Harvard University highlights Colombian reparations policy

‘We are really satisfied to see that the Harvard University, in a very deep study where they evaluated all the measures, they have concluded that Colombia has the most comprehensive registry in the world, and a policy that cannot be compared to any other in the world,’ President Juan Manuel Santos explained after a meeting with Harvard University, where they presented their comprehensive evaluation on the reparation of victims, on Thursday.

‘We are really satisfied to see that the Harvard University, in a very deep study where they evaluated all the measures, they have concluded that Colombia has the most comprehensive registry in the world, and a policy that cannot be compared to any other in the world,’ President Juan Manuel Santos explained after a meeting with Harvard University, where they presented their comprehensive evaluation on the reparation of victims, on Thursday.

The Chief of State said that this result obeys to a very sensible work of assessment and register, thanks to which ‘we have identified the victims to provide a response to their needs as a State, and to guarantee their rights.’ He highlighted the work carried out by the Unit’s public servers, since it made these achievements possible.

‘It’s been a huge exercise. It’s really an enormous task. I only have words of acknowledgement and gratitude to thousands and thousands of people who have been working passionately, with conviction, in the Victims Unit, specifically created by the law, and with the Department of Social Prosperity,’ he said.

President Santos also talked about some results:

Harvard University considered that Colombia managed to compensate more victims than any other country in the history of the world. ‘Not for nothing, the University describes our reparations policy as the most comprehensive and ambitious ever,’ he said.

Reparation does not mean happiness, repairing means acknowledgement for the loss of a loved one, for the pain this conflict has caused, Santos stated. ‘Here, they measure very well which is the feeling of the victims who have already been repaired, how they react, what they think reparation means, and results are very positive.’

‘A relevant result is that, for victims, reparations are more important than punishment, that is to say, they value more reparative justice than punitive justice. Nonetheless, population in general prefers sentences, punishment. This is also a challenge for all of us in the peace process and our search for transitional justice,’ he added.

Finally, President Santos stressed that ‘the Harvard University’s report invites us to persevere, to persist, with political will, with fiscal efforts, which has been immense, but also to be prudent and prioritize. We cannot be too ambitious, since we reach many people with high expectations, and we don’t want to have them frustrated.’