'Bolivian Coup Plotters to Be Tried for Massacres' Morales Says

Bolivia’s former President Evo Morales Wednesday said that the main actors involved in the coup d'etat against him will be tried for the massacres committed in Sacaba and Senkala.

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The Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) leader highlighted the preliminary results of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) special mission, which confirmed killings in Cochabamba and El Alto during the coup d'etat in November.

"The IACHR report confirms that there were massacres against my sisters and brothers in Sacaba and Senkata. The coup plotters Añez, Camacho, Mesa and all those who shot believed they could kill without any consequences," Morales tweeted.

"Now they will be judged by both international and national courts," said the MAS leader referring to the coup-born President Jeanine Añez, entrepreneur Luis Fernando Camacho, and former presidential candidate Carlos Mesa.

In IACHR mission report describes the acts of violence against civilians that took place in Sacaba (Cochabamba) on Nov. 15 and in Senkata (El Alto) on Nov. 19 as "massacres."

"These events can be characterized as massacres due to the number of people who lost their lives in the same way, time and place; the events also were committed against a specific group of people," the IACHR mission stated.

In the bodies of 18 victims “patterns of injuries offer serious indications of extrajudicial execution practices,” states the international mission, which remained in Bolivia between Nov. 22 and 25.

In Senkata and Sancaba, Bolivian security forces, which were under the command of Añez, shot at the population that supported Evo Morales, who was forced to resign and go into exile to Mexico.

The video prepared by the IACHR after its visit to Bolivia. Testimonials are clear. You judge!!

During protests against the U.S.-backed coup d'etat, at least 36 civilians were killed, 27 of whom were shot dead by Bolivian security forces.

The international human rights mission highlights that Bolivian Police and Armed Forces carried out their joint operations under the protection of Supreme Decree 4078, which was issued by Añez and exempted those responsible for the operations from criminal responsibility.

“The IACHR reminds the State that, under the Inter-American human rights standards, Decree 4078 is legally unenforceable by virtue of its disability,” the report stressed.

"Therefore, acts of violence that have been committed during the days in which it was in force cannot be protected by any type of amnesty or exemption from liability for State agents."

For its part, the Interior Minister Arturo Murillo described the IACHR report as a "totally biased" document, which "does not reflect reality" and "is favoring only narcoterrorism."

The Bolivian de-facto government, which qualifies farmers supporting MAS as "narcoterrorists," argues that its Police and Army are not responsible for the deaths of those killed by firearms.