BOGOTA (Sputnik) – The Colombian government and the FARC rebel group have signed a deal on legal justice for crimes committed during the armed conflict in the country, paving way for a final peace deal, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced.
"We are opponents, but today we walk in the same direction," Santos said in a Wednesday address broadcast live from Havana by the website of the Presidency of Colombia.
Santos shook hands with FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) leader Rodrigo Londono Echeverri during a round of peace talks in Cuba’s capital Havana on Wednesday. The two agreed to reach a final peace deal within six months. The agreement on justice for war crimes, which will not be pardoned, is the first step in that process.
"No later than in six months these negotiations must be concluded and the final agreement must be signed," Santos said, adding that the Colombian government "recognizes and appreciates" the step taken by FARC to accept the peace negotiations.
The two sides have been engaged in peace talks in Cuba since November, 2012, and have reached a number of important agreements including one on landmine removal and one on the creation of a joint Truth Commission. The commission is tasked with gathering testimony from victims and witnesses of Colombia’s civil war.
The issue of punishment for those responsible for killings and kidnappings during the civil war remained unsolved until now.
