Macro Case 07 opened in March 2019 to investigate the kidnapping, use, and recruitment of child soldiers in Colombia from January 1, 1971 to December 1, 2016.
- On 1st March 2019, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace in Colombia (JEP) opened an investigation regarding the use of children in armed conflict.
- In September 2020, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) leaders acknowledged their perpetration of these crimes against children. According to reports received by the JEP, during the FARC’S Seventh National Guerilla Conference in 1982, the group adopted a policy that allowed recruitment of children starting at the age of 15.
- In August 2021, the Chamber for the Recognition of Truth and Responsibility and the Determination of Facts and Conduct (SRVR) preliminarily reported figures of over 18 thousand victims. In addition to being used as forced military combatants via threats to themselves and their families, many of these children were also subject to torture, humiliation, poor living conditions, and sexual and gender-based violence.
- On 21st September 2023, JEP reported that they had identified and returned the body of a child who had been recruited into combat at 14 and died at 16 years of age. Other recovered bodies are still being identified for return.
(Via JEP, Justice Info, and Washington Office on Latin America)
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