From transitional justice to post-agreement rural reform: many obstacles and a long way to go

Abstract

This chapter reflects on the challenges facing the implementation of land restitution mechanisms in Colombia in a post-agreement scenario with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia—Ejercito del Pueblo (FARC—EP). It discusses the issue of the dispossession and concentration of rural assets, and how this is connected to violence and the failure/absence of state institutions. The chapter undertakes a critical reading of a specific transitional justice mechanism that has been implemented in Colombia (the Victims and Land Restitution Law) and the limitations it faces. It presents some lessons from the Victims and Land Restitution Law that might be useful to consider in the implementation of transitional justice agreements between the FARC—EP and the Colombian Government. In the case of Colombia, this inequality in the provision of rights and land is a consequence of the design of the system that regulates property rights in the country.