JEP rejects the submission of two former mayors, a former congressman and a former Bolivar official

On Tuesday, April 19, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) rejected the submission of two former leaders, a former congressman and a former public official linked to parapolitics in the department of Bolívar, which is why it excluded them from the competence of transitional justice.

This was confirmed by the Chamber for the Definition of Legal Situations of the Peace Court in relation to the applications submitted by the former mayor of the municipality of Barranco de Loba Uldarico Toloza Tundeno; the former mayor of the municipality of Arenal del Sur Héctor Rodelo Zayas; the former congressman Miguel Ángel Rangel Sosa; and the former director of the Department of Health of Cartagena (DSC) and the ESE Cartagena Lucio Rangel Sosa, who would not have met the requirements of the submission.

“As a result, the Sub-Chamber concludes that Messrs. Héctor Rodelo Zayas and Uldarico Toloza Tundeno did not present genuine and genuine proposals that would contribute to the realization of the objectives of transitional justice, since they did not provide information that would help to clarify the reasons why political leaders and regional economic factors contributed to the consolidation of illegal armed groups that did so much harm to the civilian population, as well as to democratic principles,” said the JEP.

The Chamber also noted that the proposals for redress submitted by the former leaders will not be accepted either, because they do not meet the standards established by the court, while they were denied submission as third parties and other State agents to members of the public forces (Aenifpu).

In turn, the peace court rejected the application for submission of Miguel Ángel Rangel Sosa, who was convicted because of his ties with the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), because he submitted his submission to the peace court on September 9, 2019 when the opportunity had expired, because he had a term of three months since he had passed the entity came into force.

Similarly, the JEP indicated that in the case of Lucio Rangel Sosa, his “reluctant conduct” to respond to the requirements for him to sign the act of submission to transitional justice and to submit a clear, concrete and scheduled compromise proposal (CCCP), although he expressed his willingness to submit to court, “constitutes a mockery and disrespect towards victims and justice, which cannot have a response other than rejecting their request for submission and excluding them definitively from this transitional justice system”.

“On the basis of the foregoing, and since in a judgement of jurisdictional prevalence 127 the JEP does not assume its prevalent competence, Messrs. Uldarico Toloza Tundeno, Héctor Rodelo Zayas, Miguel Ángel and Lucio Rangel Sosa shall be excluded from the jurisdiction of this Jurisdiction and shall provide that once this decision is enforced the Judicial Secretariat shall proceed to return the files sent by the ordinary courts to the judicial offices of origin, so that they resume their competence and resume the proceedings in the state in which they are located”, concluded the JEP.

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