• Justice.Colombia approves life sentence for child rapists

Seven members of the military admitted to a judge that they had raped a 13-year-old indigenous girl while patrolling the territory of the Embera Chamí community in western Colombia, the prosecution reported yesterday.

The agency "charged seven soldiers" for the crime of aggravated abusive carnal access, six of them as direct perpetrators and one as an accomplice, the attorney general, Francisco Barbosa, said at a press conference. "Those people accepted charges at the hearing and acknowledged the outrage of their acts," he added.

The uniformed men were held in a military garrison pending the trial that will define their sentence.

The minor was attacked on Sunday in the municipality of Puerto Rico, Risaralda. The indigenous governor of the Embera Gito do Kabu jurisdiction, Juan de Dios Queragama, announced the fact that caused a harsh social condemnation.

The girl "was alone, picking guava" near a military camp when the soldiers "picked her up and held her overnight," Queragama said after making the complaint public in a statement.

The victim was placed under the protection of the family protection authority.

The government and the military high command condemned the attack that was unveiled precisely a week after Congress approved a constitutional reform that incorporates life imprisonment for rapists and murderers of children and adolescents under 14 years of age.

Although he has not promulgated the norm, President Iván Duque was in favor of applying life imprisonment in this case that undermines the image of the military forces, which throughout the armed conflict has faced scandals for human rights violations by some of the its members.

However, the soldiers would be tried under the legislation before the reform that provides for up to 30 years in prison for this type of crime, according to the prosecution.

Without a law in force that regulates the constitutional change, "life imprisonment cannot be imposed and, once approved, it cannot be retroactive," said jurist Rodrigo Uprimny, from the Center for Law, Justice and Society Studies.

According to data from the forensic authority in Colombia, in 2019 more than 22,000 minors under the age of 18 were victims of sexual crimes and 708 of homicide.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Colombia
  • Puerto Rico

JusticeColombia approves life sentence for child rapists

Drug trafficking Carlos Lehder, former leader of the Medellín cartel, extradited to Germany after 33 years in prison

Covid-19The coffin of a person killed by coronavirus is opened in a mass burial in Colombia

See links of interest

  • News
  • Programming
  • Translator
  • Calendar
  • Horoscope
  • Classification
  • League calendar
  • Films
  • Themes
  • Burnley - Watford
  • Southampton - Arsenal
  • Eibar - Valencia CF
  • Almería - Alcorcón
  • Rayo Vallecano - Sporting de Gijón