Constructing Victims in the Land Restitution Law in Colombia: ¿(Re) Making Victims or Moving Towards Justice?

Abstract

SummaryThis paper critically analyses the process of social construction of the definition of victim in the Ley de Víctimas y Restitución de Tierras (Victims’ and Land Restitution Law), enacted in Colombia in 2011. This law arose out of a negotiated agreement, and the main concern is the definition and cut-off point of 1991 for land restitution which is viewed as a form of deal or ‘political settlement’. In this article, the main centre of attention is to understand the complex changes and shifts that took place in how a victim was defined in the context of this law. The methodology consists on a documentary review of statements made by the government, politicians, civil society and scholars during the four debates carried out in the Congress and the forums hold with civil society. This exercise was done through a social-constructivist approach and suggests that the victims’ own priorities should be central to legal definitions of a “victim” in Colombia.