Colombia’s constitutional court on Friday ordered Congress to include victims of groups emerging from the now-defunct paramilitary organization AUC in legislation granting them rights to compensation.
Until now, the Victims Law only included victims of crimes committed after 1985 by the army, paramilitary organization AUC and leftist rebel groups like the FARC and ELN.
However, according to the court, victims of groups that emerged from the AUC, like “Los Urabeños,” or grew strong by usurping paramilitaries, like “Los Rastrojos,” must also be compensated and have the right to return to their lands.
“For the court, victims of forced displacement are all persons affected of acts that constitute and infringement of human rights and/or international humanitarian law,” the court said, specifying that this could also be victims by “the currently-called criminal groups'” or “BaCrim,” a government-coined term to describe organizations that emerged after the AUC.
The court went as far to not only include victims of the conflict, but also those of natural disasters, ordering legislators to grant those victims equal rights to restitution.
The court ruled on the law after it had been appealed that demanded the law to apply to more victims.
