Colombia must recognize minors recruited by the guerrillas as “victims”

The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) ordered the Colombian government to recognize as “victims” those under the age of 18 who were forcibly recruited or used during the armed conflict in Colombia.

The decision comes after several organizations filed a request for precautionary measures, in April 2021, due to the statements of the former Defense Minister Diego Molano, referring to 12 minors who died in a bombardment by the Public Force in Guaviare, in March 2021, against an alleged camp of aliases Gentle Duarteleader of a residual group of the extinct FARC.

Molano said, at that time, to the chain Blue Radio that “the discussion here is not the legitimacy of our public forces to carry out these operations, but how the FARC dissidents continue to recruit these young people and turn them into war machines.”

In principle, on July 14, 2021, the JEP Recognition Chamber did not grant the precautionary measures requested by the organizations, stating that the appeal did not make it clear what were the specific effects on the rights of the victims, due to the pronouncements of the former minister.

The decision was challenged and this Thursday it concluded that “there is an urgent risk derived from the statements” of the former minister and “it warrants the adoption of measures aimed at eliminating justifying speeches by public officials that put the materialization of rights at risk of the victims of recruitment and use for the armed conflict by the former FARC”.

In this way, the government must pronounce itself, publicly, within a period of 15 days, to expressly recognize the quality of victims of minors.

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