In a historic decision on September 16, 2025, Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) handed down its first criminal sentences against seven senior commanders of the now-defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), marking a turning point in the country’s long and painful reckoning with decades of armed conflict. The ruling, which follows a seven-year trial and a 663-page verdict, holds these former guerrilla leaders responsible for nearly 22,000 kidnappings committed between 1993 and 2016—a staggering figure that underscores the scale of suffering endured by Colombian society.
The JEP, established in 2017 as part of the 2016 Peace Accord that ended more than fifty years of fighting between the FARC and the Colombian state, was designed to deliver both truth and justice through a restorative approach. This week’s verdict—its first major sentencing—brings that promise into sharp relief. According to Colombia One, the tribunal emphasized that these sentences represent “the maximum provided for by the tribunal’s own justice,” reflecting the unique framework of transitional justice underpinning the peace process.
The seven convicted leaders—Rodrigo Londoño (alias “Timochenko”), Pablo Catatumbo, Pastor Lisandro Alape, Milton de Jesus Toncel (alias “Joaquin Gomez”), Jaime Alberto Parra (alias “El Medico”), Julian Gallo (alias “Carlos Antonio Lozada”), and Rodrigo Granda (alias “Ricardo Tellez”)—were members of the FARC’s final Secretariat, the group’s highest decision-making body. Some, like Catatumbo and Gallo, currently serve as senators, their political careers made possible by the peace deal’s terms.
Instead of traditional prison terms, the tribunal imposed eight-year sentences of “special sanctions.” These include strict mobility restrictions, electronic monitoring, and mandatory participation in restorative labor projects. The former commanders are required to engage in humanitarian demining, help locate and identify the remains of disappeared victims, contribute to environmental recovery, and support projects that preserve the memory of those affected by the violence. As Al Jazeera reported, these reparative tasks are designed to “give victims a sense of justice” and to fulfill the principles of truth, restoration, and non-repetition that lie at the heart of the JEP’s mandate.
According to the tribunal’s findings, kidnappings were not isolated acts but rather a deliberate policy orchestrated by the FARC’s leadership. The JEP concluded that “the kidnappings were executed as part of a policy designed, implemented and maintained by the Secretariat of the FARC-EP.” Hostages were taken for ransom, to pressure the government into prisoner exchanges, or to intimidate communities. The conditions of captivity were often inhumane: victims were confined in barbed-wire cages known as jaulas, chained by the neck or feet, and forced to march through remote terrain. Many suffered torture, sexual violence, forced displacement, and, in some cases, death when families could not pay ransoms or escape attempts failed.
“Depriving people of their liberty and conditioning their release, as well as their well-being, integrity, and life, was a war crime, specifically that of hostage-taking,” a JEP magistrate told the press in Bogotá, according to Colombia One. The tribunal’s verdict also documents the psychological trauma inflicted on families, who often sold property or abandoned livelihoods in desperate attempts to secure their loved ones’ freedom. Many victims simply vanished, leaving relatives in a state of perpetual uncertainty.
More than 4,300 surviving victims were formally registered before the JEP, and the court’s ruling holds the former commanders collectively and individually responsible for the harm caused to them and their families. The verdict also provides a detailed account of the FARC’s internal command structure, demonstrating that orders regarding kidnappings, ransom demands, and detainee treatment originated at the very top. “These defendants were declared to be the most senior leaders of the FARC-EP and criminally responsible in their capacity as perpetrators of the war crimes of hostage-taking and murder,” the JEP stated, as reported by Al Jazeera.
In terms of accountability, the tribunal’s approach reflects the compromises of Colombia’s peace process. Because the former commanders admitted their crimes, contributed to truth-finding, and agreed to reparative work, they avoided traditional prison sentences. However, as Colombia Reports noted, failure to comply with the court’s conditions could result in ordinary criminal penalties, including incarceration. The United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia will help monitor compliance, ensuring that the process remains credible and that promises made to victims are kept.
Elizabeth Dickinson, a senior Colombia analyst at International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera that the JEP’s sentences “set an example for what restorative justice looks like in the context of Colombia’s peace deal.” She added, “Nine years after the peace agreement, a transitional court has now finally laid down what these alternative penalties will look like.”
The ruling also serves as a precedent for command-level accountability in Colombia, establishing that top leaders can be held responsible for systematic crimes ordered and executed by their organizations. The tribunal’s 500-page verdict not only reconstructs the FARC’s kidnapping policy but also adds to the official historical record of the conflict, helping to ensure that the memory of victims is preserved and that euphemisms are left behind. “Recognitions and contributions to the truth set us free, and justice becomes concrete actions in the territories most affected by the armed conflict,” Judge Alejandro Ramelli said during the reading of the ruling, according to Colombia One.
While most rank-and-file FARC fighters were granted amnesty under the peace deal, the leadership’s participation in the JEP’s restorative process was a condition for their reintegration into civilian life and politics. Those who refuse to cooperate or fail to fulfill their obligations may still face up to 20 years in jail, a provision designed to ensure that justice for the gravest crimes is not sacrificed for the sake of peace alone.
This week’s decision concludes one of 11 “macrocases” currently under investigation by the JEP. The tribunal is expected to announce individual sentences against former government soldiers later in the week for their role in extrajudicial executions during the conflict, signaling that accountability will not be limited to one side alone.
For a country still grappling with the legacy of violence, the JEP’s first sentences against FARC’s top leadership represent a decisive step forward—one that offers hope for both justice and reconciliation, even as it reminds Colombia of the immense cost of its long war.