10 Columbian soldiers accused of murdering 120 civilians

On Tuesday, 6th July, Columbia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace court (JEP) accused 10 soldiers and one civilian of murdering at least 120 civilians and causing the forced disappearance of 24 people. The defendants have been accused of crimes against humanity when they falsely presented the victims as left-wing rebels or guerrilla fighters who had been killed in combat, to inflate the body count to show that the country was winning its long-held civil war.

These indictments are the first time anyone has been held accountable for the murders since the “false positives” scandal came into public view in 2008. The Special Jurisdiction for Peace was created to prosecute former FARC members and military leaders for alleged war crimes.

The court said that the assassinations were presented as combat casualties in the Catatumbo region of Colombia’s Norte de Santander province between January 2007 and August 2008, for promotions or other benefits.

The indictment said the killings were“not isolated, spontaneous or sporadic acts”, but “interrelated and were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population”.

The accused consist of the people involved in the orders because of which these murders happened, and they include a general, six officers, three non-commissioned officers, and a civilian.

“It was a pattern of macrocriminality, which is to say, the repetition of at least 120 murders during two years in the same region by the same group of people associated with a criminal organization and following the same modus operandi,” said magistrate Catalina Diaz.

Magistrate Diaz and JEP president Eduardo Cifuentes said that the 11 accused have the option to either accept the charges and face up to 9 years of an alternative sentence such as house arrest or labour, or choose to go to trial, potentially face up to 20 years in prison

Hundreds of soldiers have been previously convicted of similar war crimes but were released under the 2016 peace accord. Their jurisdiction was transferred to the JEP, where they have been detained and have asked for more lenient sentences. This charge is more significant since high-ranking officials are being held accountable

According to the JEP, between 2002 and 2008, 6402 people were murdered by Columbian soldiers, though some believe the numbers to be higher. The court officials said that more indictments will be issued in the future.