[JURIST] Colombia’s government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) [JURIST news archive] announced on Saturday that they have agreed to help one another in removing landmines from rural areas of the country. The announcement came as a sign of progress, as the two sides have been engaging in peace talks [official website] for nearly two years in Cuba. President Juan Manuel Santos [official website] and the rebels have agreed that the military will work with the rebels to remove landmines as well as any other explosives, including improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Colombia has become one of the most mined countries in the world after over 60 years of fighting between the two sides. Since 1990 approximately 11,000 Colombians, including 1,100 children, have been killed by landmines. “The proposal for demining is a first step, but a giant step toward making peace,” said [BBC report] Colombian government chief negotiator Humberto de la Calle.

Criminal activity by illegal armed groups has been an ongoing issue within Colombia, with some progress being made recently. In June 2014 the country’s government and the FARC rebels agreed to create [JURIST report] a truth commission to investigate the deaths of thousands of people in the last five decades of the country’s conflict. In March 2014 Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report [JURIST report] stating that illegal armed groups have caused hundreds of people to flee Colombia’s main Pacific port of Buenaventura in the previous two years. In August 2013 Colombia’s Constitutional Court ruled [JURIST report] that a law providing reduced penalties for rebels who confess crimes related to their membership in illegal armed groups is constitutional. The bill, known as the “Legal Framework for Peace,” was challenged by rights activists who claimed that by granting judicial pardons to rebels, it is “contrary to the State’s duty to investigate and punish crimes, especially main violations of human rights” and that its measures to satisfy victim’s rights are inadequate. In its reasoning, the court analyzed the bill’s balance between the pursuit of peace and the rights of victims.