Days ago, the presidential candidate, Gustavo Petro, was questioned when he raised in the public debate the expression 'social forgiveness'. According to what he argued, it would be a tool to ensure peace and reconciliation in the country. In addition to the dozens of criticisms that came to the politician, was recently added that of the Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa, who argued that this measure would involve benefiting corrupt people who have already been judicially convicted in the past. The official's opinion was expressed in the most recent column he wrote for the newspaper El Tiempo.
“In recent days, a questionable idea called 'social forgiveness' has been raised within the framework of a presidential campaign, which would involve benefiting corrupt people who have been judicially condemned. The Office of the Prosecutor General rejects and will reject any proposal that arises outside the constitutional orbit and involves a break in the separation of powers. An essential part of the democratic system is that the limits of the Constitution are known. It should even be understood that such ideas could replace the political charter as they call into question the autonomy of the Judicial Branch”, he began saying in his text.
According to what he highlighted, the country has had a hard time fighting against corruption, so Petro's proposal would be far removed from the country's needs. To argue his views, he highlighted the work that has been done by the Prosecutor's Office in the last two years. Under his management, he emphasizes, specific objectives were set that would help the authorities reduce or eradicate this type of crime. Among the particularities mentioned by Barbosa, three axes stand out: roaming, articulation and mainstreaming.
As for the first, Barbosa says, what has been achieved is to manage the entity throughout the national territory, which has improved the conditions of the administration of justice in the 35 sectional directorates and 32 departments. On the other hand, he said in his opinion column, it was possible to articulate, internally and externally, the units that make up the body's work, for example, the Dijin, Sijin and the Military Forces. With this second goal, the strengthening of liaisons with the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic, the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation, the Dian, the SAE and the Superintendencies was achieved.
In addition to this, the objective of mainstreaming investigative actions is added. “The accusing body acted in isolation, its structures did not form a team, nor was it worked with crossed thematic lines. Today, the units work together, for common purposes, acting both at the territorial and national levels,” he explained.
Thanks to his work to combat corruption, he says, 4,095 indictments and transfers of indictments were made against 19 crimes prioritized by corruption. “We achieved 157 allegations for corruption due to covid-19. Within the actions against the gauges, we managed to impute 35 former governors, 35 mayors, 7 current governors and several councillors,” he wrote.
He added that the conviction had been reached on six parties involved in the Odebrecht case, and that in less than 60 days they won charges in the case of Population Centers. “The State is not managed with social pardons. Institutionality will not be improved by proposals that break the rule of law and lead to a disconfiguration of the principle of “legal certainty” arising from judicial judgments within the autonomy of the Judicial Branch. Democracy must be thought of with principles to improve the State, not to suppress it,” he concluded.
Through his social networks, and in the face of criticism, Gustavo Petro explained that social forgiveness was not equivalent to impunity. “Social forgiveness is social. Without forgiveness there is no reconciliation. If the country has experienced decades of violence, the only way to heal the wounds is through an immense global forgiveness (...) is reparative justice. Social forgiveness is not a cover-up, it is a process of historical truth. Social forgiveness is neither legal nor divine, it is an earthly forgiveness of citizenship. Social forgiveness is not ordered by the president, but by society,” he said.
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