Peace Envoy: US Will Not Ask for Extradition of FARC Members

The United States said it will not ask for the extradition of members of the guerrilla group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and will honor a recent agreement between the guerrilla rebels and the Colombian government, the local media outlet Colombia Reports said Monday.

“There will be members of (the U.S.) Congress who will criticize this, but others will accept the fact that it is Colombia who decides who will be extradited,” Bernard Aronson, U.S. special envoy for the peace talks in Havana, said in an interview with El Tiempo newspaper.

Aronson's comments come after the Colombian government and the FARC signed an historic agreement last week over victims rights – what will allow the guerrilla group to lay down their arms and submit to a transitional justice plan.

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The topic of transitional justice has been considered to be the most sensitive and contentious topic during the peace negotiations, which have been ongoing in Havana, Cuba since 2012. The FARC has maintained that they would not be the first guerrilla movement to lay down their arms only to go to jail.

This includes extraditions to the U.S. Washington has been one of the largest sources of foreign aid for the Colombian state over the past 15 years. According to the Washington Office of Latin America, nearly every FARC leader is wanted by U.S. courts or prosecutors to face drug trafficking charges, which the guerrilla group denies.

Some members of the FARC are already serving prison sentences in the U.S., including the guerrilla leader Simon Trinidad who was captured and extradited in 2004 on drug charges.

Trinidad was given a 60 year prison sentence, which he is currently serving in a Colorado prison. The guerrilla leader participated in the previous 1998-2002 peace talks and was named one of the FARC's five accredited representatives to the current peace negotiations in Havana. The guerrilla group continues to lobby for Trinidad's release.

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Last month, a bill was presented to the Colombian congress that would prevent any member of the FARC from being extradited to the United States.

Aronson also reiterated the U.S.'s support for the peace process in the country, and said this will continue after a final agreement is signed.

His comments come despite pleas by Republican Senator and presidential candidate Marco Rubio that guerrillas should be extradited to the United States.

Rubio wrote in a letter to Aronson earlier this month asking him to “reaffirm that the United States will continue to seek access to individuals who are wanted to stand trial in the United States for violations of United States law.”

The U.S. special peace envoy added that supporting the transitional justice deal does not mean that Colombia will never extradite anyone ever again, but that it will support the peace process and members of the guerrilla group FARC who comply with the process.