They murdered so now they are going to plant trees. "We're going to sow life to try to make amends and build peace," explained Henry Torres, an army general and the highest-ranking officer to confess his crimes to the court's magistrates. "We are extremely grateful to the Special Jurisdiction for Peace [the JEP], which is offering us this opportunity."

The JEP was set up by the peace agreement signed in 2016 between Colombian authorities and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Its function is to adjudicate guerrillas and military personnel guilty of atrocious crimes committed during the country's long period of armed conflict. Individuals who admit to their crimes and ask their victims for forgiveness are given alternative sentences.

On Tuesday, April 2, the JEP inaugurated its first restorative justice program in the Sumapaz mountain range, south of the capital Bogota, at an altitude of over 3,000 meters. Forty-eight ex-military defendants will take part in the reforestation project known as "Seeds of Life."

All have confessed, but none have yet been convicted. "The idea is to begin the reparation work for victims and rebuild trust," said Torres. The ceremony was attended by JEP President Roberto Carlos Vidal Lopez, alongside the mayor of Bogota and representatives from victims associations for the armed conflict.

Two other projects will start up in the coming weeks, one in the Medellin region and the other with the indigenous Awá community in the country's south. Hundreds of former guerrillas and soldiers are to be incorporated into community projects to serve their alternative sentences. The tasks assigned will vary widely and include protecting nature, clearing mines, promoting literacy, building rural infrastructure and engaging in work to honor and remember the past. "The idea is not to repair the harm caused to a specific community or group of individuals, but to symbolically repair and compensate all the victims and the country as a whole," said Vidal Lopez.

The 48 soldiers who are about to plow the earth have been indicted in connection with "macro case" No. 3, which concerns "false positives" – a "positive," in military jargon, is a successfully achieved objective. In the 2000s, these men ordered, organized or carried out the assassination of young boys, falsely claiming them to be guerrillas who had died in combat. This was done to secure a leave of absence, financial bonuses or promotions. In September 2023, General Torres admitted to having taken part in the murder of 196 civilians. The JEP determined that the army was responsible for the murder of 6,402 young individuals.

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