Colombia to pay compensation to victims of violence

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced Tuesday that the government will begin paying compensation of up to 21 million pesos ($10,847) to the victims of violence and their loved ones from the country's long-standing civil war.

The far-reaching Victims Law could cover some four million people, if they can prove they were victimized, and will go- hand-in-hand with a provision that will allow them to receive land tracts that were stolen.

"There will no longer be anymore any kicks in the backsides for our citizens," Santos said. A top priority of his government, Santos said that he hopes that within 10 years everyone eligible will be compensated with an average four million pesos ($2,066).

"There was never any reason for so many fathers to have been killed or to have been humiliated in front of their loved ones; or even for so many children to be forced to carry a firearm instead of a soccer ball; or so many women to carry in their minds the memories of the horrors of rape."

In order to receive compensation, the victims and their families must register with the government so that their cases can be analyzed. The government expects to pay out billions of dollars within the next decade under the Victims Law.

Santos, who took office in August 2010, said that the law will mostly benefit those who were victimized by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the National Liberation Army (ELN), and the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) and other paramilitary groups and insurgencies.

"We would like to give them more, much more. But it isn't physically possible," Santos told reporters afterwards.

Land issues

Since the 1960s, most of the victims of Colombia's internal conflict have been civilians, and one of the key issues has been land that was confiscated or stolen from the dead victims. According to some human rights groups, many former paramilitary fighters now work as hired guns for the holders of stolen land.

Santos said the government will establish special courts to rule on stolen land claims. In the coming year, officials expect to rule on about 2,000 initial claims. As part of his goal, the Colombian president plans on returning some two million hectares of stolen land to their rightful owners by 2014.