Papers - Conference 2009 - Institute of Latin American Studies

6b. Fear to report the crime of displacement to the CourtAs stipulated in the Colombian penal code forcing internal displacement is acrime 10 and Colombian Congress has also recognised internal displacement as aCrime against Humanity, as prescribed by the International Penal Court Statute,establishing a punishment for the perpetrators of the displacement from fifteen tothirty years in prison.However, it is important to underline the high rate of displacement crime caseswhich have gone unpunished.There is such a discrepancy between the crime committed and punishmentreceived in the Colombian penal system, to the extent that no punishment is oftenawarded.As affirmed in the UN report on public policies (UNHCR, 2007, 23), between2004 and 2006, there were six-hundred thousand displaced people in Colombia;only fifteen actors were convicted of the crime. This figure highlights the problemof the impunity in Colombia penal system. Some NGOs, like Colectivo deAbogados José Alvear Restrepo, believe the Justice and Peace law to be one thatrarely is punishable, and as such, ineffective, among other reasons.In this scenario if illegal groups continue to control certain zones, it is difficult tospeak of the displaced returning to their homes and re-integrating, when they areat risk of being subject to another displacement.From the point of view of the victim, the lack of harsh sentencing enables thepersistent violation of human rights, hinders the possibility of the displacedreturning home under secure conditions and limits the rebuilding of the social10 [He] [w]ho, during the armed conflict, deports, expulses, transfers or displaces in a forced way fromhis establishment site, will be punished with prison from 10 up to 20 years and the penalty from 1,000 upto 2,000 legal monthly salaries on force, and with the de-qualification to the rights and public functionsfrom 10 up to 20 years.” (Article 159)14