The Colombian Senate [official website, in Spanish] Monday approved [press release, in Spanish] a transitional justice structure that will attempt to bring reparations to the more than 8 million victims of the decades-long conflict between the Colombia government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The new system will include a Transitional Justice Tribunal, a Truth Commission and a Missing Persons section, all aimed at punishing war crimes and gaining reparations for victims. The vote was 60-2 in the Senate, with all 40 members of the Democratic Center party boycotting the vote. The bill must now be approved by Colombia’s Constitutional Court [official website, in Spanish] before it can take effect.

The transitional justice system is part of a November 2016 deal between the FARC and the Colombia government to end a conflict [JURIST report] that raged for more than 50 years and claimed the lives of more than 220,000 people. In October Colombian voters rejected [JURIST report] an earlier peace deal attempt by a razor thin margin. Negotiations between the FARC and Colombia government lasted for more than four years, with the UN and US acting [JURIST report] as chief intermediaries.