Colombia's FARC rebels say no peace without immunity
Havana (AFP) - Colombia's leftist FARC guerrillas said Tuesday they will not sign any peace deal that allows their members to be tried and jailed.
"We insist that no deal is possible if it allows for a single day of prison for any guerrilla for having exercised the right to rebellion," the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) said in a statement read out by peace negotiator Ricardo Tellez.
"The FARC's members are not the ones who have enjoyed impunity throughout the Colombian conflict, but rather the oligarchy, the ruling class and the armed forces."
The Colombian government did not immediately respond to the rebels' statement.
Negotiators seeking to end the more than five-decade guerrilla war at talks in Havana are under growing international pressure to guarantee justice for crimes committed during the conflict.
Last week former UN secretary general Kofi Annan warned during a visit with both sides that the International Criminal Court could step in if the final peace deal did not bring justice for victims of the conflict.
The FARC admits its rebellion has affected civilians, but denies having committed crimes against humanity or violated international humanitarian law.
The peace talks in Havana, launched in November 2012, have produced partial deals on several issues but have yet to yield a definitive accord.
For the past seven months government and rebel negotiators have been discussing the delicate question of reparations for victims.
The conflict, which has drawn in several leftist rebel groups, right-wing paramilitaries and drug traffickers at various times, has killed 220,000 people and uprooted more than five million since it erupted in 1964.
