Elvira María Restrepo, Associate Professor of International Studies at the Elliott School, published her new paper “Perverse Incentives: Extrajudicial Killings in Colombia” in the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs.
In sobering detail, she brings to light the lethal and coordinated violence inflicted on innocent Colombians by the Colombian Public Force and incentivized by the lure of rewards. Restrepo emphasizes that a cascade of revelations and judicial decisions have slowly revealed a perverse culture in the Public Force in which citizens are seen as internal enemies.
She warns about the perils of leaving the Colombian security sector unreformed in a region where political instability and transitional organized crime is rampant, yet highlights hope in Colombia’s new Special Jurisdiction for Peace, stating its potential to shift transnational justice practice in a much needed move towards accountability.