In Colombia, 19 soldiers were charged on Monday with war crimes and crimes against humanity for the murder of 303 civilians presented as guerrillas killed in action between 2005 and 2008. According to the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), born from the 2016 peace agreement with the FARC, this practice known as “false positives” extended to several military units between 2002 and 2008 under the right-wing government of Alvaro Uribe, caused 6,402 victims.

These summary executions, the biggest scandal in the recent history of the Colombian army, were intended to inflate the results of the army in the fight against the guerrillas, in particular that of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC, Marxist) the principal implicated in Colombia's six-decade-long armed conflict.

In exchange, the soldiers received various gratuities.

They risk twenty years of imprisonment

The JEP magistrates considered that the 19 soldiers who were members of the 16th Brigade were part of "a criminal organization" set up in the department of Casanare (center) to assassinate and "falsely" present civilians as guerrillas or criminals "killed in action".

The majority of the 303 victims were men between the ages of 18 and 25, but “nine women, elderly people, people with cognitive impairments” were identified.

The military high command has always denied systematic action, speaking of “isolated cases”.

The 19 members of the army, an intelligence officer and two civilians charged on Monday will be able to acknowledge or reject their indictment.

If they acknowledge their responsibility and offer compensation to the victims, they can benefit from alternative sentences to prison, otherwise they risk up to 20 years in prison.

JEP magistrates also indicted several ex-FARC commanders for some 21,000 kidnappings.

In June, the leaders of the disbanded guerrillas acknowledged their responsibility and asked for forgiveness from the victims in an attempt to escape from prison.

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