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Restorative Justice in Colombia Restorative Justice has been variously defined as "… rehabilitating perpetrators and victims, and re-establishing relationships on equal concern and respect." (1) and, as"… a systematic response to wrongdoing that emphasizes healing the wounds of victims, offenders and communities caused or revealed by the criminal behavior " (2). In the words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, "the central concern is not retribution or punishment…(but rather) the healing of breaches, the redressing of imbalances, the restoration of broken relationships, a seeking to rehabilitate both the victim and the perpetrator, who should be given the opportunity to be reintegrated into the community he has injured by his offense" (3). The goal of this approach is to achieve a lasting peace by engaging the opposing parties in a positive resolution of their conflict through forgiveness, reparation of damage, reconciliation and reestablishment of acceptable social behavior. Restorative Justice is a new strategy in Colombia that represents a key intervention in peace processes that have been ongoing for more than two decades. For the past fifty years, Colombia has endured a low intensity conflict that escalated sharply with the narco-traffic boom of the 80's. Successive governments have had to deal with guerrilla, paramilitary and narco-terrorist groups simultaneously, resulting in 25,000 deaths per year and millions of internally displaced people living under constant threat. Peace is today an urgent priority for both the government and the people of Colombia. In this context, the concept of restorative justice is gaining recognition in Colombia as a hopeful new approach which will be explored in the up-coming "Symposium on Restorative Justice and Peace in Colombia".
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