I don’t know of any conflict which has been resolved without passing through the truth…no conflict has resolution unless you go to the roots…that is what Colombia is gaining with this Truth Commission, we are analysing why.”
Alejandra Coll-Agudelo, member of the Gender Working Group of the Colombian Truth Commission.
In September 2016, the Colombian Government and representatives from the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército Popular (FARC-EP) signed the final peace agreement to end the country’s protracted 52-year conflict. During the war at least 260,000 Colombians were killed and more than 6.7 million people – roughly 13% of the population – were displaced.
In order to help secure victims’ rights, the peace agreement created a transitional justice mechanism, known as the Comprehensive System of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-Repetition. As part of the national effort to implement this complex system several bodies were established, including the Commission for the Clarification of the Truth, Coexistence and Non-Recurrence (the Truth Commission), the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, and the Unit for the Search for Persons Presumed Disappeared.
The Truth Commission was established in November 2018 in order to produce a report with recommendations that would lay the foundations for reconciliation, and a stable, lasting peace. The Commission seeks to piece together the historical narrative of the conflict in Colombia and, crucially, to give voice to the thousands of victims whose suffering has so far been in silence. Currently its key priority is the collection of thousands of testimonies from across different sections of Colombian society to try to build a comprehensive picture of what happened, and why.
Earlier this month, we welcomed two representatives of the Truth Commission for a private roundtable discussion, held in collaboration with Embrace Dialogue. During the discussion, they explained the key innovations the Commission has pioneered, and outlined some of the challenges faced so far.