Former commanders from Colombia's FARC rebel group have claimed responsibility for six murders, including that of conservative politician Alvaro Gomez Hurtado.
The admission was made in a letter to the Special Justice for Peace (JEP) tribunal, which is tasked with investigating crimes committed during more than five decades of armed conflict between the FARC and the government.
JEP said in a statement that the letter, signed by three ex-FARC commanders, aimed to "tell the truth, clarify the facts and take responsibility" for several killings between 1987 and 2002.
Answers in unsolved murder
The most high-profile victim was Gomez Hurtado — a three-time Conservative Party presidential candidate and son of ex-president Laureano Gomez — who was gunned down in Bogota on November 2, 1995.
Before the letter's revelation, it had widely been believed in Colombia that political rivals with links to the military and drug traffickers were behind the murder.
Read more: Colombia's shattered hopes of peace
Alvaro Gomez Hurtado was shot and killed by gunmen on a motorcycle in the Colombian capital in 1995
Other killings on the list included that of lawmaker Pablo Emilio Guarin in 1987, army general Fernando Landazabal Reyes in 1998, and former peace adviser Jesus Antonio Bejarano in 1999.
From rebels to lawmakers
The letter is signed by former rebel commanders Julian Gallo, Pastor Alape and Pablo Catatumbo. Two of them, Gallo and Catatumbo, currently have seats in Congress.
As part of a peace agreement signed in 2016, FARC rebels handed over their weapons and formed a political party. Under the deal, the group's leaders pledged to confess their crimes before the JEP and to compensate their victims. If they fail to keep that commitment, they will face ordinary justice.
Colombia's armed conflict has left more than 260,000 people dead since 1958 and displaced almost 8 million.
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
Difficult path toward peace
The 2016 signing of the peace accord between the Colombian government and FARC rebels was a major, but not final, step towards ending the decades-long conflict. The deal remains a controversial topic in the country and took center stage during the presidential election.
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
Land owners vs. farmers
The conflict's origins date to the 1920s and a struggle over land ownership, which claimed thousands of lives. The 1948 murder of Jorge Eliecer Gaitan (photo), a liberal politician, threw the country into deep crisis. A result was the formation of a number of resistance groups; the Colombian army launched a campaign against "communist farmers."
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
FARC and ELN
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) were founded in 1964. The former wanted to break up the monopoly of land ownership, whereas the ELN formed out of a radical student movement and ideas of liberation theologians such as Camilo Torres (photo). The Colombian government fought both groups with the support the United States.
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
Paramilitary groups
The conflict deepened in the 1980s with the introduction of right-wing paramilitary groups in the service of the landowners against FARC. Both sides were closely linked to drug cartels. Four presidential candidates and countless left-wing politicians were murdered by paramilitaries between 1986 and 1990.
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
Ingrid Betancourt kidnapped
In February 2002, the government cut off peace negotiations with FARC after guerrillas hijacked a domestic flight. Days later, the rebels struck again, kidnapping presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. Alvaro Uribe went on to win the election that May and escalated military operations against FARC, ruling out further negotiations. He was re-elected in 2007. Betancourt was released in 2008.
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
Peace talks begin
Juan Manuel Santos was elected president in 2010. Two years later, a law concerning compensation for victims of violence and the return of land came into effect. Peace talks between the government (photo) and FARC officially began that November.
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
Ceasefire
At midnight on August 29, 2016, the permanent ceasefire came into force. "A new chapter in Colombia's history begins on August 29," Santos wrote on Twitter. "We have silenced the weapons. The war with FARC is over!"
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
Peace deal with FARC
On September 26, 2016, President Santos and FARC leader Rodrigo Londono, a.k.a. Timochenko, signed the peace treaty, ending the 52-year-old conflict. The signing took place in Cartagena and was attended by 2,500 people.
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
Setback
Distrust in FARC manifested itself in a pre-referendum campaign against the peace treaty, led by the conservative ex-president Alvaro Uribe. To the surprise of many observers, a thin majority of Colombians voted to reject the deal on October 2, 2016.
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
Peace Prize for Santos
The international community threw its support behind the treaty's supporters. Just five days after it was rejected in a referendum, Santos was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The ceremony took place in Oslo in December 2016.
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
Parliamentary ratification
Colombia's parliament ratified the peace treaty on November 30, 2016, following a list of changes to the deal's original language.
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
Disarmament
FARC rebels gave up their weapons in three phases. On June 27, 2017, at the end of the UN-controlled disarmament process, Santos wrote: "For me and all Colombians, today is a special day. It's a day when weapons were exchanged for words."
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
The new FARC
The now disarmed, former rebel group chose to renew itself as a political party and disavow violence during a convention on August 27, 2017. The guerrilla's founder, Rodrigo Londono (photo), was elected the new party's head. He was unable to run for president, however, due to his poor health.
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
FARC at the polls
For the first time since the end of the armed conflict, FARC put up its members as candidates in the parliamentary election, which took place on March 11, 2018. The party received just 50,000 votes, but secured five seats in the senate and lower house of parliament, respectively, as guaranteed by the peace treaty. The conservative party of former President Uribe won the election.
Author: Emilia Rojas Sasse
nm/mm (AFP, dpa)
