Documentos OCCO: A criminal peace. Mapping the murders of Ex-FARC combatants

Abstract

More than 200 ex-FARC combatants have been murdered in Colombia since the signing of the peace accords between the government and the former rebels in 2016. The security of exfighters is integral to this process. When ex-combatants become targets for murder and other forms of violence, the peace process itself is at risk. There is much debate about who is killing ex-FARC combatants and why, and the motives are many. A lack of transparency about the cases in which convictions have been secured contributes to this uncertainty, but dissident FARC, paramilitary successor groups and the ELN have been identified as posing the biggest threat. This working paper maps the violence against ex-combatants and in so doing highlights some general trends and patterns of ex-FARC murders. We argue that the phenomenon of ex-FARC murders is related to territorial control. We provide evidence that ex-FARC combatants appear to be directly targeted and in places where ex-combatants are concentrated. The number of ex-FARC murders also increases when armed groups are in dispute. It would appear that the murders are also linked to the cultivation of coca and forced displacement. Perhaps most significantly, there are key trends and similarities between the killings of social leaders and ex-FARC combatants