BOGOTA. The former president of Colombia Ivan Duque adds to the concern expressed by the IDEA Group about the alleged undue pressure on the Supreme Court of Colombia by sectors close to the current government, due to the fact that they did not appoint the new attorney general.
On February 8, the Palace of Justice and the magistrates were attacked by a group of protesters loyal to the government, demanding that a new attorney general be appointed that same day to replace Francisco Barbosa, whose constitutional term expired last year. February 12. The protests supposedly originated because the current Public Ministry was putting pressure on President Gustavo Petro to be removed from office.
The magistrates had met in the early hours of the morning, but no agreement was reached because supposedly none of the three candidates, Amelia Pérez, Luz Adriana Camargo and Ángela María Buitrago, obtained the votes required to be the attorney general of the Nation. While the protesters surrounded the building and blocked access, preventing the entry and exit of the judges. Riot police intervened in the afternoon to disperse the crowd using tear gas. The magistrates were evacuated in vehicles escorted by the police.
In this sense, in his account on the social network .
Shares the concern of the IDEA Group about the pressure on the Supreme Court of Colombia and maintains that the independent judgmentsIt is a fundamental pillar of the democracy and should not be violated.
The former president’s statements join those of other former Colombian leaders, such as Andres Pastrana y Alvaro Uribewho also expressed their rejection of pressure on the Supreme Court.
Condemnation of the Idea Group
Given these events, on February 10, 24 former heads of state and governments who make up the Idea Group, an international organization that promotes democracy and development in Latin Americacondemned and described as serious that sectors affected by Gustavo Petro’s government attacked the headquarters of the Supreme Court of Justice, a precedent that “brings to mind the tragic assault that said institution suffered in 1985 and when the symbols of the M- 19”.
The former presidents refer to the takeover guerrilla M-19 -in which Petro was active- of the Palace of Justice and the violent recovery of the building by the Army, with the result of 94 deaths, including 11 magistrates, dozens of injured and 11 missing.
In the statement, the former leaders urge the Colombian government to “respect judicial independence and guarantee that the Supreme Court can act without pressure of any kind.”
“The exercise of pressure against judges radically affects the principle of autonomy and independence of powers, which is an essential element of democracy in accordance with the provisions of the Inter-American Democratic Charterso we endorse the criteria established by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in this regard: “This Court considers it necessary to guarantee the independence of any judge in a Rule of law and, especially, that of the constitutional judge due to the nature of the matters submitted to his knowledge. As pointed out by the European Courtthe independence of any judge presupposes that there is an adequate appointment process, with an established duration in office and with a guarantee against external pressures.”
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Source: Account of the Social Network X of the former president of Colombia Iván Duque, Declaration of the IDEA Group, NTN24
