In the Name of Peace: Coexisting Forensic Practices ss Transitional Justice Devices. The Case of The Colombian (Post) Conflict.

• In Event: Forensic Devices: How They Mediate, How They Are Discussed, How They Mitigate Interprofessional Conflicts - II

Abstract

Colombia has endured a long-lasting armed conflict since the 1960s that has produced over 9.000.000 country-wide. In this context, forensic experts have played a fundamental role in identifying the victims. As a result of the peace agreement signed between the now-extinct guerrilla group FARC-EP and the Colombian government in 2016, two forensic teams were established as part of the governmental agencies created to ensure the agreement's implementation. One group is the forensic experts that are part of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, which is the transitional justice tribunal. The other belongs to the Unit for the Search of the Disappeared, a humanitarian and extrajudicial unit, which aims to contribute to the reparation of victims and their right to truth.

Each forensic team is to deal differently with the aftermath of the armed conflict. Regardless of their differences, these teams are to work collaboratively to facilitate peace and reconciliation. Thus, although they may work coordinately at times, at others, they may be in tension or interact non-coherently. In this talk, I will address how these two newly created sets of forensic teams may act as mediators of the right to truth and reparation for victims while serving, also as devices for accessing transitional justice benefits for known perpetrators. Attending to these closely related but differentiated forensic practices helps to come closer to the broader social effects of forensic work amidst and armed conflict and understand how the wider public is involved in the logic of forensic practices.

Author

• Maria Fernanda Olarte-Sierra, Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research, University of Amsterdam