Colombia: Military Charged for Alleged Involvement in Massacre
Colombian Military Forces, July 2024 photo: @emisoraejercito
July 19, 2024 Hour: 2:10 pm
According to the analysis of the Fiscalía’s Centro Estratégico de Valoración Probatoria, during two and a half hours, the soldiers fired nearly 1,600 shots at 13 houses, a community hut, the sports center and the jetty, and threw 40 millimeter and fragmentation grenades.
On Friday, Colombian prosecutors charged 24 members of the National Army who were allegedly involved in the deaths of 11 civilians on 28 March 2022 in Alto Remanso, in the southern department of Putumayo.
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According to the information provided by the entity, the group of accused is made up of three officers, four non-commissioned officers and 17 soldiers, and among the victims of the alleged irregular actions are an indigenous governor, a social leader and a minor.
The Prosecutor’s Office said that by order of the commander of the Battalion against Drug Trafficking N°3, in the vicinity of the town, a tactical unit was dispersed to locate alias Bruno, one of the alleged ringleaders of the dissident structure of the extinct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, self-styled Comandos Defensores de Frontera.
After several hours of observation, and with full knowledge that ‘Bruno’ was not in the area, units of the Anti-Narcotics Battalion and Tactical Reconnaissance Platoon No. 3, fired their weapons at the Alto Remanso hamlet, just as a community bazaar was ending, the communal bazaar, the statement said.
According to the analysis of the Fiscalía’s Centro Estratégico de Valoración Probatoria, during two and a half hours, the soldiers fired nearly 1,600 shots at 13 houses, a community hut, the sports center and the jetty, and threw 40 millimeter and fragmentation grenades.
At that time, the information specified, the military reported that they were in combat with a residual organized armed group, while Lieutenant Colonel Cadena Bautista was directing the armed action from the Santana military complex in Puerto Asís (Putumayo).
As a result of this intervention, an indigenous governor, the president of the Junta de Acción Comunal of the hamlet, a minor and eight other persons, who remained in a state of defenselessness, were killed.
In addition, according to the source, five civilians were wounded, including a pregnant teenager who was sleeping in her house.
Autor: OSG
Fuente: The Independent-The Star
