Iván Duque and the polemic decisions against JEP

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On Sunday night, Colombian President Iván Duque ruled on the Statutory Law of the JEP

As it was already planned, Iván Duque spaeak to the Colombians in a presidential address and announced the amendments to the law that is in charge of regulating the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), a key piece in the peace agreement that was reached with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC.

Leer en español: Iván Duque y las polémicas decisiones de la JEP

In this way, the president said he has "decided to object to six of the 159 articles of the Statutory Law of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace for reasons of inconvenience and invite the Congress of the Republic to discuss them constructively." As El Tiempo affirms, this law is the last one that must be entered into force, and "if it is not sanctioned, the JEP will continue to make decisions regarding its investigations."

The six points that Duque refers to are aimed at repairing victims, that whoever participates in a peace process is decided by the High Commissioner for Peace, to define when the investigations of ordinary justice related to the JEP, can be suspended, "allow the waiver of criminal action against crimes against humanity, genocide or war crimes in relation to those who are not responsible," according to Semana; maintain the extradition and finally, prevent the entry of evidence to the JEP when they do not have in fact.

In addition, the other point that fueled the political debate is the presentation before Congress of a constitutional reform of the legislative act that gave legal basis to the peace agreement, and within this is "to exclude from that jurisdiction sexual crimes against minors, make it clear that whoever recurs in criminal activities will lose all benefits and that any other criminal conduct that was initiated before the signing of the pact and continues to be carried out afterward will be the competence of the ordinary courts ", according to El País.

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A new debate opens

Before the decision of Duque, different media highlighted the alignment with the Democratic Center, the party to which it belongs, and the influence of the current senator Álvaro Uribe in the political decisions of the president. Both the political party and Uribe are the primary opponents of the peace agreement signed with the FARC, guerilla that is now a political party and which has participation in Congress.

For Pacifista, "Duque is objecting to a Law that had already been approved by Congress, and the Constitutional Court endorsed that." The same media adds that "with the objections, Duque intends to take power and strengthen the Attorney General, in the hands of Néstor Humberto Martínez, who has criticized the powers of the JEP on specific issues, such as extradition."

The important thing now is that Congress reviews Duke's objections. In this aspect, it will be critical that those congressmen who are in disagreement join and evaluate the proposal by Duque; However, within this institution, Duque has no majorities. If accepted, they would go to the Constitutional Court, which has already evaluated the Statutory Law and approved it.

Meanwhile, the JEP, which already carries out ongoing processes, among which are the investigations for false positives, for cases of systematic abduction, among many others, "will continue to work fully," according to the president of this jurisdiction. , Patricia Linares.

Through a video, Linares assures that the decision receives it with respect and affirms that he trusts in the autonomy of the public powers, "and said that through these mechanisms the functioning of the JEP would be guaranteed," according to Publimetro.

In this way, it is expected that the Legislative Chambers will not achieve a majority "of either side to make a decision. That is, there is no agreement between accepting or rejecting the objections presented by the President of the Republic, "according to El Tiempo.

This is how the Congress has until December 16 to carry out the process. Otherwise, the case will be filed. On the other hand, the controversial decision has already made at least 100 personalities reject the decision. According to Caracol Radio, among former ministers, government officials, congressmen, journalists, human rights leaders, among others signed a letter, which also asks the UN Security Council, "a strict observation of the Colombian situation. "

LatinAmerican Post | Laura Viviana Guevara Muñoz

Translated from "Iván Duque y las decisiones de la JEP"