Truth Commission rendered accountability report on its work in 2021

The Truth Commission held this Wednesday, March 16, the accountability of its work during 2021. During the event, the entity presented its achievements during the 12 months of the year, also explained what is the construction of the Final Report that will be delivered on June 27, 2022.

The President of the Commission, Francisco de Roux, began the session with a brief reflection on what it means to speak to the country ahead of the final stretch of the entity's mandate. According to him, starting from this exercise of surrender, he seeks to think about the future, because he assured that the work that the Commission has been carrying out during his term of office has been done “in the hope that one day a country will be possible in which no one will be killed, where we can all speak with peace of mind”.

Specifically, in 2021, the peace entity conducted 1,750 individual and 307 collective interview exercises, which allowed in total to hear the testimony of 4,554 people throughout the national territory and in 27 countries around the world. Since the beginning of its mandate in 2016, the Commission has heard 27,279 people.

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The accountability ceremony was also attended by the European Union Ambassador to Colombia, Gilles Bertrand, who assured that although the Commission is close to completing its mandate with the delivery of the Final Report, the country will begin another momentous process: “The dissemination, communication and acceptance of difficult truths that this country has decided to face and overcome to change the course of its history”.

Regarding the balance sheet, the secretary noted that the entity managed to execute 92.4 per cent of the resources it received from the Ministry of Finance last year. This means that 108,105 million pesos were invested out of the 116,992 million that were received.

The Commission also stated that it made progress in the construction of a first version of the written component of the Final Report. In addition, it progresses by around 50% in the creation of the virtual platform that will host the transmedia, through which the legacy that the entity will deliver to the country will be shared and which aims to lay the foundations for the non-repetition of the armed conflict.

Another achievement highlighted by the entity born after the signing of the Peace Agreement, between the Colombian State and the former FARC guerrillas, was that during the past year, 107 cases and 353 reports were received from different organizations, institutions and individuals, for a total of 635 cases and 964 reports received from 2016 to the December 31, 2021.

During the past year, the Commission held seven national public events, including: recognition of exile at borders, victims of extrajudicial executions in Colombia and victims of kidnapping by the former FARC-EP guerrilla. In addition, it organized the recognition of responsibilities by Salvatore Mancuso and Rodrigo Londoño, who expressed their intention to work to dignify the victims of the armed conflict and asked for forgiveness for their actions in the context of the armed conflict.

On the other hand, from the territorial approach, 12 public acts of recognition of responsibilities were also promoted; for example, that of the former FARC-EP for acts such as forced disappearance and targeted assassinations in Palestine, Huila, the one on the impacts and effects of the armed conflict on universities and the act where recognized responsibility to victims of extrajudicial executions in Toluviejo, Sucre.

Regarding the process of listening with ethnic peoples, the Commission organized eight public events such as: the recognition of the effects of black people in the Caribbean region, the effects of the former FARC-EP on the Coreguaje people and the 'Silenced Truth of the Canal del Dique: forced disappearance and damage to the territory'. This means that, in total, the Commission led 27 spaces during 2021 to advance the achievement of the recognition objective.

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