In a letter to the selection committee for magistrates of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, WOLA (The Washington Office on Latin America) and several other international organizations expressed their support for the Ethnic Commission’s efforts to guarantee the inclusion of Afro-Colombian and indigenous magistrates in the transitional justice system.
The Special Jurisdiction for Peace will constitute the justice component of a Comprehensive System of Truth, Justice, Reparation, and Non-Repetition that seeks to satisfy the victims’ rights to learn the full truth of past events, receive reparations, and obtain guarantees of non-repetition. The system additionally aims to promote the acknowledgement of the responsibility of all who participated in the conflict, both directly and indirectly, and will seek to construct historical memory and reconciliation in Colombian society.
As such, the letter reflects on the “parameters set by the ethnic chapter, point 5 of the agreement that states: ‘The candidate nomination process will be broad and diverse, ensuring that all sectors of society, including victims’ organizations will be able to nominate candidates” (5.1.1.1.5).” It additionally highlights the importance of selecting magistrates from communities which have faced structural and systemic exclusion and who have endured, “the disproportionate impact of the armed conflict on their territories and communities.”