Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) transitional justice court on Wednesday called upon a group of former members of the Marxist FARC terrorist group to recognize their role in numerous crimes against children — including
the forced recruitment of 18,677 boys and girls as terrorist soldiers between 1971 and 2016.
Some of the individuals the court named were also indicted on Thursday on charges of torture, execution, forced abortion, sexual abuse, and numerous other heinous crimes against some of the children during the years that the accused served as regional leaders of the Marxist terror group.
The JEP was established in Colombia within the framework of the purported 2016 “peace deal” between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the administration of former President Juan Manuel Santos, who was awarded with the Novel Peace Prize for his efforts. The JEP’s goal is the prosecution and trial of those involved in crimes during FARC’s armed conflict with Colombia committed prior to the signing of the “peace deal.”
Despite the existence of the “peace deal” and the repeated years-long claims that FARC allegedly “disbanded” in 2016, the Marxist terror group remains active in Colombia and has continued to commit terrorist attacks over the past decade. Colombian prosecutors also determined in June that FARC members were involved in the assassination of conservative senator and 2026 presidential frontrunner Miguel Uribe Turbay.
#Atención La JEP convoca a seis exintegrantes del último Secretariado de las extintas Farc-EP a audiencia pública de reconocimiento de verdad por el reclutamiento y la utilización de niñas y niños y por las violencias cometidas en su contra dentro de las filas. La diligencia será… pic.twitter.com/WBRypfuLfB
— Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz (@JEP_Colombia) November 4, 2026
The court called for the six men to acknowledge their responsibilities in the crimes. All of the six men were reportedly indicted for the crimes in 2024. El Espectador noted that the upcoming date will mark the first time that “Timochenko” and the five other top ex-FARC members will recognize their responsibility in the forced recruitment of thousands of children.
Similarly, and within the allegations and findings presented through Case 07, the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo detailed that the JEP also issued two new sets of indictments Wednesday. The two rulings collectively contain numerous accusations against nine former regional FARC members for the mistreatment, forced labor, physical punishments, rape, torture, executions, and other crimes commitment against dozens of the forcefully recruited child victims in their respective terrorist group jurisdictions. Per El Tiempo, investigators documented at least 104 children who were subjected to torture, 62 who were executed, and at least 91 girls subjected to forced abortions.
“Among the behaviors identified, there were 156 women subjected to forced contraception and 91 who reported forced abortions. In total, the JEP documented 137 cases of forced pregnancy termination. In several cases, the procedures were performed without specialized personnel, without proper medical conditions, and without consulting the minors’ wishes,” El Tiempo noted.
The investigations reportedly determined that the accused would impose harsh punishments, including killings, of children for simply falling asleep during forced guard shifts, eating food “without authorization,” or for expressing their wish to return home or speak to their families. According to El Tiempo, the investigation determined that children who refused to torture, kidnap others, or denounced sexual abuses allegedly committed by FARC superiors were subjected to punishment.
Noticias RCN explained that one of the two indictments specifically centered on acts of sexual abuse and reproductive violence committed by five of the nine individuals against girls. Per the broadcaster, the court documented at least 218 victims who collectively suffered 356 different acts of sexual violence during their stay in the terrorist group — 313 of which occurred when the victims were still underage. In addition to the dozens of documented forced abortions, some of the victims were also forced to give away their newborns to third parties. Per Noticias RCN, the court also documented at least two FARC crimes related to the murder of two newborns.
In addition to the forced recruitment, the investigators reportedly found enough evidence to determine that a “hierarchical organization” existed within the FARC to keep the victims in a constant state of fear, forbidding them from ever leaving the terrorist group. Some the victims reportedly testified that they were forced to load weapons and explosives, install antipersonnel mines, and even participate in armed engagements with Colombian forces — acting as human shields for the Marxist terrorists or helping transport wounded or deceased FARC members.
JEP Magistrates Lily Rueda and Belkis Izquierdo called for the nine men to recognize their responsibility in all of the charges presented, giving the men a 30-day deadline to respond to the court. Should one of them refuse to acknowledge their role in the crimes investigated by the JEP, they will go to trial and reportedly face up to 20 years in prison.
Colombian authorities said in 2024 that the Marxist FARC terrorist group has continued to recruit children into their ranks in the years following the 2016 “peace deal,” now availing themselves of the internet and the proliferation of social media to ramp of their recruitment efforts. An investigation conducted by the Colombian newspaper El Colombiano in August revealed that FARC is now extensively utilizing the Chinese social media platform TikTok and other online platforms to publish content enticing Colombian children to join their ranks, often featuring false promises of a lifestyle of riches and luxuries and other deceitful offerings targeting “malleable” impoverished minors.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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