Colombia’s Congress Passes Surrender Law 95-10, Offering Armed Group Members Sentence Cuts of Up to 50%

The Capitolio Nacional, seat of Colombia's Congress, in Bogota (file photo). Photo: JuanGris (Lucía Estévez), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Colombia’s House of Representatives passed the government’s surrender law, the Ley de Sometimiento, by a vote of 95-10 on the night of Nov. 3, after more than 12 hours of debate, Infobae reported. Because the House approved the same text as the Senate, the bill presented by President Abelardo de la Espriella’s government cleared Congress without a conciliation committee. The government had sought to finish the legislative process and send the text for the president’s signature before Law 418 of 1997 expired on Wednesday, Nov. 4.

Key figures: 95-10 house vote on the ley de sometimiento · 50% maximum sentence cut for rank-and-file members · 2 police officers killed by the algeciras motorcycle bomb

The law creates a mechanism for members of illegal armed organizations and criminal structures to submit to the ordinary justice system in exchange for reduced sentences, on condition that they hand over weapons and assets, provide information and cooperate with authorities. Rank-and-file members can receive sentence reductions of up to 50% and leaders up to 30%, with a minimum prison sentence of 10 years for those who held command roles.

What the law excludes

People convicted of recruiting minors, or responsible for drawing children and adolescents into criminal structures, are excluded from the benefits. “Here no recruiter of minors will have any of the benefits this law brings,” said the bill’s House rapporteur, Daniel Briceño, in TBR’s translation. Briceño said the law also eliminates peace negotiators and negotiating tables, which he described as a break from the previous government’s “total peace” policy.

Justice Minister Iván Cancino said the law does not suspend arrest warrants or extraditions and that those who submit must hand over all their assets without receiving money in return; failing to meet the commitments means losing the benefits. Congress cut the law’s validity from 10 years to four, set a six-year limit for parole and removed article 25, which dealt with reserved spending and resources from the national security fund, Fonsecon. Beneficiaries will be held by the national prison agency, INPEC.

Police deaths in Huila and Medellín

A second police officer has died from a motorcycle bomb in Algeciras, Huila, Infobae reported. Patrolman Jaime Andrés García Moreno, 37, died Nov. 3 at a hospital in Neiva after three days of treatment. Patrolman Julián Esmith Castaño López, 41, was killed at the scene. Another officer and four civilians were wounded. The bomb went off at about 11:49 p.m. on Oct. 31 in Algeciras’ nightlife district, crowded for Halloween, and the attack has been preliminarily attributed to FARC dissidents. “My solidarity with his family and my commitment to bring those responsible to justice,” wrote police director Maj. Gen. Jesús Alejandro Barrera Peña.

In Medellín, police officer Jamilton Andrés Santa Aguirre, 27, was killed while responding to a shooting in the city center that began at about 12:17 a.m. on Nov. 4 and killed two people, Infobae reported. Mayor Federico Gutiérrez said one of the victims had several prior criminal records and that the case appeared linked to a dispute between criminal groups over control of an area. TBR’s earlier coverage of Colombia’s border security push is in our Oct. 30 Americas report.

Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) charged 11 former FARC commanders, including Rodrigo Londoño, known as “Timochenko,” and Pastor Alape, with war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the former Magdalena Medio and Caribe blocs, Infobae reported. The case, known as Case 10, examines non-amnestiable crimes not covered by other transitional justice proceedings.

Cuba: U.S. fuel shipments and a smaller government

The United States exported 562,000 barrels of fuel to Cuba in August, according to official data compiled by 14ymedio, below the 778,000 barrels of June. The August figure may be provisional: after the U.S. Census Bureau and the Energy Information Administration corrected July’s figure from a reported 3.2 million barrels to 182,932, 14ymedio said a similar correction for August would lower it to 378,718 barrels. The July error came from shipping forms in Miami and Tampa that recorded liters or gallons as barrels. Cuban private importers spent $74.8 million importing fuel in August, and U.S. fuel exports to Cuba reached $231.7 million in the first eight months of the year.

Cuba also cut its central government from 27 to 21 bodies, 20 ministries and the Central Bank, by merging ministries under Law 186, published in the Official Gazette, Infobae reported. Infobae said the official goal was to cut costs and eliminate bureaucratic duplication amid the island’s financial difficulties. The previous day’s regional roundup is in our Nov. 3 Americas security update.

By the numbers

U.S. fuel exports to Cuba have swung sharply from month to month, partly because of the data corrections.

Watch for the president’s signature on the surrender law, how many armed group members apply for its benefits and whether the EIA revises the August Cuba figure.

Sources

• Infobae: Congreso aprobó la ley de sometimiento de Abelardo de la Espriella: así serán las rebajas de penas para criminales
• Infobae: Murió el segundo patrullero herido en el atentado con motocicleta bomba en Algeciras, Huila
• Infobae: Un policía fue asesinado durante un ataque sicarial en el centro de Medellín
• Infobae: JEP imputó a ‘Timochenko’, ‘Pastor Alape’ y otros nueve excomandantes de las Farc por crímenes de guerra y de lesa humanidad
• 14ymedio: Cuba importó en agosto 562.000 barriles de combustible de EE UU, según datos oficiales
• Infobae: Cuba reduce su aparato gubernamental de 27 a 21 entidades y fusiona ministerios clave

Additional sources

• Infobae: De la Espriella ordenó a la fuerza pública “recuperar la autoridad” en el Catatumbo
• 14ymedio: La periodista independiente Camila Acosta, liberada tras pasar la tarde en un calabozo