The government of Colombia is going to compensate more than 12,000 victims of armed groups before 2010, thanks to a 200,000 million pesetas (69 million euro) fund set up for this purpose, said Eduardo Pizarro, the chairman of the National Commission for Reparation and Reconciliation.

The first 2,000 compensation payments were distributed yesterday in the country’s several cities. Alvaro Uribe, President of Colombia, was present at this procedure in the Popayan area, in the department of the Cauca Valley, where some 300 people, relatives of victims killed violently, received their payments.

Uribe took the opportunity to ask for “forgiveness and we promise we will not spare our efforts to bring peace through democratic security”, after having expressed his regret that “ victims cannot be completely compensated” but he stated the State will work ”to help create a climate in which reconciliation, sought by all of the population, would thrive”.

In this regard, Pizarro explained, in an interview with the Colombian radio Caracol that “it is not often that a Head of State asks victims to forgive, this type of gesture is very important to relieve their sorrow”.

He also confirmed that the individual compensation programme through administrative means involved more than 200,000 people, 60 % of whom were victims of paramilitaries, 30% victims of the guerrilla and 5% unlawful killings. It is hoped to be able to compensate them within a 10 year period.