COLOMBIA: NEW CHALLENGES FOR THE MILITARY WHO DON'T ADMIT TO THEIR CRIMES
1 SEPTEMBER 2022 BY ANDRÉS BERMÚDEZ LIÉVANO, OUR CORRESPONDENT IN COLOMBIA
After the last four months major achievements in Colombia in dealing with the past crimes of the military, the new left-wing government now has to deal with the Armed Forces' and defence sector's reluctance to see extrajudicial executions as either systematic or widespread, as the country's transitional justice has concluded.
The past four months have brought the most significant attribution of responsibility and truth-telling in Colombia regarding crimes committed by the military.
First, in April and then July, two groups of former military officials - including a general and five colonels - admitted to participating in the extrajudicial executions of hundreds of young men passed off as rebels killed in combat. In front of their victims’ families, they asked for forgiveness and accepted the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, those of the highest most international reproach.
Almost at the same time, at the end of June and after more than three years of work, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) unveiled its final report on half a century of violence in Colombia, which - among other issues - urges the state to acknowledge collusion between members of the army and paramilitary groups as well as the 'false positives', as Colombians have known these executions of civilians by the military.
But the military and the defence sector have insisted on a different narrative. Under the outgoing government of President Iván Duque, the army and the Defence Ministry have steadfastly held to the theory that these crimes were committed by isolated members of the military and in no way involved the institutions, two narratives that were laid down in a report that they also published this year and officially presented to both the TRC and the JEP.
More:
https://www.justiceinfo.net/en/105798-colombia-new-challenges-military-dont-admit-crimes.html