HomeNewsAnalysisFormer FARC Combatant Killings Could Fuel More Dissidence
ANALYSIS

Former FARC Combatant Killings Could Fuel More Dissidence

COLOMBIA / 25 MAY 2018 BY ANGELIKA ALBALADEJO* EN

Colombian officials have released new estimates of the number of former guerrillas murdered since peace accord implementation began, highlighting the government’s inability to address killings committed by a wide range of criminal actors, which could fuel more dissidence from the process.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos acknowledged on May 22 that at least 40 former combatants of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – FARC) have been killed since the guerilla group and the government signed a November 2016 peace agreement.

According to Santos, none of the 40 ex-combatants whose murders are recognized by the government were receiving protection measures as part of the accord, which cover 200 former leaders and 4,000 ex-guerrillas in demobilization and reintegration zones.

Santos emphasized that in past peace processes in Colombia, the number of former combatants killed was significantly higher, but said his government “recognizes that one is too many” is “doing everything in our power to prevent more cases from happening.”

SEE ALSO: Colombia News and Profiles

The official government report estimates that 58 ex-FARC combatants and 18 family members of former guerrillas have been killed since the signing of the accord, El Colombiano reported. However, estimates from the United Nations and civil society groups differ.

The UN’s most recent verification mission report estimates 44 former FARC members and 18 family members have been murdered, and six ex-guerrillas have been forcibly disappeared, since the signing of the agreement. A report published earlier this month by a coalition of non-governmental organizations documented 62 former combatants and 17 family members killed, and six disappeared.

The former guerrilla group’s political party, the Common Alternative Revolutionary Force (Fuerza Alternativa Revolucionaria del Común – FARC), alleged earlier this month that the government is “not complying” with the accord’s “terms of protection, legal security and full reincorporation.”

In response to “recent attacks and threats,” the FARC asked for support from the international community, and called on the government to “take effective and suitable measures against criminal structures” that they say are establishing themselves near reincorporation zones.

InSight Crime Analysis

Although Colombia’s government has so far been able to prevent the killings of ex-FARC combatants directly under protection measures, authorities’ inability to stop the murders of other former guerrillas could threaten the peace process and fuel dissidence, as ex-rebels face threats from a wide range of criminal groups.

According to field research conducted across Colombia by InSight Crime, there are several reasons for former combatant killings. For example, some ex-FARC members with information on drug routes and other lucrative criminal activities are killed because criminal actors seeking to take over their former strongholds view them as a threat. Others are murdered because they have information on killings, massacres and drug trafficking activities that could implicate other ex-members in future trials. Some have gone back to criminality, while others demobilized from militias that were not obligated to go to reintegration zones, making them easier targets.

SEE ALSO: Coverage of FARC Peace

Killings of former FARC combatants have been attributed to a wide range of criminal groups, including the the Urabeños, FARC dissident groups and the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional - ELN), based on shifting criminal dynamics in various parts of the country.

The UN verification mission has repeatedly called for the Colombian government to extend security guarantees beyond concentration zones, and the mission's top official, Jean Arnault, recently warned that “weakness in this effort can only increase the risk that some ex-combatants will be diverted to criminal groups.”

Last year, InSight Crime estimated that approximately 1,000 to 1,500 dissidents have already abandoned the peace process for various reasons. A lack of protection guarantees for demobilized members could lead to even higher rates of desertion and dissidence.

*This article was written with assistance from Sergio Saffon and Ángela Olaya.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

COCAINE / 20 JUN 2022

Gustavo Petro will be Colombia's next president. Cocaine, Venezuela, deforestation - criminal challenges face him in droves.

COLOMBIA / 8 DEC 2021

Three FARC dissident commanders have become the first people to be charged with criminal deforestation under a new law aimed…

COLOMBIA / 16 JUN 2022

Jobanis de Jesús Ávila Villadiego, alias "Chiquito Malo," is the current commander of the AGC, succeeding Otoniel.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…