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| Criminal gang offers $1m bounties for killing Farc leaders, lawyer says | Criminal gang offers $1m bounties for killing Farc leaders, lawyer says |
| (14 days later) | |
| A criminal gang is offering bounties of $1m to assassins who kill leaders from Colombia’s Farc rebel group, a lawyer for the guerrillas said on Tuesday, as the group prepares to take seats in Congress as part of a peace deal. | A criminal gang is offering bounties of $1m to assassins who kill leaders from Colombia’s Farc rebel group, a lawyer for the guerrillas said on Tuesday, as the group prepares to take seats in Congress as part of a peace deal. |
| The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc, fought the government for more than half a century but handed in its weapons as part of the deal, negotiated during more than four years of talks in Cuba. | The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc, fought the government for more than half a century but handed in its weapons as part of the deal, negotiated during more than four years of talks in Cuba. |
| “We have knowledge of a criminal organization with resources, which has offered up to $1m for each person on the Farc secretariat who is murdered,” the Spanish lawyer Enrique Santiago told local Caracol Radio, referring to the group’s leadership council. | “We have knowledge of a criminal organization with resources, which has offered up to $1m for each person on the Farc secretariat who is murdered,” the Spanish lawyer Enrique Santiago told local Caracol Radio, referring to the group’s leadership council. |
| “These offers come from people who have the economic means to offer not just $1m, but $9m, because there are nine secretariat members,” Santiago said, adding that seven former rebels had been slain since 1 April. He did not name the criminal group offering the bounties. | “These offers come from people who have the economic means to offer not just $1m, but $9m, because there are nine secretariat members,” Santiago said, adding that seven former rebels had been slain since 1 April. He did not name the criminal group offering the bounties. |
| The rebels have long feared assassinations after demobilization, concerned there could be a repeat of some 5,000 killings of members of the Patriotic Union, a leftist party decimated in the 1980s and 1990s by rightwing paramilitary groups. | The rebels have long feared assassinations after demobilization, concerned there could be a repeat of some 5,000 killings of members of the Patriotic Union, a leftist party decimated in the 1980s and 1990s by rightwing paramilitary groups. |
| Such assassinations, especially of leadership members, could severely damage the peace process. President Juan Manuel Santos’s government has repeatedly promised to protect former rebels. | Such assassinations, especially of leadership members, could severely damage the peace process. President Juan Manuel Santos’s government has repeatedly promised to protect former rebels. |
| The accord allows the Farc 10 unelected seats in Congress through 2026 and grants amnesty to the majority of ex-fighters. Rebels convicted by special courts of human rights violations will avoid traditional prison sentences, instead performing reparations work such as removing landmines. | The accord allows the Farc 10 unelected seats in Congress through 2026 and grants amnesty to the majority of ex-fighters. Rebels convicted by special courts of human rights violations will avoid traditional prison sentences, instead performing reparations work such as removing landmines. |
| Assassinations of social activists and community leaders from indigenous groups are common in Colombia. Rights organizations say there have been more than 40 such killings this year. | Assassinations of social activists and community leaders from indigenous groups are common in Colombia. Rights organizations say there have been more than 40 such killings this year. |
| The Farc said on Monday that it would officially launch its new political party on 1 September. It has not yet announced which of its members will fill the congressional seats or said what the new party will be called. | The Farc said on Monday that it would officially launch its new political party on 1 September. It has not yet announced which of its members will fill the congressional seats or said what the new party will be called. |