The 2016 peace deal’s reintegrated combatants continue to be targeted: a September killing brought the 2026 total to 12, while the Special Jurisdiction for Peace and reintegration agencies face political and budgetary threats.
More than 500 signatories have been assassinated since the agreement was approved in 2016, and many cases remain unresolved.
Colombian transitional justice and reintegration bodies face political pressure and deep budget cuts under President Abelardo de la Espriella’s administration.
Human-rights groups and reintegration advocates say structural violence and impunity are driving continued attacks on signatories and social leaders.
# What happened
On September 15, 2026, Gerardo Moreno Santana, a 61-year-old signatory of Colombia's 2016 peace agreement with the FARC, was murdered in a rural area of Planadas, Tolima. The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) publicly condemned the killing and noted Moreno had been participating in Case 10, the JEP proceeding that investigates non-amnestiable crimes by the former guerrilla group.
Moreno's death was reported as the 12th assassination of a peace agreement signatory in 2026. Since the 2016 accord, more than 500 signatories have been killed.
# Why this matters
The JEP is the transitional justice mechanism created by the peace accord to investigate, clarify, prosecute, and punish the most serious crimes committed during Colombia's armed conflict. Its design offers incentives for former combatants to testify in exchange for more lenient sentences, which makes safe participation essential to the truth and reconciliation process.
The killings of signatories undermine the incentives for cooperation with the JEP, endanger reintegration efforts, and damage the prospects for territorial peacebuilding that developed after the agreement's implementation.
# Patterns and causes identified in coverage
Rights organizations and reintegration advocates describe the violence against signatories as structural and linked to impunity. Francisco Daza, a spokesperson for the Peace and Reconciliation Foundation (PARES), said a high share of killings of signatories, social leaders, and human-rights defenders have unidentified perpetrators—he estimated the perpetrator is unknown in 70 to 80 percent of cases. That pattern points to weak investigations and limited accountability.
# Political and budget pressures on peace institutions
President Abelardo de la Espriella has signaled opposition to parts of the peace process. He has threatened to dismantle the JEP and announced an end to peace negotiations with armed groups initiated under the previous "Total Peace" approach. Proposed bills supported by governing parties could cut the JEP's funding by roughly 100 billion Colombian pesos (about US$31.2 million, according to the JEP president Alejandro Ramelli Arteaga).
Agencies that run reintegration and land programs also face deep cuts: the Agency for Reincorporation and Normalization (ARN) is reportedly due to receive a 37% budget reduction in 2027, and the National Land Agency could see a 71.8% resource drop. Ramelli Arteaga warned that resolving fiscal pressures by cutting transitional justice would put victims' rights and the legal certainty of people appearing before the JEP at risk.
# Local reintegration work continues despite risks
# What to watch next
The pattern of killings plus institutional contraction raises questions about whether reintegrated signatories can safely continue participating in transitional justice and whether Colombia's territorial peace gains will survive shifting political priorities.
Al menos 112 líderes sociales fueron asesinados en Colombia entre enero y agosto pasado, informó este domingo la Defensoría del Pueblo que advirtió que en ese periodo también hubo 86 masacres que dejaron 326 víctimas mortales. "Defender derechos es un derecho. Las personas lideresas protegen el territorio y su trabajo
The new president is unsettling the combatants who laid down their arms a decade ago.
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