Six bus passengers shot to death in Colombia

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Deutsche Press Agentur

Six bus passengers shot to death in Colombia
Posted : Thu, 19 Feb 2009 23:11:58 GMT

Bogota - Six bus passengers were shot to death after armed criminals stopped a bus travelling in the south-western province of Narino, officials said Thursday. The thugs stopped the bus on the road between the provincial capital of Pasto and the Pacific harbour town of Tumaco, police said.

They then boarded the bus and read out names from a list, pulled the people from the bus and shot them. The motive for the attack was not known, but the circumstances indicated that right-wing paramilitary fighters were involved.

William Montezuma, police chief of Nariono, said it appeared that the victims were merchants who wanted to sell their wares at Carnival in Tumaco.

The Pasto-Tumaco stretch of road is infamous for such violent events. It serves as the main smuggling route for export of illegal drugs and import of illegal weapons, via the harbour town.

Read more: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/256609,six-bus-passengers-shot-to-death-in-colombia.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Did you know there are US soldiers stationed in Tolemaida Air Base in Colombia?

Looking for more on this story in a search, found this older story from 2007:

Colombia: US Military Personnel Accused of Sexually Assaulting 12 Year-old Girl
Written by Micheál Ó Tuathail
Tuesday, 09 October 2007

Local Colombian officials have accused two US soldiers, Michael J. Cohen and César Ruiz, of sexually assaulting a 12 year-old girl on Saturday August 25, 2007. The soldiers are stationed at the Tolemaida Airbase near Melgar, Tolima, as part of Plan Colombia.

According to witness statements collected by local authorities and published in El Tiempo, at 4am, the soldiers entered the base with a young girl they had met at the 'Ibiza' nightclub in Melgar earlier that evening. The girl claims that Ruiz assaulted her in the car on the way to the base and later lent his apartment to Cohen, who reportedly raped her.

The pair later left the girl in the central park in Melgar in front of several witnesses.

The case was reported to the authorities on 8 September 2007. According to Paula Rueda, a psychologist from the Comisaría de Familia in Melgar, "there was, without a doubt, sexual intercourse."

Although the investigation is still underway, Cohen, using the diplomatic immunity granted him under Plan Colombia, has fled the country. The Colombia Support Network, an US-based Colombia solidarity organization, claims that Cohen's flight was facilitated by the US government, an action which "appears to put US military personnel above the law must be rescinded."

While sexual assault of someone under the age of 14 carries a jail sentence of up to 30 years in prison, Colombian authorities are hesitant to seek Cohen's extradition due to the special provisions provided US personnel under Plan Colombia and a 1974 bi-lateral agreement.

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/930/68/