Colombian officers evade justice for 3,000 murders

[Judi Lynn]

Source: The Scotsman

Colombian officers evade justice for 3,000 murders

by
JOSHUA GOODMAN

published 00:00 Thursday 25 June 2015
00:00 Thursday 25 June 2015

Dozens of senior Colombian army officers implicated in the killing of 3,000 civilians falsely tagged as rebels a decade ago have risen through the ranks and are escaping punishment for their roles in one of Latin America’s worst atrocities, Human Rights Watch said yesterday.

In a 95-page report, the rights group offers the most extensive look so far at the pattern of killings by the US-backed armed forces and the legal proceedings against military personnel who tried to present civilians as guerrillas killed in combat to inflate body counts, leading to promotions and bonuses.

While more than 800 soldiers have been convicted for such killings, most are low-ranking personnel. No charges have been filed against a single officer heading a brigade or anyone else higher up the chain of command at the time of the killings between 2002 and 2008 – the peak of the military offensive against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

Among the senior officers singled out by Human Rights Watch are two of Colombia’s most distinguished soldiers: General Juan Pablo Rodriguez, the current head of the armed forces, and General Jaime Lasprilla, the army’s top commander. Both led brigades in different parts of the country that were accused of carrying out at least 76 of the killings while briefly under their command.

Read more: http://www.scotsman.com/news/world/colombian-officers-evade-justice-for-3-000-murders-1-3811836

[Judi Lynn]

1. Group Seeks Prosecution of Colombian Senior Military Over Civilian Slayings

Group Seeks Prosecution of Colombian Senior Military Over Civilian Slayings

Human Rights Watch says generals not held accountable for so-called ‘False Positives’ killings


By
Kejal Vyas
Updated June 24, 2015 7:30 p.m. ET

Senior serving and former military officers in Colombia who allegedly had sanctioned thousands of extrajudicial killings of civilians during the country’s brutal civil conflict haven’t been held accountable and should be prosecuted, Human Rights Watch says.

Many of those officers, instead, have moved up the ranks, a report from the rights group says, adding that investigations by Colombian prosecutors have been challenged by lack of cooperation from military authorities and by threats and attacks on witnesses. A spokeswoman at Colombia’s Defense Ministry declined to comment on Wednesday.

The report drew condemnation from President Juan Manuel Santos, who said it was smearing the names of top military officials without evidence. “That’s no way to be watching for the respect of human rights,” said Mr. Santos, who denied there were open investigations into high-ranking army officials.

The deaths occurred largely between 2002 and 2008, Colombian prosecutors say, adding that they are investigating military leaders for more than 3,000 killings during the height of U.S.-backed former President Álvaro Uribe’s campaign to quash the Marxist guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces, or FARC. He also targeted cocaine cartels.

More:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/group-seeks-prosecution-of-colombian-senior-military-over-civilian-slayings-1435186326

[Judi Lynn]

2. Comments by Patrick Leahy, from the report:

Colombia has been the recipient of nearly $10 billion in U.S. aid over the past 15 years. “We are reviewing the Human Rights Watch’s most recent report on Colombia now,” said U.S. State Department spokeswoman Julia Straker, speaking from Washington.

. . .

Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, who pushed to include human rights conditions in U.S. foreign aid, on Wednesday said he was deeply troubled by the report. “It shows that as we provided billions of dollars in aid to the Colombian army over many years, its troops systematically executed civilians,” he said. “Worse yet, the officers who were in charge have escaped justice.”

Human Rights Watch in its report cites the case of Nixon de Jesus Cárcamo, a former soldier talking to prosecutors about illegal killings in 2007 in which he had been involved. Mr. Cárcamo was found dead in a military detention center in the northern state of Cordoba in October 2014.

An autopsy declared the death a homicide by asphyxiation. Eleven days before his death, according to the Attorney General’s case filings, Mr. Cárcamo told prosecutors he feared for his life: “In the detention center there are rumors that my life is in danger because I’m cooperating with the justice system.”

[Comrade Grumpy]

5. Where are those people who are always standing up for human rights next door in Venezuela?

The silence is deafening. And telling.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Colombia's top military brass implicated in civilian killings

Colombia's top military brass implicated in civilian killings

JIM WYSS

Last updated 05:00, June 26 2015

Miami

In August 2008, Carmenza Gomez's 23-year-old son left his home in Bogota, Colombia, with two friends after they were promised jobs on the coast. Two days later all three were dead. The Colombian army said Victor Fernando Gomez and his companions were guerrilla soldiers who had been gunned down in combat.

Seven years later, Gomez's case is one of thousands of so-called "false positives" - civilians murdered by the military and passed off as enemy combatants in order to inflate the body count.

While the government is investigating at least 3000 cases, and has handed down more than 800 convictions, the military's top brass has, thus far, evaded responsibility. According to a Human Rights Watch report released on Wednesday, the evidence implicates "many Colombian generals and colonels" in the extrajudicial killings.

"False positive killings amount to one of the worst episodes of mass atrocity in the Western Hemisphere in recent years, and there is mounting evidence that many senior army officers bear responsibility," said Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director of Human Rights Watch. "Yet the army officials in charge at the time of the killings have escaped justice and even ascended to the top of the military command, including the current heads of the army and armed forces."

More:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/69721271/colombias-top-military-brass-implicated-in-civilian-killings

[Comrade Grumpy]

4. "One of Latin America's worst atrocities." They were our allies; we gave them billions.

No wonder nobody wants to talk about it.