Colombian President Pardons Over 3,500 Former FARC Militants

Sputnik News

03:17 11.07.2017

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos signed on Monday a decree on amnesty for 3,600 former militants from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the presidential administration said.

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) – The amnesty will apply to the former militants, who have already laid down arms.

The pardoned FARC members were accused of taking part in a revolt and civil disorder as well as illegal possession of weapons and wearing military uniforms.

FARC was formed in 1964 as the military wing of Colombia's Communist Party. The half-century war between the FARC and the Colombian government claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

The Colombian government signed a peace deal with the FARC in November 2016. Santos signed in total three decrees on amnesty for former FARC militants having pardoned more than 6,000 people. Some 1,400 more were released in accordance with local courts' verdicts.

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