Colombia’s hard-right opposition has challenged a peace deal signed with Marxist FARC rebels in November last year before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
According to opposition party Democratic Center, the administration of President Juan Manuel Santos signed the peace deal in defiance of a referendum that narrowly rejected an earlier draft in October last year.
In that referendum, 50.2% of Colombian voters rejected the first draft of the peace deal that was subsequently adapted and sent to Congress for approval.
The party led by former President Alvaro Uribe has opposed any peace deal with the country’s largest rebel group.
The former president and a number of his political associates could find themselves in a post-conflict war crimes court to respond for war crimes that is set to take force later this year.
His political supporters disagree with the concessions made with the Marxist guerrillas like their political inclusion.
Uribe has long sought a Nuremberg trial-like justice that would only try crimes committed by the FARC and absolve (former) government officials and private parties of any war crimes allegations.
According to the Prosecutor General, some 24,400 (former) state officials are either convicted or on trial for war crimes while another 13,000 civilians and companies are accused of sponsoring anti-communist death squads.
According to Uribe and his party, the government, Congress and the Constitutional Court “did not respect the sovereign will of the people.”
The Democratic Center has vowed to “shred the deal to fucking pieces” if the party is able to win next year’s congressional and presidential elections.
Uribe’s party is the only one opposing the peace process. All other Colombian parties support the process that seeks to end more than half a century of armed conflict between the Marxist guerrillas and the state.
Additionally, the deal seeks far-reaching political and rural reforms that would reduce the chances of violent conflict and modernize Colombia’s political system.
