2024-07-19 18:33:43
A prosecutor from the Specialized Directorate against Human Rights Violations has charged 24 members of the National Army for their alleged involvement in the death of 11 civilians in Alto Remanso, Putumayo, on March 28, 2022.
The accused include three officers, four non-commissioned officers and 17 professional soldiers.
Among the victims are an indigenous governor, a social leader and a minor, which has intensified the seriousness of the accusations. The accused are Lieutenant Colonel Nestor Andres Cadena Bautista, Captain Jorge Erney Marroquin Cadena, Lieutenant Julian Ernesto Avila Martinez, Sergeants Cristian Gabriel Perez Galindo and Maicol Andres Quinones Mendoza, Corporals Wilber Leonardo Rodriguez and Wilson Andres Santamaria Ramos, along with 17 other professional soldiers.
Investigations have revealed that, on the orders of the commander of the 3rd Anti-Drug Battalion, a tactical unit was deployed in the area to locate alias Bruno, a leader of the ‘Comandos Defensores de Frontera’, a dissident structure of the FARC. Although it was confirmed that ‘Bruno’ was not in the area, The uniformed men, wearing dark clothing different from the traditional ones of the National Army, attacked the hamlet of Alto Remanso just as a communal bazaar was ending.
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The Strategic Center for Evidence Assessment (Cevap) of the Prosecutor’s Office documented that for two and a half hoursthe military fired approximately 1,600 times at 13 housesa community hut, the sports centre and the pier. They also threw 40-millimetre and fragmentation grenades.
In its report, the military said it was engaged in combat with a residual organized armed group. Nevertheless, The Prosecutor’s Office has concluded that the victims were defenseless civilians. Among the dead are the indigenous governor, the president of the Communal Action Board of the village, a minor and eight other people. Five civilians were injured, including a pregnant teenager who was sleeping in her home.
The Prosecutor’s Office has charged the 24 members of the National Army with the crimes of homicide of a protected person and attempted homicide of a protected person. The defendants did not accept the charges.
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