Colombia: repair, educate, reconcile

Juan Guillermo Sepúlveda Arroyave. Restorative education is the foundation of our work in prisons, and we offer two types of training: information workshops to raise awareness and cultural and restorative justice courses. The workshops are aimed at managerial and administrative staff, prison guards, and prisoners. The goal is to highlight and publicise what cultural and restorative justice is; its principles and techniques, and what it represents for people within their legal process and, above all, for their life in the future. The duration varies between one and five days.

In the workshops, we use music to establish an emotional and impactful connection with participants. Before and after each session, we play music to fill them with hope and happiness and to inspire them to look to the future with greater confidence.

By contrast, the courses last 120 hours and are aimed at prisoners. They study topics such as victimology, responsibility, reparation and reconciliation, and restorative practices, among others, in greater depth. At the end of the course, participants are asked if they would like to set up a meeting with their victims and communities.

These workshops and courses allow prisoners to reduce their sentences. For those who agree to this course of action, this is followed by restorative meetings with victims. Both the perpetrators and the victims must follow the step-by-step process laid out in the ‘Methodology for the Transformation of Conflicts’ called ‘Peace Spiral’, which consists of five stages: a) acknowledge the conflict; b) approach the conflict; c) resolve the conflict peacefully; d) follow the agreement; e) consolidate the process. All of the above leads to positive change. This methodology is called “ESPAZ”.

ESPAZ’s reach varies depending on how full the prisons are. In overcrowded prisons, restorative justice services are provided to prisoners who want them. This could be 50, 80, or 100 people, ,of a prison population of up to 2,500 in some institutions.

Meanwhile, municipal penitentiaries, which are generally not overcrowded, become ‘restorative prisons’ as restorative justice services are provided to 100% of the prison population. These prisons engage in restorative processes. They create manuals and initiatives, evaluate their staff’s progress with the project, welcome prisoners in a restorative environment, and campaign in communities.

Restorative justice services have begun in the COMEB – La Picota prison and Buen Pastor women’s prison in Bogotá.. Restorative imprisonment began in the Bogotá Men’s Prison and Women’s Annex. Previous projects were suspended due to COVID-19.

JGSA. Restorative justice in Colombia is not a consistent part of the different types of justice that exist in the country, such as: retributive or ordinary justice, indigenous justice, justice for young people, and justice applied to peace procedures.. Restorative justice is scarce and under-employed in retributive justice systems. It is widely used in indigenous justice, but its true impact is unknown. In young people’s justice, which is the purpose of said justice, it is not widely used and, in most cases, it does not go beyond theory. Restorative justice plays a fundamental role in peace processes but its effects remain to be seen, as the peace processes have become politicised in Colombia.

On the other hand, since Colombian society favours punitive sanctions, such as custodial sentences – known in criminology jargon as ‘punitive society’–, restorative justice is considered ‘soft’ and ‘permissive’, which makes its application in Colombia even more complex.

Among the types of justice that we have presented, the one with the least restorative justice is retributive justice. This relates to non-indigenous adults who are not part of a peace process, but who, according to Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office, represent 70% of the ‘criminal inventory’ of the country.

This huge demand is met with very limited legislation since only ten articles of the Colombian Criminal Procedure Code make it possible to apply restorative justice to victims of common crime. However, there are different institutions set up to deal with restorative justice within the national government, , such as the Ministry of Justice and Law, which has a Vice Ministry of Justice for Criminal Policy and Restorative Justice, and a Vice Ministry of Access to Justice. It issued a circular, in which it recommends creating restorative justice services in all houses of justice and citizen coexistence centres in the country (Casas de Justicia y Centros de Convivencia).

Additionally, the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute has issued two directives that allow restorative practices to be carried out in Colombian prisons. Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office created the Restorative Justice Programme and promoted the Pact for the Humanisation of the Systems of Deprivation of Liberty in Colombia using restorative justice. The pact was was signed by a dozen national and international institutions.

Between 2017 and 2018, , good practices of restorative justice, based on the previous agreement, were adopted in Colombian prisons.

Restorative justice in Colombia for ordinary people –that is, people who are not part of a peace process– has the entire legislative unit at its disposal; from the constitution, doctrine, and criminal legislation, to directives that support this alternative vision of justice. However, both better education to start new programmes, and continuity to proceed with pilot projects, which have shown good results, are needed, and all of the above depends on the political will of the authorities in charge.

JGSA. While it is true that, in the general context of justice, restorative justice, , humanises many practices of retributive justice, it is no less true that it also contributes to urban peace from the bottom up. This upward and inclusive spiral starts with restorative dialogue in prisons between victim, perpetrator, and community, and paving the way for harmony within prisons that transcend prison walls to improve family relationships for both victims and perpetrators. This contributes to harmony within neighbourhoods, reducing levels of public insecurity and favouring national peace, especially in cities.

I believe we could implement an ‘integrative prevention programme in Latin America based on reparation to prevent crime and repeat offending.

Regarding the lack of political will in Latin America to acknowledge restorative justice, we must take into account what Jon Sobrino says: ‘Utopia can be reached, but to do so it takes the ‘will of humanity,’ words more adequate than ‘political will,’ which does not seem to have the capacity for change. This is why, to achieve these desires of civil society, we must work harder to apply the teachings of restorative culture. where we unlearn what we have applied to issues as important as talking, listening, telling the truth, being accountable, forgiving, acknowledging conflict is natural, respecting others, etc. Only then could we pave the way for permanent and transformative restorative justice in the region.

Latin America urgently needs to begin implementing restorative justice procedures to demonstrate the advantages of this new justice model in the region. Restorative justice practices humanise justice, it encourages harmony, and improves public safety which, in short, contributes to democracy.