JSRP’s assistance to the Colombian Attorney General’s Justice and Peace Unit, tasked with the investigation and prosecution of demobilized members of paramilitary and guerilla organizations, includes training and technical assistance, equipment, vehicles, forensic support, logistical support, victim assistance, information systems and operational funds.
Since 2005, JSRP has donated over US$15,000,000 to the Attorney General’s Justice and Peace Unit in the form of:
- 23 confession rooms and 24 victims rooms equipped with DVRs, microphones, fixed dome cameras, projectors and laptops, as well as the technical assistance needed to operate those rooms
- Office equipment, office furniture, computers and printers
- Investigative equipment that includes cameras and video recorders
- Armored vehicles
- Operational funds
- Database search capabilities
- Training in Link Analysis and Advanced Interview Techniques
As a result of these donations, as of February 2011, the Colombian Attorney General’s Justice and Peace Unit had initiated the confession process for 2,600 of the 4,511 Justice and Peace Defendants the Unit is tasked with investigating. In addition, the Justice and Peace Unit had recorded and was investigating 52,763 crimes committed by the defendants and had identified 327,273 victims, of which 59,728 had participated in the confession sessions. The Attorney General’s Office had also assisted 113,788 victims in almost all the municipalities of Colombia. In the area of exhumations the Attorney General’s Office had uncovered 3,080 mass graves containing 3,771 bodies. Of the bodies found, 1,311 had been turned over to their families.
To assist the Colombian Attorney General’s Justice and Peace Unit and the Courts, with respect to the Justice and Peace defendants extradited to the United States, the Department of Justice developed a unique and historic cooperative program which centrally locates eleven Justice and Peace defendants in Northern Neck, Virginia and Miami, Florida. Colombian prosecutors have weekly access to these defendants which ensures their continued participation in ongoing Colombian judicial proceedings.
Much like the assistance being provided to victims in the area of Human Rights, JSRP is in the process of implementing a victim/witness attention model which provides assistance to the victims of violence inflicted by paramilitary and guerilla organizations.