Niches marked by the search unit to inspect the remains inside, in a Puerto Berrio cemetery.Andrés Cardona
A retired general and 17 other former military officers have admitted responsibility for extrajudicial killings of civilians known as false alarms. The Special Judiciary for Peace (JEP) indicted her for war crimes and crimes against humanity against Venezuela for her involvement in the murder of 296 people in the departments of Casanare in eastern Colombia and in the neighboring border regions of Boyacá, Meta and Arauca.
Last July, the Transitional Justice System, which is responsible for evaluating the most serious crimes committed during the armed conflict, charged 22 members of the army, an official from the former Administrative Department for Security (DAS) and two civilians with involvement in the murder of people posing as guerrillas or criminals killed in battle. The defendants had until November 8 to admit or deny their responsibility.
One of the senior officers who accepted his involvement in the crimes is Major General (r) Henry William Torres Escalante, who was commander of the XVI Army Brigade in Casanare. Torres admitted his maximum responsibility in cases of false alarms as “an intermediary perpetrator of crimes against humanity, murder and enforced disappearances” before the Special Judiciary for Peace. The same was accepted by Lieutenant Colonel (r) Henry Hernán Acosta Pardo, commander of Infantry Battalion No. 44 Ramón Nonato Pérez, and Major (r) Gustavo Enrique Soto Bracamonte, who was commander of the Gaula de Casanare between June 2006 and October 2007. Others as well NCOs recognized him.
The JEP Chamber of Recognition confirmed that these soldiers operated as a criminal organization that planned, carried out, and covered up the murder of innocent people to portray them as “combat victims,” earning them recognition, awards, and even promotions in the military ladder. “Among the documented crimes there are murdered victims in a situation of complete defenselessness,” JEP judge Óscar Parra said in July.
In this case, it turned out that those responsible not only carried out the murders and provided them with weapons and false uniforms, but also had a “legalization kit” so that deaths as a result of the fighting were recorded. Also that among the victims were nine women, one pregnant, two sex workers and a young man with different sexual orientation. This is an emblematic case in which the JEP charged for the first time a crime against humanity on the grounds of sex and a war crime of child abuse because the military used minors as recruiters or as decoys to deceive victims.
The JEP has measured the extent of the “false positives” and provided a startling number: Soldiers and state agents murdered at least 6,402 people between 2002 and 2008 to portray them as casualties in combat. Admitting the responsibility of these senior officials requires a confirmation of the facts that some sections of the right have systematically denied.
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These crimes, most of which took place between 2002 and 2008, are also documented in the Truth Commission’s final report, which former President Álvaro Uribe has criticized. According to the alternative reminder primers circulated by Uribism, the false alarms were not government policy. “The armed forces circulate the private version, which they do not publicly support, that many false alarms were given to people who were in illegal groups,” he writes, questioning the innocence of those killed.
The JEP was faced with 3,482 members of the public armed forces, including soldiers and generals, including former army chief Mario Montoya. They appear before this court, which grants them legal benefits, such as parole, if they provide information that helps to solve the offences.
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