Timochenko chops wood as JEP sanction and sparks criticism from victims and politicians
Former Farc commander Rodrigo Londoño is carrying out restorative sanctions in Pitalito, Huila. Victims and former senator Cabal reject the labour as insufficient.
Rodrigo Londoño in Pitalito: JEP sanctions generate rejection from victims and opposition
According to infobae.com, former members of the defunct Farc guerrilla have begun to comply with sanctions imposed by the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) for their responsibility in thousands of kidnappings during the Colombian armed conflict.
Among those sanctioned is Rodrigo Londoño Echeverry, known by the alias 'Timochenko', who circulated images on his social media of the restorative work he is carrying out for the benefit of victims.
On 21 September, Londoño Echeverry arrived in the municipality of Pitalito, in the department of Huila, along with six other former members of the armed group. There he was seen chopping wood with machetes and participating in the search for missing persons in the local San Antonio de Padua cemetery.
"We are filled with satisfaction at beginning to comply with the sanction imposed by the JEP. Martí said, the best way to say, is to do (...) we are working in the search for persons reported as missing, fulfilling our commitment to Colombia and to the victims. Peace will prevail", wrote the former guerrilla leader and current spokesperson of the Commons party on his X account.
Cabal describes the JEP as a "tribunal of impunity"
The circulation of the images unleashed a wave of questioning in different sectors of the country, on the grounds that these actions would be re-victimising those who suffered the consequences of the conflict.
Former senator María Fernanda Cabal, of the Democratic Centre, was one of the first voices to react. "Is putting Rodrigo Londoño to clean parks and chop wood the sanction for kidnapping and torture? After more than 21,000 kidnappings, is that what the JEP presents as justice?", wrote the former congresswoman.
Cabal also questioned the model of transitional justice and argued that Londoño's work is not proportionate to the years of freedom that victims lost during the conflict. "The perpetrators work on schedule and go home. The victims lost years of freedom that no one is going to give back to them. That is why I say that the JEP is the tribunal of impunity", she warned.
Women's NGO denounces "staged production"
The Rosa Blanca Corporation, a non-governmental organisation made up of women victims of child recruitment, sexual abuse and gender violence attributed to the Farc, rejected Londoño's participation in the activities and termed it a staging.
"This photograph insults the memory of the victims, but moreover, it is only criminal propaganda to ask for a budget, since the professionals of the UBPD or the Gatef of the JEP are those who are authorised to carry out prospective work and body recovery according to protocols", the corporation stated in a statement.
The organisation also questioned details in the images, including the use of a construction helmet, and estimated that the photographed activities represent an expense exceeding 500 million pesos for Colombians. Furthermore, it demanded that Londoño provide information about alleged mass graves located in the vicinity of La Uribe, in the department of Meta.
"Timochenko, do not forget to hand over the two mass graves located near La Uribe, Meta, at the El Pueblito site, one grave at the Ucrania point and another at the Casa Verde point", the entity demanded. According to the corporation, in those places "approximately 100 people were executed, including children and university students who were deceived into joining the Farc ranks". The organisation recalled that Londoño was head of intelligence and counter-intelligence of the guerrilla, and that relatives of the victims still await the delivery of the bodies.
Federation of victims questions the Search Unit
The Federation of Victims of Terrorism in Colombia added its rejection to the photographs circulated by the former commander. "Those photos are one more embarrassment of what the impunity of the JEP sanctions is", the entity stated.
The federation also questioned whether the Search Unit for Missing Persons had permitted Londoño's participation in the field activities. "That the Search Unit for Missing Persons, which carries out the technical work of searching and of sites of forensic interest, allows that is far too serious. Is there no one to properly guide that man?", the organisation posed.
At the time infobae.com published its report, Rodrigo Londoño had not responded to the questions raised by social organisations or by the political leader.
Source: Google News CO — Crime