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Colombia Giving Jailed Rebels A Chance To Help Weaken Guerrilla Group

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The Washington Post

Published: August 3, 2008

BOGOTA, Colombia - Raul Agudelo was a fearsome commander of Colombia's largest rebel group, carrying out killings, kidnappings and extortions for more than 20 years. It was the only life he really knew. But he says that going back to that life is now the last thing he wants to do.

Agudelo is instead part of a growing movement of former rebels speaking out against the group from jail. In doing so, these dissidents are posing yet another challenge to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which has long relied on its imprisoned members to help plan kidnappings, killings and arms smuggling operations on the outside.

More than 1,700 rebel foot soldiers and commanders are being held in Colombian jails. Many of them, adhering to the group's dictum of "once a member, always a member," await their release to rejoin the rebel group.

However, there are some, like Agudelo, who instead of remaining true to the FARC want to use their upstart movement, called Hands for Peace, to help the state further weaken the rebel group.

In exchange, they are being permitted by the government to enter into the same special judicial proceedings that were designed to spur their mortal enemies, right-wing paramilitary groups, to disarm. Under a recent government decree, the rebels could be freed from jail or have their long prison terms reduced if they outline their involvement in unsolved crimes while making amends to their victims.

The government's new policy has generated confusion and, in some cases, ire among some Colombians and rights groups who question why benefits would be bestowed on guerrillas captured in combat. Many of the rebels, including Agudelo, received prison terms of three decades or more for having participated in heinous crimes, including assassinations, mass kidnappings and bombings.

Human Rights Watch, the New York-based group, says that granting leniency to rebels who already have been convicted of crimes against humanity is a travesty of justice.

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