comparativos)

SUMARIO: I. La nueva estructura procesal penal y los derechos humanos de las víctimas. II. La indemnización integral en el proceso penal colombiano. III. La conciliación en materia penal. IV. La evolución jurisprudencial sobre el derecho de las víctimas en el contexto de la parte civil dentro del proceso penal. V. El Proyecto sobre la posición de la víctima en el proceso penal colombiano (comparación con la legislación peruana).

Olea, Helena and Guembe, Maria Jose. No Justice, No Peace: Discussion of a Legal Framework Regarding the Demobilization of Non-State Armed Groups in Colombia

"This chapter describes the tensions and opportunities created by the interplay between domestic and international contraints on the negotiation process. We begin with a brief overview of the armed conflict and the peace negotiations. Next, we describe the main elements of the recently approved legislation. We then proceed to analyze it in light of the international legal framework and presnt our conclusions." (excerpt)

Theidon, Kimberly. Transitional Subjects: The Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration of Former Combatants in Colombia.

A key component of peace processes and postconflict reconstruction is the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) of ex-combatants. DDR programs imply multiple transitions: from the combatants who lay down their weapons, to the governments that seek an end to armed conflict, to the communities that receive – or reject – these demobilized fighters. At each level, these transitions imply a complex and dynamic equation between the demands of peace and the clamor for justice. And yet, traditional approaches to DDR have focused almost exclusively on military and security objectives, which in turn has resulted in these programs being developed in relative isolation from the growing field of transitional justice and its concerns with historical clarification, justice, reparations and reconciliation. The author draws upon research in Colombia, a case of great interest because the government is attempting to implement mechanisms of reparations and reconciliation in a ‘pre-postconflict’ context, and to implement DDR on the terrain of transitional justice. (author's abstract)

Parker, Lynette. Developments from Colombia.

In December of 2002,the Colombian National Congress made several changes to article 250 of the Constitution of 1991, which addresses the obligations of the prosecutor in investigation and prosecution of criminal cases. One of those many changes was the inclusion of restorative justice.

Anonymous. Justice In Communities

In an effort to increase community involvement in justice services, New Zealander Annette Pearson has helped to establish multiple justice houses in crime-ridden areas of Colombia. These houses provide basic services and facilities involving the protection of human rights, domestic violence, and mediation services. The main goal of the justice houses is to bring together the state and community in an effort to “work collectively towards peaceful co-existence goals."

Parker, Lynette. Encountering Restorativeness: Reflections from Colombia

Restorative justice concepts are ingrained in us as profoundly just ways to deal with conflict. Lynette Parker writes of learning this truth again during conversations with several people in Colombia.

Díaz Colorado, Fernando . La justicia transicional y la justicia restaurativa frente a las necesidades de las víctimas.

El presente artículo expone una reflexión crítica sobre el proceso de paz que actualmente se lleva a cabo en Colombia entre el gobierno y los grupos de autodefensa. Se plantean los fundamentos conceptuales de la Justicia Transicional y la Justicia Restaurativa, frente a las necesidades de las víctimas del conflicto armado. Se hace énfasis en la perspectiva restauradora que la Comisión Nacional de Reparación y Rehabilitación debe contemplar para alcanzar la reconciliación a través de un proceso que preferencia la aplicación de justicia y de reparación del daño ocasionado por parte de los victimarios, para alcanzar de esta manera una paz duradera. (resumen del autor)

Bach, Katherine. An Assessment Of Restorative Justice Applications Around The World

This document looks at the implementation of restorative justice practices in several countries and the possible lessons for Colombia.

Escolar Capella, Claudia. Restorative justice in the realm of criminal law: the case-law of the Constitutional Court

The purpose of this document is to analyze the judgments by the Constitutional Court (Colombia) that refer to restorative justice. Out of the existing case-law, four cases were selected for study because they are the ones that best illustrate the matter; they all refer to the ‘special jurisdiction of indigenous peoples. (excerpt)

Roche, Declan. Governing ungoverned spaces: the role of one women’s group in Cali, Colombia

In Cali, Colombia, a group of women from the District of Aguablanca is helping to bring peace and justice to one of the country’s poorest and most violent turban areas. Using skills and information disseminated through a network of weekly meetings, local women assist local residents both by providing a range of essential services – from mediation to adult education – and by referring residents to other service providers and resources in the community. This group, which is strikingly community-based, female, well-led, disciplined, and holistic, is now being touted as a model for communities elsewhere in Colombia. Communities, policy-makers and restorative justice advocates – both in Colombia and abroad – can learn much from their approach to restorative justice, and more broadly, from their network-based approach to governing ungoverned spaces. Much of the debate about the conflict in Colombia focuses on national events and neglects the efforts of local communities to nurture peace and justice in their immediate environment. The Aguablanca program demonstrates that local initiatives can make a big difference in the lives of ordinary Colombians. To replicate the success of this program in communities elsewhere, however, it will be necessary to identify local citizens who can provide the same leadership and commitment as the women of Aguablanca. Author’s abstract.

