Colombian army unit commander sentenced to 58 years for murdering civilians
Source: Colombia Reports
Colombian army unit commander sentenced to 58 years for murdering civilians
Posted by Adriaan Alsema on Aug 13, 2015
A lieutenant colonel of Colombia’s National Army has been sentenced to 58 years in prison for the murder of five civilians who were fraudulently presented as guerrillas killed in combat. Lieutenant colonel Beismarck Salamanca was the commander of the Urban Counter Terrorist Special Forces (AFEUR) unit, an elite unit created to carry our counter-terrorism and hostage rescue operations.
However, instead of going after alleged terrorists, Salamanca’s unit executed innocent civilians in separate operations in 2004 and 2005, dressed their victims’ bodies in guerrilla outfits and presented the homicides as combat kills.
. . .
What Salamanca and his unit did during at least three operations was lure victims to remote areas outside the city of Caldas, Antioquia, where the civilians were executed, dressed up and reported as guerrillas killed in combat.
. . .
This practice to inflate the military’s success in Colombia is euphemistically called “false positives.” The gruesome practice became widespread during the administration of former President Alvaro Uribe (2002 – 2010) and cost the lives of more than 4,500 civilians.
More:
http://colombiareports.com/army-unit-commander-sentenced-to-58-years-for-murdering-civilians/
Read more: http://colombiareports.com/army-unit-commander-sentenced-to-58-years-for-murdering-civilians/
(Colombia has been one of the top recipients of US foreign aid and military aid for many years.)
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