Creating New Spaces on the Local Level: Opportunities for Colombia’s Truth Commission

When Colombia installed in December 2017 the Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence and Non-repetition (CEV), this transitional justice mechanism has the opportunity to problematize with its mandate and methodologies the traditional definition of a truth commission thanks to the integral approach of Colombia’s transitional justice framework. Traditionally, truth commissions are understood as bodies that should focus its work and attention on victims of human rights violations. Contrary to this traditional approach, this paper suggests that the CEV should address the multiple identities of those who have suffered criminal acts in the past, instead of solely concentrating on the identity of the victim. The notion of victim refers to a past event and a passive role; however, in Colombia, people who have suffered damage in the past have begun to claim their status as resilient subjects and survivors (sobrevivientes and supervivientes). These categories imply that the condition of victims has been overcome through (effective) local practices like mourning, coexistence, reconciliation, memory practices or healing. The CEV has the potential to build on these advances of some people who suffered human rights abuses in the context of the over 50 years of internal armed conflict in Colombia by recognizing – and making visible – those multiple identities that refer to present and proactive identities that exceed and transcend the victim status. On the other hand, the extrajudicial nature of the CEV will also be able to explore different degrees of responsibility – on a much more systemic level than the crimes that individuals committed who are facing the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) like forms of complicity and indifference, indirect beneficiaries of the violence, collective and institutional responsibilities. Exploring these forms of responsibility implies that the CEV, instead of solely focusing on the victims, give third parties (as they cannot necessarily be called perpetrators themselves) an active role within the work of the truth commission. Therefore, this paper discusses possible ways for the CEV to explore better links with the local level, promote existing spaces and encourage initiatives that contribute to peaceful coexistence in the territories. While discussing these two different possibilities that the CEV can provide, also the risks that come along with it are going to be discussed. The theoretical framework of this paper is embedded within the literature of peace infrastructures, as the CEV can strengthen existing initiatives of survivors as well as foster new initiatives in the rural areas of Colombia.