Human rights defenders filed a complaint before an Argentine court against former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe for his connection to extrajudicial executions known as "false positives."
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Three Colombian NGOs and 11 relatives of victims of state terrorism presented the lawsuit before Sebastian Ramos, the investigating judge of the 2nd Federal Court of Buenos Aires.
This is the first time that Uribe would be investigated for the murders and forced disappearances that the Colombian army justified as cases of guerrillas killed in combat.
“This action constitutes a historic step in the fight against impunity in Colombia,” said the Jose Alvear Restrepo Lawyers Organization (CAJAR).
“Complainants seek justice for 6,402 victims of the so-called ‘false positives’ policy, ie extrajudicial executions. Ex-President Uribe is targeted, as legal mechanisms in Colombia have not carried out serious, impartial, and effective investigation,” said Philip Grant, the director of TRIAL International.
This complaint is protected by the Universal Jurisdiction Principle, which allows Argentina to investigate, try, and punish the perpetrators of serious crimes, regardless their nationality.
Through social networks, the far-right politician Uribe attacked the relatives of the Mapiripan victims, saying that they have promoted infamies against him for 30 years. He also discredited them by calling them human rights defenders who protect leftist terrorists.
The plaintiffs demand that the Argentine court analyze 6,402 cases of false positives, which took place almost entirely during Uribe's presidential term (2002-2010).