While it is clear than many economic actors lack responsibility in the armed conflict and others have been victims themselves, research has shown that some did have a decisive role in the origins, perpetuation, and cycles of violence in the country.

With the signing and implementation of the Final Peace Agreement between the Colombian Government and the FARC-EP, a complex system of transitional justice called the Integral System of Truth, Justice, Reparation, and Non-Repetition has been launched. The system is fundamentally composed of a Truth-Clearing Commission, a Search Unite for Missing Persons, and a transitional jurisdiction responsible for prosecuting the perpetrators of the most serious and representative crimes that occurred during the long Colombian armed conflict, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (SJP). This is added to the existing victim reparation measures and in conjunction with tools for non-repetition guarantees.

One of the questions that guided this investigation was the assumption that third-party civilians would have to be held accountable to the SJP. Therefore, the study inquired whether there was a justification for including third-party civilians in the criminal component of transitional justice created by the AFP to give a legal closure to the Colombian internal armed conflict.

It is for this reason that Dejusticia and the University of Essex decided to analyze the implications of this framework of accountability in the context of the role of “economic actors” within the Colombian armed conflict. While it is clear that many of the economic actors lack responsibility in the conflict and others have been victims of it, some research has shown that some did have a decisive role in the origin, development and perpetuation of the cycles of armed conflict in the country.

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• ESPAÑOL: Entre coacción y colaboración: Verdad judicial, actores económicos y conflicto armado en Colombia