Colombian court: FARC recruited more than 18,000 children | Abroad

The JEP’s investigation, known in Colombia as ‘Case-07’, focuses on the recruitment and deployment of minors by the former rebel group between 1996 and 2016. The investigation is still ongoing. Among others, 26 former FARC members will be called as witnesses. As the investigation progresses, the JEP will also look into sexual assault, enforced disappearance, murder, torture and otherwise atrocious treatment.

Elsewhere in Colombia, underage children are still being used by other illegal armed groups, who use them as fighters, human shields and sex slaves, according to the government.

Voluntarily signed up

The figures published by the JEP are well above those previously released by the government. It had estimated that more than 7,400 minors were recruited between 1985 and 2020. According to former FARC leaders, who founded the political party Communes in 2017, recruiting minors was not a common policy. Many minors are said to have voluntarily joined the rebels.

The JEP was established under a 2016 peace agreement to prosecute former FARC rebels and military leaders for alleged war crimes, with the aim of achieving reconciliation among the Colombian population. For example, the special court may impose lighter sentences than the ordinary legal system would do.

—