Sebastian Echeverry was four years old when the FARC rebels kidnapped his father in western Colombia. Five years later, they killed him.

Today, the 19-year-old student says he has forgiven the people who took his dad. And, together with other children of victims, he is campaigning to vote "yes" in a referendum on a peace deal that would end more than half a century of conflict with the Marxist guerrillas.

Echeverry's father was a lawmaker in the Cauca Valley, on Colombia's Pacific coast.

After the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) abducted him in 2002, Echeverry spent five anguishing years hoping he would return home safely.

"I had a very different kind of childhood. It was strange. I don't remember many colors, games or friends," said Echeverry.

"What I remember are never-ending protest marches. I remember people recording my words saying things to my dad, because that's how we communicated with each other, with messages to prove we were still alive."

Then one day came the news: his father had been killed along with 10 other lawmakers from the region.

Echeverry used to vow he would get revenge. But over the years, he says, he has learned to turn his pain to forgiveness.

Now he is calling on Colombians to vote in favor of peace in an October 2 referendum that will decide the fate of the accord reached after nearly four years of negotiations between the government and the FARC.

"My 'yes' vote is basically because I discovered that when you forgive you stop looking toward the past. You turn the page. You realize that you're a better person and you're capable of building something," he told AFP.

The FARC themselves recently described the killing of the 11 lawmakers in 2007 as "shameful" and "absurd."

- 'No more victims' -

Sebastian and other relatives of FARC victims took part this week in the launch of "Yes, of course," a campaign in support of the peace deal, which aims to end a war that has claimed more than 260,000 lives and left 45,000 people missing.

Waving white flags stamped with the word "Yes," many spoke of forgiveness.

Harry Gonzalez, whose father was killed by the FARC in 1996, acknowledged that is not always easy.

"Forgiveness is something very personal and intimate for each victim. That's why we have to find other motivations," said Gonzalez, who today co-chairs the peace committee in the lower house of Congress.

"In my case, I found a great motivation, which is trying to make sure there are no more victims of the conflict in Colombia."

Gonzalez, 38, is the son of Jesus Angel Gonzalez, who was governor of Caqueta department. The FARC assassinated him during a campaign against Liberal party politicians across the region in the 1990s.

Eduardo Bejarano, 44, also lost his father to the conflict.

The leftist academic was shot in the head in 1999. Ironically, he had been a peace adviser to former president Cesar Gaviria (1990-1994).

The FARC have been accused of the crime, but it has never officially been solved.

Bejarano, like Echeverry and Gonzalez, is today campaigning for "Yes, of course," for complex reasons.

"Forgiveness isn't something you do for the FARC. I don't practice forgiveness so they can be guilt-free. I forgive because I need to, for my spiritual growth," he said.

"The time will come when the FARC will tell the country the truth about a lot of deaths."

The peace accord would create special courts to judge crimes committed during the conflict and order reparations to victims. Those who confess their crimes will receive lighter sentences.

Colombia FARC rebels meet to vote on peace deal
El Diamante, Colombia (AFP) Sept 17, 2016 - Marxist FARC rebels opened a conference Saturday in remote southeastern Colombia, where they will vote on a historic peace deal reached with the government of President Juan Manuel Santos.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a Marxist guerrilla group launched in 1964, is holding its 10th national conference in El Caguan, its Switzerland-sized stronghold, to ratify a peace accord hashed out in nearly four years of talks.

With this "historic" agreement "it is definitely clear that in this war there are neither winners nor losers," said rebel leader Timoleon Jimenez, as he opened the event.

"If our adversaries want to proclaim that they won the war, that's up to them," Jimenez told some 500 guerrillas gathered for the event.

"For the FARC and our people, the greatest satisfaction will always be having won the peace."

The week-long conference marks the first time they will discuss peace instead of war during such an event. If all goes according to the FARC leadership's plan, it will end with the group's relaunch as a political party.

- The 'destiny of Colombia' -

Jimenez, better known by his nom de guerre "Timochenko," has been pushing for a peace deal since he became the FARC leader in 2011.

Jimenez urged his followers to ratify the agreement.

"In your hands lies the destiny of Colombia," he told them.

The FARC, which has an estimated 7,500 fighters, reached a peace deal with the Santos administration on August 24, followed by a bilateral ceasefire.

The Colombian conflict, which has drawn in other leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and criminal gangs, has killed more than 260,000 people, left 45,000 missing and forced nearly seven million to flee their homes.

If the conference approves the peace deal, as expected, Jimenez will sign the agreement with president Santos on September 26 in the Caribbean port and resort city of Cartagena.

The 297-page document comprises six separate deals: justice and reparations for victims of the conflict; land reform; the FARC's relaunch as a political party; disarmament; fighting the drug trafficking that has fueled the fighting; and implementation and monitoring of the accord.

Jimenez flew in for the conference this week from Cuba, where the peace talks were held.

- Countdown to referendum -

Some 200 FARC delegates, including 29 members of the general staff and delegates elected by the rank and file, will vote on the peace deal.

The conference marks another first: FARC leaders are meeting not in secret, but with the full support from authorities.

The event is held in the presence of around 900 people, including 50 guests and some 400 journalists from around the world.

The peace agreement must still be approved by Colombian voters in a referendum on October 2 -- a step Santos insisted on to ensure the full legitimacy of the process.

Recent opinion polls put the "Yes" vote ahead, though the latest -- released Friday by pollster Datexco -- found support had fallen by 9.5 percentage points, to 55.3 percent, since the previous week.

The "No" camp had 38.3 percent, it found.

The government has yet to open peace talks with a smaller guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army (ELN).