Colombia JEP human rights investigations

The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) in Colombia continues to process cases involving historical human rights violations and war crimes.

In one instance, retired Colonel Juan Carlos Figueroa Suárez admitted responsibility before the JEP for his role as a superior by omission during his command of the No. 2 La Popa Artillery Battalion between January 2004 and July 2005. He accepted charges related to 24 victimizing events, including 38 murders, forced disappearances, and torture. This admission transitioned the case from an adversarial process to a restorative stage focused on truth and reparation.

In a separate proceeding, the JEP charged 12 individuals—including nine former Army officers, two former Police officers, and a former security chief from Ecopetrol—with war crimes and crimes against humanity. These charges stem from a paramilitary takeover of Barrancabermeja between 1998 and 2000. The JEP found that these individuals formed a criminal alliance with paramilitary groups to target residents, labor unions, and human rights defenders. Investigations into this period indicate that 431 people were murdered and 85 were forcibly disappeared.

Recently, the JEP granted criminal prosecution exonerations to 1,030 individuals involved in serious crimes during the armed conflict, noting that these individuals are not considered “primary leaders or maximum responsible parties”. Magistrate Mauricio García, president of the JEP’s Legal Situation Definition Chamber, stated that 979 of the beneficiaries—approximately 95% of the total—are members of the public forces, including the Police and Army. Other beneficiaries include 46 former FARC combatants, two state agents, two former guerrilla collaborators, and one civilian. These exonerations are tied to 377 specific incidents involving 643 direct victims and are strictly conditioned upon fulfilling obligations related to truth, reparation, and non-repetition.