Colombian Congressman Guillermo Rivera confirmed Tuesday that victims of state agents will be eligible for compensation in a bill that seeks to make reparations under the Victims Law more effective.
Rivera announced that the Colombian government of Juan Manuel Santos and its national unity coalition had agreed to include victims of state violence in the legislation.
Justice Minister German Vargas Lleras on Saturday promised on behalf of the government that victims of state agents would be included in this law.
The original bill, an initiative of the then-opposition Liberal Party and signed by the government of former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, excluded victims of state violence.
Rivera also confirmed that the return of land to three million Colombians displaced by violence in the Andean nation will also be included in the bill, to be presented before Colombian Congress.
The Colombian government says it will have to give out at least COP40 trillion ($22 billion) in the next ten years in reparations to the victims of the country’s violent conflict.
According to the Catholic church, there have been 4 million victims of forced displacement in the country. It is estimated that tens of thousands of Colombians were murdered the various actors in the armed conflict.
