Number of extrajudicial executions by Colombian army up in 2010: NGO
Tuesday, 02 August 2011 16:11
Travis Mannon
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CINEP reported that there were 12 cases of false positives that resulted in 23 victims in 2010, an increase from seven cases and 16 victims in 2009. While they acknowledge that this is a significant drop from the worst era of the extrajudicial killings (2006-2008) during which allegedly 2,000 civilians were killed, the NGO believes that the fact that the occurrences are increasing is a cause for alarm.
The central department of Meta had the highest occurrence of false positives in 2010 with three. All the murders were carried out by Colombia's Armed Forces and in two incidents, one occurring along Colombia's border with Ecuador and another on the Venezuelan border, members of those countries' national guards participated.
According to the report, there were 562 documented false positive cases and 1,119 victims between 2001 and 2010. "These victims have suffered different types of violations: 887 victims of extrajudicial executions, 87 victims of torture, 36 wounded, 41 victims of individual threats, 63 forced disappearances and 214 arbitrary detentions," the report detailed.
The report also noted that the motives behind the murders have evolved beyond attributing the deaths as fallen guerrillas to inflate the military kill counts. It explained that "the alleged perpetrators no longer present the victims as members of guerrilla groups but as individuals associated with criminal gangs; on the other hand, there are some murders which are presented as operating errors by the security forces."
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http://www.colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/18052-number-of-extrajudicial-executions-by-colombian-army-up-in-2010.html