Peace with Justice or Peace versus Justice in Colombia

May 17 @ 12:25 pm - 2:00 pm

The Colombian government and leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas are close to finalizing a peace agreement to end the country’s five-decade-long armed conflict. As part of the accord, both FARC and Colombian military leaders responsible for atrocities can avoid prison in exchange for confessing to their crimes. Doug Cassel, a Professor of Law at Notre Dame, helped negotiate the agreement as a delegate for the Colombian government. José Miguel Vivanco, Americas Director at Human Rights Watch, is a leading critic of the justice component of the peace deal, which he says “sacrifices the right to justice of thousands of Colombian conflict victims.”

Professor Cassel and Mr. Vivanco debated whether the imminent Colombian peace accord protects the rights of victims of war crimes. James Cavallaro, President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and the Director of Stanford Law School’s International Human Rights Conflict Resolution Clinic, moderated the debate.