False positives: a score of soldiers admit to having executed hundreds of civilians in Colombia

Twenty-one soldiers, including a general, admitted their responsibility in the execution of hundreds of civilians who they presented as fallen in combat, according to the peace court of Colombia this Friday.

The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) “He received the recognition of truth and responsibility from 21 members of the National Army (…) for the murder” of some 247 people, Magistrate Catalina Díaz said at a press conference.

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The murders took place in the coca-growing region of Catatumbo (120), on the border with Venezuela, and on the Caribbean coast (127).

There is also a civilian who confessed to being “a collaborator of the military structures in the illicit actions.”

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The court had indicted 25 soldiers for their responsibility in the cold-blooded execution of young people, mostly from the lower classes, who They presented as fallen in combat to inflate their achievements in the fight against the guerrillas and other armed groups.

Known as “false positives”, these murders uncovered the biggest scandal within the Military Forces. The officers and soldiers involved received decorations, permits or compensation for those deaths.

Among the uniformed men who acknowledged their guilt is Brigadier General Paulino Coronado, former commander of Brigade 30 that operates in the border area.

Cited by the JEP, Coronado presented his “feelings of forgiveness for the great pain caused” in “the execrable acts committed (…) leading to the death of innocent beings who present themselves as combatants” and “leaving deep desolation among their loved ones ”.

Arising from the 2016 peace agreement that disarmed the FARC guerrillas, this court judges the worst crimes in a conflict of more than half a century that leaves nine million victims among the dead, maimed, kidnapped and disappeared.

The pact negotiated in Cuba establishes that those who confess their crimes and make reparation to their victims will receive alternative sentences to jail.

The magistrate added that two colonels denied the charges, so they will be brought to trial. If found guilty, they could face up to 20 years in prison.

Without specifying the date, Díaz added that the twenty military personnel will undergo a “public recognition hearing” in the presence of the victims’ next of kin, where they must acknowledge their actions in a “complete”, “detailed” and “exhaustive” manner.

The court found that at least 6,400 civilians were executed between 2002 and 2008 after being tricked into remote areas where they lived. The military high command and the right-wing former president Álvaro Uribe (2002-2008) have always denied that it was a systematic action.

In January, the JEP also indicted eight senior leaders of the former FARC for the kidnapping of 21,396 people. The ex-rebels, who acknowledged their responsibility in court, have not yet received their sanction. The court expects to deliver its first judgments in 2022.

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Deshawn