Colombia approves law to compensate victims of civil war

Jun 11, 2011, 5:50 GMT

Bogota - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon attended the signing of a law in Colombia to give reparations to victims of the country's long civil war.

President Juan Manuel Santos called Friday night's signing a 'historic' day for the South American nation.

'Today is a day of national hope in that not only we Colombians but the entire world is witness to the resolve of a state to pay a moral debt long overdue,' Santos said.

Many analysts agreed with Santos' statement that implementing the law would be the chief challenge of his government because it was unclear where the needed billions of dollars would come from.

The law calls for payments to victims of the ongoing war and the return of land taken over by armed groups. Qualification for payment would date from January 1, 1985, while landowners would get the right to property lost since the beginning of 1991.

The conflict has been ongoing since the 1960s. The Santos administration said victims who suffered before the established date would be give 'symbolic reparation.'

Agriculture Minister Juan Camilo Restrepo said the law aims to restore more than 6 million hectares of land to their rightful owners.

Returning to the land would be difficult in areas where guerrillas, paramilitaries or organized criminal gangs still operate.

The government estimated that 4 million citizens could qualify as victims of one side or another for reparations under the law.