Lasso, Luis Manuel and Upriminy, Rodrigo. Verdad, justicia y reparación en el conflicto armado

La dinámica del conflicto armado colombiano obligue a plantear formulas que satisfagan las necesidades de verdad, justicia y reparación y aquellas impuestas por las negociaciones actuales o futuras para la reincorporación de grupos armados al seno de la sociedad o para adelantar procesos de paz. El presente Policy Paper reconoce la inviabilidad política, ética y jurídica de aplicar en Colombia modelos radicales de justicia transicional, como los que pretenden castigar a todos los responsables de crímenes de guerra p de lesa humanidad o los basados en el perdón y el olvido general de los crímenes. El documento tampoco considera del todo aceptable para Colombia el modelo intermedio, basado en un perdón general a los responsables, con medidas de reparación a las víctimas y de recuperación de la verdad. Se plantea, entonces, una transición basada en perdones responsabilizantes, es decir, formas de negociación que toman seriamente en cuenta los derechos de las víctimas y los deberes del Estado de establecer la verdad, reparar a las víctimas y sancionar a los responsables. En este modelo, el perdón debe ser excepcional, individualizado y regido por el principio de proporcionalidad frente a la necesidad de alcanzar la paz y la reconciliación. Esta fórmula debe estar acompañada de un amplio consenso social. Por último, el escrito reconoce que el proyecto de alternatividad penal presentado por el gobierno nacional al Congreso está bien orientado, pero requiere modificaciones que lo hagan más compatible con los estándares internacionales de derechos humanos y con el modelo de perdones responsabilizantes. (resumen del autores)

Gómez Isa, Felipe. Paramilitary demobilisation in Colombia: Between peace and justice.

As well as the global human rights treaties ratified by Colombia, the international context can count on the Basic principles and guidelines on the right to a remedy and reparation for victims of gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law approved in December 2005 by the General Assembly of the United Nations3.These guidelines set out a clear road map in processes of transitional justice, in which justice, the truth, wholesale reparations to the victims of gross violations of human rights and guarantees of non-repetition have to be respected. (excerpt)

Sanchez, Gabriel Gomez. Between Reconciliation and Justice: The Struggles for Justice and Reconciliation in Colombia.

Over the past decades, Colombian society has endured the impact of a longstanding political conflict among different actors and outrageous expressions of violence, especially among left wing guerrillas, right wing paramilitary groups and the state government. Drawing on socio-legal studies in transitional justice and human rights, this research attempts to analyze the recent experience of transitional justice in Colombia. The main purpose of this research is to understand how political, institutional and social actors, especially the government, the courts, the human rights and transitional justice NGOs, and victims associations, frame the mechanisms of transitional justice and use legal instruments to transform the conflict and reach what they consider "justice." It also attempts to understand the relations between politics and law in the context of a hegemonic discourse of security and give account of the expressions of resistance of human rights networks. (Excerpt).

Venegas Luque Luque, Rocío and Osorio, Flor Edilma and Meertens, Donny and Nubia Bello, Martha and Jiménez Ocampo, Sandro. Internally displaced people in Colombia, victims in permanent transition. Ethical and political dilemmas of reparative justice in the midst of internal armed conflict.

This document examines three core aspects to this investigation: the first discusses how the “transition” discourse is added to and used as a tool in the extensive development that war and peace discourses have undergone in Colombia; the second refers to the relationship between social practices and public policies as regards the recognition and protection of victims of conflict in Colombia, particularly internal forced displacement; the third deals with the concern for the new aspect that the dispute for the right to reparation adds to the political treatment of a possible end to the internal armed conflict in Colombia.(excerpt)

Restorative Justice Symposium in Cali, Colombia

From February 9 – 12, 2005, 1000 people attended the symposium Justicia Restaurative y Paz en Colombia (Restorative Justice and Peace in Colombia). Invited speakers included Colombians and international guests, including a delegation of six South Africans, led by Archbishop Desmund Tutu.