Colombia's Council of State suspends Salvatore Mancuso's peace manager appointment

Colombia's Council of State issued a provisional suspension of the appointment of former paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso as a "gestor de paz" (peace manager). The designation, made by President Gustavo Petro through Resolution 244 on 14 August 2023, was halted after a court‑ordered precautionary measure was granted in a lawsuit that questioned the legality of the decree.

The petition, filed by lawyer Samuel Alejandro Ortiz, argued that the appointment lacked clear temporal, geographic and functional limits and risked re‑victimising victims of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC). The Council of State found the resolution overly broad and potentially contradictory to constitutional guarantees and international human‑rights standards, ordering the effects of the appointment to remain suspended while the administrative dispute proceeds. The decision also referenced a 2024 Supreme Court ruling that had previously warned about similar deficiencies in Mancuso's proposed role.

The suspension underscores ongoing legal and political scrutiny of the government's peace‑building strategy and the involvement of former armed‑group leaders in the process.