A special peace court in Colombia found that at least 6,402 people were murdered by the country’s army and falsely declared deaths in combat, in order to increase statistics in the civil war with leftist rebel groups. This number is almost three times the value previously admitted by the attorney general’s office.
The murders, known in Colombia as the “false positive scandal”, occurred between 2002 and 2008, when the government was waging war against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (or FARC), a left-wing guerrilla rebellion that ended up making peace with the government in 2016. Soldiers were rewarded for death statistics manipulated with advantages, including clearance and promotions.
Included in the 2016 agreement was the creation of a special peace court – known for its Spanish initials, JEP – to investigate and prosecute crimes committed by all parties to the conflict. On Thursday, the JEP made public the preliminary results of its investigation into the “false positive” scandal after the exhumation of mass graves across the country in the past two years.
A statement from JEP confirmed that the investigation will continue, and will now focus on the country’s provinces not yet prioritized in its investigation.
Jackeline Castaño, whose brother was kidnapped and murdered by the military in 2008, felt that justice was closer to being served after Thursday’s announcement. Although many private soldiers have been sent to prison and dozens of senior officers have been fired, the victims say those who gave the orders have yet to face justice.
“We are grateful for the publication of the conclusions of the JEP investigations, which show how the generalized extrajudicial executions were during the period of [then-president] Álvaro Uribe, from 2002 to 2008, ”said Castaño, who leads a group of victims. “We hope that the truth will continue to appear.”
Movice, a collective of victims of crimes committed by the Colombian state, also welcomed the conclusions of the JEP. “The high number of these crimes is not surprising,” says the group’s statement, adding that it demonstrates “an internal policy” within the military “without any form of control or sanction for those responsible”.