The Attorney General Francisco Barbosa celebrated the closing of the preliminary examination stage of the International Criminal Court related to Colombia and he also highlighted the strength of the Colombian institutions in the recognition and defense of victims’ human rights

The announcement was made by the Attorney General in the framework of the signing of the Cooperation Agreement between the State and the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

The Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa Delgado, highlighted the closing of the preliminary examination that the International Criminal Court had opened regarding Colombia for 17 years.

“This is a historic day for Colombia, a historic day for the dignity of a country, the fact that they have already clarified us, that they have told us that this country is a country with solid institutions, that this country is a country that works with some principles. At least in that area of ​​cooperation that we have had with all organizations, the Attorney General’s Office fulfills and will continue fulfilling the commitments made to Colombian citizens until the end of my administration”, stated the Attorney General.

Likewise, he highlighted the harmonious work that has been carried out with the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) and in this regard, he indicated “I am a protector of human rights, I am a defender of the peace agreement that was signed in 2016, I am a defender of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, and the only purpose that we all must have is that the victims can have justice, truth, reparation, and guarantees of non-repetition ”.

He highlighted the work that the JEP has been carrying out, stating that “As the Attorney General, I am against any type of modification of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, and I will reject groups, parties or movements that seek to alter the functioning of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace. It is clear that the Attorney General is in favor of the institutionality and is not going to allow any type of modification”.

For his part, the president of JEP, Eduardo Cifuentes, referred to the strategy that has been developed along with the Attorney General´s Office and that it has achieved conclusive results: “Our idea, as a jurisdiction, is to work with harmony with the other powers of the State, with the executive branch, with the Attorney General’s Office, with Procuraduria. Soon, we will sign a collaboration protocol with the Attorney General’s Office. The Attorney General’s Office has a great investigative capacity, its results are important for transitional justice. There is no reason for conflicts between institutions of justice, we are in a new era of relationship with the Attorney General’s Office ”.

For his part, the President, Iván Duque Márquez, highlighted that this achievement before the International Criminal Court is due to the harmonious work between Colombian institutions. “I have to highlight that the different institutions of our country have also showed results and have answered to the International Criminal Court´s questions. This has been the case of the Attorney General’s Office and also the case of the Transitional Justice”.

The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim A.A. Khan QC, also highlighted the Attorney General’s Office work. He stated that “yesterday when I was at the Attorney General’s Office I saw excellent lawyers and professionals, excellent facilities. (…) The Attorney General’s Office has 5,000 prosecutors and 25,000 employees in a country that focuses on the Rule of Law. It is a country that will be strong and that will improve”.

The Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa, also referred to the important work that is being carried out with the Search Unit for Missing People (Unidad de Búsqueda de Personas Desaparecidas) to gather enough information and locate and recover corpses of missing people as part of the reparation processes. “We are also working with the Search Unit for Missing People and we have joint groups which have recovered 10,000 corpses from the beginning of the Justice and Peace Law. We will continue working together until that work is finished. But at the same time, we are also recovering properties from those people who participated in that justice and peace process to hand them over to the victims, which is what we have been doing”, said the Attorney General.