"On Tuesday, Tribunal Judge Camilo Suarez ruled against seven former leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a now-defunct guerrilla group known as the FARC. They were found guilty of kidnapping more than 21,000 people. Most were abducted to secure ransom payments that helped fund the FARC's war machine. Hostages were tortured, sexually abused, chained to trees and led on forced marches through the jungle. Some died of tropical diseases."
"Judge Suarez said, "this sentence does not erase the suffering, but it recognizes that what happened was unjustifiable and inhumane." He ordered the former rebels to spend the next eight years doing restorative social work, like helping to locate the bodies of missing people and removing land mines. What the sentence does not include is any prison time for the rebels. That was a key rebel demand in exchange for signing a 2016 treaty that ended much of the fighting."
A special war crimes tribunal found seven former FARC leaders guilty of kidnapping more than 21,000 people during Colombia's civil war. Hostages were abducted largely for ransom and endured torture, sexual abuse, chaining to trees, forced marches through the jungle and deaths from tropical diseases. The tribunal acknowledged the injustice and ordered eight years of restorative social work, including locating missing bodies and removing land mines. The verdict imposes no prison time, reflecting a key FARC demand tied to the 2016 peace agreement. Human Rights Watch has said the peace deal called for effective restrictions on convicted leaders, and many Colombians view the outcome as overly lenient.
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