Colombian Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva at the event “In search of truth so that history does not repeat itself” on August 17. (Source: Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

The Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed a Peace Agreement in 2016, which established the need to find mechanisms to find the truth of the unfortunate events that occurred during the conflict, seek justice, compensate the victims and ensure that these will not be repeated in the future.

Within the framework of these commitments, on August 17, Colombian Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva Durán chaired an event entitled “In search of truth so that history does not repeat itself”, with the participation of members of civil society and representatives of diplomatic missions in Colombia.

Minister Leyva pointed out that “by all reasonable measures within its capacity, the Colombian State has the obligation to ensure truth, justice, reparation for victims and to take measures to ensure that serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law are not repeated.”

At the event, the former leader of the illegal group calling itself the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia – UAC Carlos Mario Jimene, issued a statement apologizing for the damage caused to society and especially to the communities where he organized criminal groups.

Mr. Carlos Mario Jimene also apologized for having declared the current President Gustavo Petro Urrego, Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva, as well as Senator Iván Cepeda Castro, a few years ago, as military targets of this illegal organization. Fortunately, these criminal plans did not succeed.

The former paramilitary commander said he was ready to appear before the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) to recount the crimes he was involved in, as well as to assist in the search for the remains of the victims, which he said were found in the border areas with Venezuela and Ecuador. This is a judicial mechanism established in the Peace Agreement.

The event is the second activity organized by the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs within the framework of the program "In search of truth, so that the past does not repeat itself". The first event took place on June 7 this year in Juan Frio, Santander province, Colombia.

Here, event attendees heard a statement from former paramilitary commander Salvatore Mancuso, who supported the creation of a bilateral Technical Commission between Colombia and Venezuela to facilitate the search for missing people on the common border between the two countries.