Colombia’s controversial disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration process

Colombia has been implementing its disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration process since 2005. The goal: allow some 30,000 ex-combatants to regain a place in society by significantly reducing theirprison sentences. Although the "Justice and Peace Law" reflects honourable values, its implementation hasn’t been easy and has been criticized by many well-known human rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch. 

The problem caught the attention of the SecDev Group, which studied the possibility of implementing an alternative justice process, such as the one adopted in Sierra Leone and in many other conflict-affected countries. While the field research confirmed that many stakeholders favoured this process, it also pointed out that Colombians need to be better informed in order to develop a common vision.

Learn more about this project. Read the full report and field notes.