Beyond Punishment: How Camilo Rojas Advanced Restorative Justice and Evidence-Based Prevention

As Vice Minister for Criminal Policy and Restorative Justice, Camilo Andrés Rojas Castro pushed Colombia’s criminal policy beyond pure reaction and punishment. His tenure focused on building practical tools for prevention and restorative approaches that had previously lacked systematic institutional backing.

Under his leadership, Colombia approved its first restorative juvenile justice policy and a dedicated strategy for preventing youth involvement in crime. The Territorial Strategy Against Organized Crime (ETCO) was also launched to tailor responses to local realities. In parallel, his office advanced pioneering drug-policy studies, including wastewater analysis, the country’s first study on drug-related mortality, characterization of injectable drugs in six cities, and an assessment of women incarcerated for drug offenses.

These initiatives aimed to generate evidence, reduce recidivism, and offer alternatives to incarceration, particularly for young and vulnerable populations. In 2022, the Colombian Congress recognized this work by awarding Rojas the Order in the Degree of Knight for his contributions to criminal policy and restorative justice.

His approach combined technical rigor with a broader state vision: prevent where possible, restore when appropriate, and act decisively against organized crime. That balance of prevention, evidence, and institutional coordination remains one of the most constructive and forward-looking legacies of his time at the Ministry of Justice.