Thirty jailed member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group have received pardons from the Colombian government, as President Juan Manuel Santos is rushing to finalize a peace deal with the leftist militants.

Government officials announced the move on Sunday in Bogota, and Santos' office underlined that none of the inmates had been convicted of violent crimes, Voice of America reported. Teams of health workers will now try to reintegrate the former combatants into society, offering them job training, psychological help and family aid.

The pardons are part of a package of "four gestures" aimed at building confidence between Bogotá and the FARC, which had been adversaries in the longest-running civil war in Latin American history, El Colombiano reported.

Jorge Giraldo, a member of the so-called Conflict Commission that participated in the Havana peace talks between the rebels and the government, told the newspaper that the move might speed up talks aimed at finalizing a peace agreement by March 2016.

"With this gesture on the part of the government, a little air is gained in the negotiations surrounding the matter of justice, which have been on a very rough track," Giraldo noted. In return, it is possible "that the FARC might accept a change in the negotiation methodology in order to (reach a deal and) sign the outstanding points before March 23."

FARC negotiator Ricardo Tellez, meanwhile, told the BBC that guerrilla members held in several jails had been holding protests and hunger strikes to highlight what they view as mistreatment from guards and need for medical attention.

The rebel group, meanwhile, has made similar goodwill gestures to the government. Among other things, it has promised not to recruit children under 17 and to help with the de-mining of several mined areas.

In yet another push to wrap up the talks, Santos, for his part, dispatched his brother as a personal envoy to Havana last week. Enrique Santos Calderón is set to meet there with Rodrigo Londoño, the FARC commander better known by his nom de guerre "Timochenko."