Colombia's Peace Tribunal Summons Six Top Ex-FARC Leaders Over Forced Recruitment of 18,677 Children and Indicts Nine More, Breitbart Reports
Breitbart's Christian Caruzo says the JEP court wants Timochenko and five others to answer in April 2027 and issued two new sets of charges against nine regional commanders. Colombian outlets cite 218 victims of sexual violence and 137 forced abortions.
Colombia's transitional justice court has moved against former FARC leaders over crimes against children, Breitbart reports. The details below come from Breitbart's summary of Colombian news outlets, and we did not see the court's rulings.
The summons. The Special Jurisdiction for Peace, known as the JEP, called on former FARC members to acknowledge their role in forcibly recruiting 18,677 boys and girls between 1971 and 2016. It summoned six former top leaders to appear from April 7 to 9, 2027: Rodrigo "Timochenko" Londoño, Jaime Alberto Parra, Milton de Jesús Toncel, Pablo Catatumbo, Pastor Alape and Julián Gallo. The court calls them the "maximum responsible." Breitbart says all six were reportedly charged in 2024, and that El Espectador called the date the first time they will face the recruitment charges.
The new charges. The JEP issued two new sets of indictments covering nine former regional commanders, Breitbart says, citing El Tiempo and Noticias RCN. The reports say investigators documented at least 104 children tortured, 62 executed and 91 girls subjected to forced abortions, and 137 cases of forced pregnancy termination in all. One indictment, against five of the nine, covers sexual and reproductive violence. It lists at least 218 victims and 356 acts of sexual violence, 313 of them when the victims were minors. The reports describe children punished, sometimes killed, for falling asleep on guard duty, taking food without permission or asking to go home.
What happens next. Two magistrates gave the nine men 30 days to respond. Anyone who refuses to admit responsibility goes to trial and, Breitbart says, faces up to 20 years in prison.
The wider picture. Breitbart notes the group remains active despite the 2016 peace deal, and that prosecutors found in June that members were involved in the killing of conservative senator and presidential frontrunner Miguel Uribe Turbay. It also cites a 2024 statement by Colombian authorities and an August El Colombiano investigation that FARC is still recruiting children, including through TikTok.
Why it matters here. The court's findings bear on the debate over how much the 2016 deal delivered. Breitbart's language is strongly critical of the deal and of former President Juan Manuel Santos.
What we could not check. We did not see the JEP rulings or the El Tiempo, El Espectador and RCN reports. Breitbart says the summons came Wednesday in one place and Thursday in another, and that some figures are "reportedly" documented. The Uribe Turbay and TikTok claims are Breitbart's account of other reports.